SD-WAN vendor Silver Peak got cozy by the campfire with Microsoft this week announcing new integrations with Office 365 and Azure Virtual WAN.

According to Silver Peak, the integrations will help to improve application performance for enterprises using Office 365, and reduce latency for services running in Azure by ensuring network traffic takes the shortest route to the Azure backbone.

The integrations should mean lower latency and better user experiences for the company's customers, explained Fraser Street, VP of technical alliances at Silver Peak.

"Virtually all Silver Peak customers rely on a combination of Microsoft products and cloud services," he said in a statement. "Today's announcement underscores our commitment to customers to deliver a portfolio of API-driven integrations to automate connectivity to the most widely deployed, business-critical cloud applications and services from recognized leaders like Microsoft."

To achieve these performance gains, Silver Peak fused Microsoft's Office 365 IP address and web services with its Unity EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform bringing it in line with the software giant's best practices. This allows Silver Peak's SD-WAN to classify Office 365 traffic on the first packet and automatically direct it to the nearest Office 365 endpoint.

This "local and direct connectivity model is critical for achieving optimal user experience with performance-sensitive SaaS applications, such as Office 365," said Bill Baer, senior product marketing manager for Office 365, in a prepared statement.

Alongside enhancements to Office 365 performance, Silver Peak's SD-WAN now works with Azure Virtual WAN, enabling Unity Orchestrator to perform per-branch geolocation of the closest Azure hub and automatically establish, monitor and maintain IPsec tunnels from each branch location to Azure.

The integration ensures that traffic takes the internet express lane to Azure's backbone, according to Silver Peak.

Until recently Silver Peak has held its own in the highly competitive SD-WAN market, but according to a recent IHS Markit report the company may be losing its grip.

In that assessment, Silver Peak fell from the No. 4 SD-WAN vendor by revenue to No. 5, giving way to rival Fortinet.

Despite slipping in market share, Silver Peak passed a major milestone early last month when it surpassed 1,500 SD-WAN deployments just four years after it entered the market.