Enterprises are demanding flexible, secure, and fully-integrated networking solutions to lower deployment and management costs, GigaOm Analyst Ivan Mcphee noted in that firm's latest SD-WAN Radar report. And as a result, vendors have shifted focus from SD-WAN to strengthening their converged networking and security portfolios.

“SD-WAN vendors are meeting the challenge of networking and security convergence with [secure service access], [security services edge (SSE)], and [secure access service edge] solutions,” Mcphee wrote in the report.

A new emphasis on the three – SSA, SSE, SASE – has led to the SD-WAN landscape becoming “increasingly blurred, with incumbent vendors repackaging and repositioning legacy products as integrated platforms, acquiring new technologies, or making strategic alliances to fill the gaps in their portfolios.”

Mcphee claims the hype around these new technologies is “undermining the importance of an SD-WAN,” and stripping its rank as core technology to the Enterprise, turning it into nothing more than “a line item on a request for proposal.”

Enterprises should look to carefully consider several factors when choosing an SD-WAN provider in this new climate, he said, including their existing networking and security stacks; in-house expertise versus the need for a managed service; products that can easily be integrated with existing environments; vendor strategy that best meets the needs of the business; and each vendor’s ability to deliver the required capabilities over the next 12 to 24 months.

VMware is SD-WAN leader

The radar reported VMware has become the top leader in the space, followed by Versa Networks, Cato Networks, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Aruba.

Mcphee pointed to VMware 's Edge Network Intelligence integrated with its SD-WAN focusing on extending user experience beyond the WAN edge as key to its SD-WAN success. “For example, it helps administrators determine whether a user experience is impacted due to the local wireless or wired Local Area Network network, the SD-WAN network, network services, or the Application,” he wrote in the report.

Although the report added VMware is challenged with “filling the gaps” in its SD-WAN and SASE portfolio, including gateway disaggregation with hardware acceleration, high-throughput edge appliances, high-performance work-from-home Wi-Fi connectivity, and zero trust at the edge.

“Integrating various in-house, acquired, and OEM products at a deeper level will take time,” Mcphee explained. “In addition, rumors of [price] increases of up to 40% may generate churn and slow growth. Prospective customers should carefully evaluate their options before committing.”

Those rumored price increases are tied to Broadcom's pending acquisition of VMware.

GigaOm evaluated vendors based on criteria and evaluation metrics for selecting an SD-WAN solution, including intelligent traffic distribution, next-generation security, multicloud connectivity, built-in self-healing, Application awareness, and integrated branch support. It also took into consideration execution of integrating zero-trust network access (ZTNA), artificial intelligence (AI) operations (AIOps), and private 5G.

Aryaka, Cradlepoint, Fortinet, Nokia, and Palo Alto Networks were also listed as SD-WAN leaders in the report.

Cisco slips down the SD-WAN ladder

Cisco was named a leader in the 2021 GigaOm Radar for SD-WAN, but dropped to a challenger position this year, due to “its lagging behind the industry in general based on the pace of innovation,” Mcphee said in the report.

Cisco’s product portfolio includes a broad range of robust capabilities, including advanced network visibility and digital experience monitoring and management (DEMM), but the vendor is held back by multiple SD-WAN offerings that are not integrated and cannot be managed via a single management interface, according to GigaOm.

“While providing powerful segmentation, Cisco SD-WAN powered by Viptela is highly customizable and complex, making it challenging to configure and manage. Cisco does not offer mobile provider visibility and prioritization and lacks 5G intelligence and insights,” Mcphee added.

Barracuda Networks, Bigleaf Networks, Ecessa, FatPipe Networks, Forcepoint, Huawei, Juniper Networks, and Peplink were also challengers on this year’s radar.

Two new entrants this year were Evolving Networks and Graphiant. GigaOm named Graphiant, an SD-WAN company that exited stealth in September as a vendor to watch.