Cisco continued its crusade against inconsistent software-as-a-service (SaaS) performance today in the latest release of its SD-WAN platform.

The updates expand the vendor’s Cloud OnRamps to its Webex conferencing service. With version 17.7, Cisco's SD-WAN continuously monitors all possible paths to Webex servers and reroutes traffic to the most reliable link. And it can do this all without human intervention, Raakhee Mistry, senior director of enterprise and cloud networking at Cisco, wrote in a blog post.

The update comes on the heels of a collaboration with Microsoft last week that sought to achieve similar results for Microsoft Teams and Office 365 Sharepoint customers.

Alongside modern video conferencing platforms like Webex and Teams, the update also saw the vendor consolidate Cisco Unified Board Element (CUBE) functionality into the platform. CUBE is Cisco’s session board controller responsible for performing voice routing, security, interworking, and session management. The consolidation of these capabilities under a single platform eliminates the need for separate appliances for managing SD-WAN and voice over IP (VoIP).

These capabilities are now on full display in the vendor’s newly revamped vManaged dashboard, which promises to put network performance metrics front and center.

The dashboard also features a revised onboarding process for SD-WAN appliances and tight integrations with the vendor’s ThousandEyes agents. Cisco integrated its ThousandEyes and AppDynamics network and application monitoring capabilities into its Viptela SD-WAN platform during Cisco Live last spring.

Finally, the update makes it easier to integrate Cisco’s SD-WAN with the vendor’s Umbrella cloud security platform, expediting the processes of deploying a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. However, it should be noted that Umbrella security functionality is still managed via a separate dashboard and is not directly integrated into vManage.

The updates coincide with a new Integrated Service Router (ISR) that boasts integrated WiFi 6 and support for the vendor’s existing 5G pluggable interface modules.

The appliance also supports Cisco’s full security stack including firewall, intrusion prevention system, and advanced malware protection and analytics.

The appliance is Cisco’s latest foray into 5G at the edge. The vendor launched its first 5G cellular gateways early last year. The gateways feature sub-6 GHz radios designed for high-throughput and low-latency applications.

Cisco isn't the only vendor throwing its weight behind the wireless WAN market.

Versa late last summer launched two cellular SD-WAN appliances — the CSG 700 and CSG 1000 SD-WAN — which featured integrated 5G and 4G LTE modems capable of delivering peak download speeds of 5 Gb/s on sub-6 GHz bands.

And in December, Fortinet doubled down on wireless WAN functionality with a dual-modem SD-WAN appliance. However, unlike its earlier FortiExtender 511F-5, it traded 5G connectivity for a pair of LTE modems.

Finally, Juniper late last month jumped on the wireless WAN bandwagon through a partnership with Ericsson-owned Cradlepoint. The collaboration saw Juniper pair Cradlepoint’s 5G routers, adapters, and NetCloud platform with its Sessions Smart Routing (SSR) SD-WAN and Mist artificial intelligence (AI) services.