Versa secures $120 million for its SASE platform

Versa Networks secured additional financing of $120 million for its single-vendor SASE platform, which delivers AI/ML-powered SSE and SD-WAN. 

The pre-IPO round was led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Inc. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) also participated in the funding.

“As the leader in SASE, the fastest growing security and networking category, and executing on SASE services for years, Versa is the only solution proven to deliver the industry’s leading and differentiated architecture for high performance and security,” said Kelly Ahuja, CEO of Versa Networks. “This funding will allow us to expand our go-to-market and accelerate new innovations that will further expand the market opportunity for us as a company.”

“We are excited to support the Versa team and its vision to drive innovation across cloud, data and network security,” said Matt Singer, Managing Director, BlackRock. “SASE represents an important and fast-growing market that is at the core of organizations’ digital transformation and Versa, with its unified, single-code based architecture, is well positioned to deliver mission critical value to its customers.”

https://www.versa-networks.com

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SD-WAN and SASE Summit 2022, 08/9-Nov-2022

The 7th edition of the Summit will take place next 8th and 9th November 2022 as an hybrid event (in-person in Paris and live streaming online) at the Hotel Pullman Paris Centre.

A special focus of the event will be SSE, as analysts, service providers and leading enterprises will discuss why it is no longer enough to offer a managed SD-WAN solution. To stay ahead, service providers must offer an integrated SASE or SSE solution on a global scale.

Other sessions cover Deployments, uCPE, Orchestration, ZTNA, AI and 5G architecture issues, especially SD-WAN network slicing.

Registration information is posted here: https://www.uppersideconferences.com/sd-wan/

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Fortinet cites 7 new SD-WAN Service Provider partnerships

Fortinet announced seven new service providers – Convergia, Eastern Communications, Halo Global, Lintasarta, Ooredoo Qatar, PLDT, and Transtelco – have added Fortinet Secure SD-WAN to their managed service portfolios. 

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN integrates SD-WAN, next-generation firewall (NGFW), advanced routing, and ZTNA access proxy functions, and has recently received a number of third-party recognitions from industry analysts. Fortinet was named a Leader in the 2021 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure and ranked #1 for three out of five use cases in the 2021 Gartner Critical Capabilities for WAN Edge Infrastructure. Fortinet was also named a top SD-WAN vendor in the 2021 Frost Radar and received Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Global SD-WAN Vendor Product Leadership Award.

“Fortinet Secure SD-WAN empowers MSSPs with a Security-driven Networking approach through the convergence of networking and security to deliver value-added services that solve their customers’ biggest challenges, such as securing digital acceleration and enabling work-from-anywhere. Seamless integration with the Fortinet Security Fabric, the industry’s highest performing cybersecurity mesh platform, ensures MSSPs can easily grow their business with new and differentiated managed SD-WAN and security services,” states John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet.

https://www.fortinet.com

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MEF publishes new SD-WAN standards

MEF published new SD-WAN standards that add critical enhancements, including new service capabilities for underlay connectivity, important application performance metrics, and security zones for service providers deploying SD-WAN managed services.

The new standards include:

• MEF 70.1 updates MEF 70, the industry’s first global SD-WAN standard, to include new service attributes for underlay connectivity services, new measurable performance metrics that provide visibility into an application’s performance within the provider network and across multiple service providers, and the infrastructure to support application-based security defined in MEF 88 (see below).
• MEF 88, MEF’s first security standard, enhances an SD-WAN service to add security functions. These include defining threats, malware protections, security policy terminology and attributes, and describing what actions a policy should take in response to certain threats.
• MEF 95 provides a unified policy framework for MEF’s SD-WAN (MEF 70.1), Network Slicing (MEF 84), and SASE (MEF W117) and Zero Trust (MEF W118) standards coming in 2022.

“We’re seeing a healthy uptick in SD-WAN deployments driven by work from anywhere, as more users are connecting to the cloud and cloud-based applications. We estimate the global SD-WAN service market will grow from $2.85B in 2020 to $14.5B in 2025 (CAGR of 38%),” said Roopa Honnachari, vice president of research & global program leader – network & edge services, Frost & Sullivan. “MEF’s work in standardizing and certifying SD-WAN managed services is helping to drive that adoption, and we believe certified services and professionals will continue to play an important role in moving the market forward.”

“MEF develops standards and certifications to provide clarity and assurance and remove complexity for SD-WAN managed services. The new standards define the service behavior and associated policy language needed to deliver high-performance, secure SD-WAN managed services,” said Pascal Menezes, CTO, MEF. “These standards, and the forthcoming SASE and Zero Trust standards, benefit both customers and providers—customers know what to expect when purchasing SD-WAN managed services from a provider, and providers have the tools needed to deliver secure SD-WAN services that drive customer satisfaction.”

MEF also announced that in 2022, secure SD-WAN requirements will be added to the MEF 3.0 certification program. To date, 17 companies have achieved MEF 3.0 SD-WAN certification. In addition, the MEF-SDCP Professional Certification training and certification provides an opportunity for the engineers, architects, product managers, and others deploying SD-WAN solutions to demonstrate their expertise in MEF 3.0 service standards. Worldwide, there are over 700 MEF-SDCP professionals employed by more than 120 companies.

https://www.mef.net/news/mef-introduces-new-standards-for-high-performance-secure-sd-wan-services/

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Megaport launches VMware SD-WAN

Megaport is now offering VMware SD-WAN on Megaport Virtual Edge (MVE) to enable branch-to-cloud connectivity on Megaport’s global SDN.

With VMware SD-WAN available on MVE, customers can host localised virtual SD-WAN controllers on Megaport’s global platform and reduce the distance data traverses over internet paths from branch locations to critical services in public or private clouds and even other branch locations.

Once connected, VMware customers can access Megaport’s leading ecosystem of more than 700 enabled data centres worldwide and over 360 service providers, including 220+ cloud on-ramps from the world's leading clouds such as Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and Salesforce.

VMware SD-WAN on MVE Highlights:

• Reduced cloud egress costs to cloud on-ramps when compared to internet rates.
• Globally distributed for localised connections.
• Point-and-click network provisioning to support interconnection between branch locations, data centres, cloud providers, and IT services.
• Real-time provisioning of virtual network infrastructure and interconnections.
• No hardware to ship, install, or manage.
• Unified end-to-end network provisioning and management to transform legacy networks.
• More secure, multi-cloud connections to more than 360 service providers, 700+ enabled data centres, and 220+ cloud interconnect points.

Craig Connors, vice president and general manager at VMware, said, “VMware SD-WAN in combination with Megaport Virtual Edge offers customers more choice for simplifying WAN operations, reliable network performance for business-critical applications, and easier adoption of hybrid cloud and multi-cloud, while reducing latency to cloud workloads.”

MVE is available in 24 metros across North America, Asia-Pacific, and Europe. 

https://www.megaport.com/mve

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Aryaka FlexCore offers “all-in-one” SD-WAN and SASE on L2 or L3

Aryaka announced “all-in-one” SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) offerings for multiple enterprise segments to accelerate cloud adoption and increase business agility.

 Essentially, Aryaka is introducing a global L3 private core to supplement its global L2 private core, all interconnected to the company’s nearly 40 high-performance points of presence (POPs). The Aryaka FlexCore technology allows customers to map their sites to the private core of choice, based on performance or cost considerations, as well as criticality of sites and applications. Using FlexCore as its underlying architecture, Aryaka today also introduced the “EZ” and “Pro” product lines for its new managed SASE and expanded SD-WAN offerings:

• Aryaka Prime EZ: New managed SASE offering delivered via Aryaka’s cloud-first architecture, initially over the L3 private core. Built with the acquisition of Secucloud, and tailored for small to medium enterprises, the initial capabilities include secure web gateway, firewall as-a-service and web filtering capabilities, all delivered and managed via Aryaka POPs
• Aryaka SmartConnect Pro: Managed SD-WAN optimized for performance, uses the L2 private core and easy consumption model, geared for mid-to-large enterprises that require high performance networking and global application predictability
• Aryaka SmartConnect EZ: New managed SD-WAN optimized for cost, uses the L3 private core and easy consumption model, geared for small-to-medium enterprises that are looking for something better than the managed SD-WAN and internet they get from traditional telcos at attractive cost points and the ability to move to the SmartConnect Pro or Prime EZ offering in a graceful manner

Aryaka is also simplifying its pricing, packaging, quoting and deployment of SD-WAN and SASE architectures.  The company will offer “T-shirt” sized pricing models (S,M,L,XL), and the company has standardized the five most requested service tiers globally. 

“CEOs and business leaders rate growth as their highest priority but have to contend with unpredictability and change particularly in today’s environment,” said Matt Carter, CEO of Aryaka. “They are increasingly leaning on ‘cloud-first’ technology to help navigate change and fuel their transformation initiatives. In this scenario, old school telco managed solutions and legacy stacks like MPLS don’t cut it. They are not nimble enough for the new world, and the quality of experience they deliver is poor. This is where Aryaka steps in to deliver something refreshingly different.”

Aryaka SmartConnect EZ and SmartConnect Pro will be generally available in late Q1 CY 2022. Aryaka Prime EZ is available for qualified Beta deployments starting January 2022, with early orderability targeted for April CY 2022.

https://www.aryaka.com/press/aryaka-announces-all-in-one-sd-wan-and-sase/

Aryaka acquires Secucloud GmbH for SASE platform

Thursday, May 06, 2021  #SD-WAN, Aryaka, Germany, Mergers And Acquisitions, SASE  

Aryaka has acquired Secucloud GmbH, a SASE platform provider based in Hamburg, Germany.Secucloud'a platform offers an all-in-one, global, cloud-based firewall-as-a-service, secure web gateway with advanced threat protection capabilities. The platform is engineered to connect all edges including WAN, Cloud, Mobile and IoT securely together.Aryaka said the acquisition complements its existing network security solutions that are provided with other...

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Aruba debuts EdgeConnect Microbranch for home/small offices

Aruba introduced its new EdgeConnect Microbranch solution for providing remote personnel with all of the traditional services they receive in-office via a single Wi-Fi access point (AP) – with no gateway, agent or additional hardware required at the remote site. 

Aruba's EdgeConnect Microbranch, which essentially extends on-campus Zero Trust and Secure Access Services Edge (SASE) security frameworks to the home office/small office, comprises APs and a new suite of SD-WAN services and builds upon the company’s Remote Access Points (RAPs).

Aruba said its EdgeConnect Microbranch helps IT teams ensure that remote employee experience is consistent by optimizing the performance of latency-sensitive applications like unified communication and collaboration while ensuring proper security and contending with a higher density of bandwidth-hungry devices that may be on the network. New EdgeConnect Microbranch services such as policy-based routing, which enables IT to optimize how application traffic is routed to a destination, complement existing services such as Air Slice, which dynamically allocates AP radio resources to specific applications. 

“EdgeConnect Microbranch gives organizations a modern, scalable approach for enabling remote work and making the home office experience equivalent to being in-office,” said Larry Lunetta, VP of Solutions Portfolio Marketing at Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company. “While some may believe that the only network service that can be extended to the home office AP/router is security – and even that requires an extra box, EdgeConnect Microbranch demonstrates that, with a cloud-based approach, all critical network services can be extended to the home office solely through an access point.”

Key features:

• Policy-based routing: Allows IT to deliver application performance and security based on automated rules to meet service-level agreements (SLAs) for specific applications, websites or types of users
• Tunnel and route orchestration: Optimizes network performance by orchestrating VPN tunnels on demand and automatically rerouting traffic to the network path that will provide the best performance
• SASE integration: Provides secure connectivity to cloud security services such as Zscaler directly via the AP and with Aruba Central providing orchestration of tunnels and unified configuration management
• Enhanced WAN visibility: Accelerates troubleshooting and improves the user experience by providing near real-time updates on WAN availability, utilization, and throughput by detecting latency, jitter, and other connectivity issues impacting the ISP that have traditionally been hidden from IT teams
• Traffic prioritization: Assigns radio resources to an application and dynamically changes assignments as application sessions begin or end
• Massive scalability: Supports zero touch deployment and consolidated management for tens of thousands of remote workers via Aruba Central’s cloud-based services and AOS 10
• Improved uptime and reliability: Provides for LTE backup via a USB interface should the home or small office lose ISP connectivity

The Aruba EdgeConnect Microbranch solution is available in Early Access and will be generally available in March 2022 for any AP running ArubaOS 10 with a Foundation AP License (including qualified APs customers already own and manage in Central.) Aruba Central Foundation Licenses are available for $145 per AP. AP pricing varies per model and starts at $575.00 US for the Aruba 303H Series.

https://news.arubanetworks.com/news-release-details/2021/New-Aruba-EdgeConnect-Microbranch-Solution-Modernizes-the-HomeSmall-Office-Experience-for-Hybrid-Workplaces/default.aspx

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Dell'Oro: SD-WAN market surges ahead 45% in Q3

The worldwide SD-WAN market grew 45 percent in the third quarter of 2021 compared to the prior year, according to a new report from Dell'Oro Group. Cisco maintained the top position for the revenue share for the quarter and was followed by Fortinet and VMware in the second and third spots.

“Enterprises are upgrading network infrastructures at accelerated rates compared to pre-pandemic times, and our research finds that the SD-WAN market is growing at strong double-digit rates in all regions of the world,” said Shin Umeda, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group. “Because SD-WAN is software-based technology, the global supply chain disruptions have had less of an effect compared to hardware-based networking products,” added Umeda.

Additional highlights from the 3Q 2021 SD-WAN Report:

• The SD-WAN market continues to consolidate around a small number of vendors with the top six vendors accounting for 69 percent market share in 3Q 2021.
• Cisco’s quarterly SD-WAN revenue nearly doubled in 3Q 2021 with especially strong growth in the North America region.
• The market for hardware-based Access Routers grew quarterly revenues for the first time in almost two years.

https://www.delloro.com/news/sd-wan-market-surged-45-percent-to-a-record-level-in-3q-2021/

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Verizon Business adds Fortinet to its SD-WAN portfolio

Verizon Business has added Fortinet Secure SD WAN to its global SD WAN offering.

“The quick transition to hybrid and/or remote working models opened new avenues for cyber threat actors,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, Chief Revenue Officer for Verizon Business. “Solutions like Verizon’s Software Defined Secure Branch with Fortinet add those layers of security that help safeguard your employees, your business and ultimately your customers against cyberattacks.”

 Fortinet Secure SD WAN, which integrates SD WAN, firewall, and advanced routing, works with many types of network transports including MPLS, broadband, and wireless.

“Fortinet is committed to supporting our partners and customers with innovative Secure SD WAN technology based on a security-driven networking approach that tightly integrates an organization’s network infrastructure and security architecture,” said John Maddison, EVP of products and CMO at Fortinet. “By leveraging Fortinet Secure SD WAN, Verizon enables organizations to take a ‘work from anywhere’ approach to their network and security to support remote and hybrid workforces.”

 

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Iraq's ScopeSky picks Nokia'sNuage SD-WAN

ScopeSky, a leading internet service provider in Iraq, has selected Nokia’s Nuage Networks Virtualized Network Services (VNS) SD-WAN solution to deliver greater network automation, enhanced security and visibility to its enterprise customers.

Mohamed Faisal, Head of Customer Business Team for Iraq at Nokia, said: "Nokia’s Nuage Networks has become a leader in helping service providers harness the full potential of cloud and network automation and extend that to its enterprise customers’ branch locations. Our technology provides a flexible and open SD-WAN infrastructure that will serve as a foundation for ScopeSky to enhance network connectivity and deliver cloud-based services to customers across Iraq."

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Windstream Enterprise offers unlimited Cellular Broadband

Windstream Enterprise (WE) introduced new unlimited plans for Cellular Broadband for providing a primary connection method for customer locations that have limited access options available, while also acting as a secondary SD-WAN connection that offers seamless failover in a standby configuration by providing redundancy to other network connections. The solution offers visibility and reporting via WE Connect portal from Windstream Enterprise.

Unlimited Cellular Broadband is now available in three data plan options.

“Keeping your network up and running is critical for every business and ensuring rapid connectivity to remote locations is essential,” said Mike Flannery, chief marketing officer of Windstream Enterprise. “Unlimited Cellular Broadband is a reliable and cost-effective strategy that will contribute to an effective business continuity plan.”

http://www.windstreamenterprise.com

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Vertical Systems: Mid-2021 Global SD-WAN LEADERBOARD

Vertical Systems Group announces that the following seven companies achieved a position on the Mid-2021 Global Provider Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD (in rank order based on site share outside of home country as of June 30, 2021): Orange Business Services (France), AT&T (U.S.), Verizon (U.S.), NTT (Japan), BT Global Services (U.K.), Telefonica Global Solutions (Spain) and Vodafone (U.K.). This industry benchmark for multinational SD-WAN market presence ranks companies that hold a 5% or higher share of billable retail sites outside of their respective home countries.

Twelve companies qualify for the Mid-2021 Global Provider Managed SD-WAN Challenge Tier (in alphabetical order): Aryaka (U.S.), Colt (U.K.), Deutsche Telekom (Germany), Global Cloud Xchange (India), GTT (U.S.), Hughes (U.S.), Lumen (U.S.), PCCW Global (Hong Kong), Singtel (Singapore), Tata (India), Telia (Sweden) and Telstra (Australia). The Challenge Tier includes companies with site share between 1% and 5% of this defined SD-WAN segment.

“We’re pleased to release the first benchmark that measures Global Provider market presence based on multinational managed SD-WAN customer sites,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “Enterprises with business-essential applications that span multiple regions of the world are choosing SD-WAN solutions from network operators with the global infrastructures, experience, partnerships and technical expertise necessary to deliver world-class services.”

Research Highlights for Global Provider SD-WAN Services:

• Orange Business Services gained the top share rank on the Mid-2021 Global Provider Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD with the largest number of customer sites installed.
• Vertical’s SD-WAN Coverage Analysis for five regional markets – North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa/Middle East, Asia/Pacific – shows that all seven companies ranked on the Mid-2021 Global Provider SD-WAN LEADERBOARD have good to strong coverage in at least three of these regions.
• COVID-19 continues to appreciably impact every region of the world. Challenges cited by Global SD-WAN operators include workforce health protection, tracking the shift back from remote to office environments, service disconnects due to business closures, and supply chain disruptions.
• Most multinational Managed SD-WAN customer implementations are hybrid network configurations that incorporate MPLS, IP VPN, Cloud connectivity or other services, plus multiple security capabilities that are integral or supplied by technology partners.
• SD-WAN customers with MPLS connections are migrating to more cloud-suitable broadband services that provide bandwidth flexibility and lower pricing. DIA availability and costs vary considerably by country.
• Ethernet DIA is the preferred choice for SD-WAN customers that require dedicated, symmetrical connectivity. Five of the seven companies on the Mid-2021 Global Provider SD-WAN LEADERBOARD are ranked on the 2020 Global Provider Ethernet LEADERBOARD (in rank order): AT&T, Orange Business Services, Verizon, BT Global Services and NTT.
• Two companies ranked on the Mid-2021 Global Provider SD-WAN LEADERBOARD – AT&T and Verizon – have attained MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Services Certification to date. Additionally, three companies cited in the Challenge Tier – Colt, PCCW Global and Telia – have MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Services certification.
• The primary technology suppliers to the nineteen Mid-2021 Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD and Challenge Tier companies are as follows (in alphabetical order): Cisco, Fortinet, HPE Aruba, Nuage Networks by Nokia, Versa and VMware.
• The Market Player tier includes providers with site share below 1%. Companies in the Mid-2021 Market Player tier are as follows (in alphabetical order): Batelco (Bahrain), China Telecom (China), Claro Enterprise Solutions (Mexico), CMC Networks (South Africa), Cogent (U.S.), Epsilon (Singapore), Etisalat (Abu Dhabi), Expereo (Netherlands), HGC Global (Hong Kong), Intelsat (U.S.), KDDI (Japan), Masergy (U.S.), Meriplex (U.S.), PLDT Enterprise (Philippines), SES (Luxembourg), Sparkle (Italy), StarHub (Singapore), Syringa Networks (U.S.), T-Mobile (U.S.), Telenor (Norway), Telin (Singapore), Transtelco (U.S.), Virgin Media (U.K.), Zayo (U.S.) and other providers selling SD-WAN services outside their home country.

https://www.verticalsystems.com/

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Masergy Performance Edge boosts SD-WAN + SASE

Masergy introduced a new SD-WAN and SASE capability designed to minimize packet loss over public broadband connections, making them perform more like a private Ethernet circuit.

Masergy Performance Edge is available with Masergy’s Managed SD-WAN Secure and SASE offerings and uses proprietary network architecture along with industry standard and compatible routing algorithms. The company says it is able to minimize packet loss over public broadband connections for more predictable application experiences.

“Masergy is working to ensure our clients’ new need for broadband doesn’t impact their business continuity. Remote work success shouldn’t hinge on network connectivity types, and we’ve created Masergy Performance Edge™ to make sure it doesn’t,” said Chris MacFarland, CEO, Masergy. “Masergy pioneered software-defined networking 20 years ago. We were the first to market with AIOps integrated in our SD-WAN and SASE solutions, and we’re already on the path to autonomous networking — so there’s no better company to revolutionize broadband, making it the high-performance, predictable service everyone wants it to be.”

https://www.masergy.com/sd-wan/performance-edge

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AT&T delivers managed SASE from Palo Alto Networks

AT&T announced a new, global managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) offering in collaboration with Palo Alto Networks.

AT&T SASE with Palo Alto Networks brings together software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) technology, security capabilities and fiber-based network connectivity. AT&T also brings expertise in design configuration, deployment, and 24/7 management from a single provider.

AT&T SASE with Palo Alto Networks is immediately available through AT&T Business.

"To drive innovation throughout the hyper-connected enterprise, customers are looking for a simplified solution for network and security. As one of the largest MSSPs, AT&T is collaborating with Palo Alto Networks to offer a comprehensive, managed SASE solution that helps enable new user experiences at the edge," states Rupesh Chokshi, VP, AT&T Cybersecurity.

"More and more organizations are moving to Zero Trust architectures to deliver a continuous and consistent security experience that covers data, devices, and end-users who are in the office, at home, or on the go. By bringing Palo Alto Networks' SASE solution together with AT&T Cybersecurity's managed security services, we are delivering an integrated solution to help organizations achieve optimal access with the highest levels of security," says Kumar Ramachandran, SVP Products, Palo Alto Networks.

https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/2021/06/att-launch-managed-sase/

AT&T Cybersecurity launches Managed SASE with Fortinet

Tuesday, March 09, 2021  AT&T, Fortinet, SASE, SD-WAN  

AT&T launched managed Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) powered by Fortinet.AT&T SASE with Fortinet is a global managed SASE solution at scale that unifies software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) with essential network security functions of the SASE framework and 24x7 management. As the largest SD-WAN Managed Service Provider in North America, and one of the world’s largest Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs), AT&T said...

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Windstream Enterprise enhances its VMware-powered SD-WAN

Windstream Enterprise (WE) announced new feature enhancements and hardware available for its VMware-powered SD-WAN.

The three new SD-WAN edge devices offer better performance with enhanced processors that support additional functionally, simplified design, and deployment with less complexity. Specifically, the new SD-WAN edges support the SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) evolution by integrating SD-WAN and security. Managed Network Security (MNS) is deployed as a Virtual Network Function (VNF) on the VMware edge delivering unified threat management protection for the SD-WAN network.

Customers will be able to access the MNS VNF from Windstream Enterprise’s WE Connect portal to remotely self-service, view and configure their VNF firewalls to enable:

• View firewall details and policies to enable proper configuration to protect their networks
• Manage web filtering policy, including the ability to block specific URLs or categories based on content
• Application control policies that protect employees from inappropriate, harmful and unprotected apps
• Automated reports generated to review and audit internet use and potential risky behavior

“These new capabilities deliver a significant technological upgrade to Windstream Enterprise SD-WAN customers,” said Mike Flannery, chief marketing officer at Windstream Enterprise. “As the company continues to lean into the use of virtualization technology alongside its networking and security solutions, Windstream Enterprise remains committed to delivering customers an unrivaled experience and accelerated success.”

https://news.windstream.com/

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Aryaka acquires Secucloud GmbH for SASE platform

Aryaka has acquired Secucloud GmbH, a SASE platform provider based in Hamburg, Germany.

Secucloud'a platform offers an all-in-one, global, cloud-based firewall-as-a-service, secure web gateway with advanced threat protection capabilities. The platform is engineered to connect all edges including WAN, Cloud, Mobile and IoT securely together.

Aryaka said the acquisition complements its existing network security solutions that are provided with other technology partners, including Check Point software, Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler and others,.Aryaka expects new SASE products as a result of the Secucloud acquisition to be available later in the year.

“Secucloud brings a great team and proven, innovative technology that we can integrate with Aryaka’s industry leading, Cloud-First, SD-WAN as-a-service,” said Ashwath Nagaraj, co-founder and CTO at Aryaka. “The combined technologies will allow us to offer truly converged network and network security as-a-service offerings. It complements our existing portfolio and significantly enhances Aryaka’s ability to compete and win larger deals while delivering the industry’s most flexible, managed SASE solution experience.”

“We are excited to join Aryaka. Like Aryaka, Secucloud has been designed from the ground up to deliver a Cloud-First architecture with everything delivered as-a-service,” said Dennis Monner, CEO of Secucloud. “We think this joint solution and Aryaka’s brand reputation of delivering the industry’s best customer experience, will create a highly differentiated offering for enterprise customers.”

https://www.aryaka.com/

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Windstream Enterprise Achieves MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Certification

Windstream Enterprise (WE) has achieved MEF 3.0 SD-WAN services certification for its Fortinet Secure-powered SD-WAN offering. Windstream Enterprise is the first managed service provider to complete multiple MEF SD-WAN certifications.

“Congratulations to Windstream Enterprise on its latest MEF 3.0 SD-WAN certification,” said Nan Chen, president of MEF. “Companies who purchase SD-WAN from a certified MEF 3.0 service provider can have confidence they will receive services that conform to MEF’s industry-leading global standards. Companies like Windstream Enterprise understand the value that certification provides—simplified, pre-validated functionality for buyers and simplified, frictionless implementation and partnering.”

“MEF 3.0 SD-WAN certification for Fortinet-powered SD-WAN indicates our commitment to delivering best-in-class SD-WAN and to improving the quality and management of Ethernet and IP services for our customers,” said Mike Frane, vice president of product management at Windstream Enterprise. “As demand for hybrid networking continues to grow, these MEF industry standards eliminate confusion regarding SD-WAN service components, core capabilities and concepts.”

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AT&T ties in with Ericsson's Cradlepoint for 5G SD-WAN

AT&T and Cradlepoint, which is now a division of Ericsson, are expanding their joint 5G offerings for businesses.

The new solutions combine clean-slate-designed Cradlepoint 5G wideband adapters and routers, and its NetCloud Service, with AT&T’s nationwide wireless broadband network, data plans, and an AT&T management option for Cradlepoint devices. 

Cradlepoint's  W-Series Wideband Adapters provide a cloud-managed 5G modem for SD-WAN. Enterprises can use 5G with SD-WAN as a primary connection, to augment a wireline link, or a high-speed failover connection. AT&T offers SD-WAN solutions, including AT&T Wireless Broadband, for virtually any business need with next-generation software in the cloud for enhanced agility, control, and visibility. Together, AT&T and Cradlepoint provide enterprises with multiple options for bringing 5G to SD-WAN.

“AT&T Wireless Broadband plays an essential role in bringing 5G to businesses nationwide,” says Rasesh Patel, Chief Product and Platform Officer, AT&T Business. “Businesses continue to transform and are crucial in building an ecosystem that brings the benefits of 5G to life. So, we’re delivering the tools for businesses to innovate fearlessly and build the foundation for a 5G world.”

“5G is the catalyst to ushering in a fast and agile Wireless WAN that will help transform how enterprise and government organizations generate revenue, streamline operations, and serve customers,” states Ian Pennell, Chief Product Officer at Cradlepoint. “What sets Cradlepoint apart is our cloud-delivered and I.T.-centric NetCloud Service that integrates with existing infrastructures, like VPN and SD-WAN, and provides network admins with the visibility, security, control, and management they need to build and maintain a Wireless WAN.”

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Vertical Systems: 2020 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD

 The following companies achieved a position on Vertical Systems Group's 2020 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD (in rank order based on site share): AT&T, Hughes, Verizon, Comcast, Windstream, Lumen, Aryaka and TPx. These service providers each have two percent (2%) or more of the installed and billable Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites in the U.S. as of December 31, 2020.

“The managed SD-WAN market in the U.S. endured the pandemic as service providers installed hundreds of new networks in extremely challenging conditions throughout the past year. Businesses and enterprises accelerated the retirement of MPLS assets, and made purchase decisions for SD-WAN solutions that enable more flexible access options and dynamic connectivity,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “Some provider positions changed on our 2020 Leaderboard benchmark, and we expect further shuffling of the ranks as additional sizeable networks are activated this year.”

Four companies attained a Challenge Tier citation for 2020 (in alphabetical order): Fusion Connect, GTT, Meriplex and MetTel. The Challenge Tier includes service providers with between one percent (1%) and two percent (2%) share of U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN sites.

Research Highlights

• Expansion of Carrier Managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. increased 39% in 2020, despite the pandemic. As previously projected, demand was resilient across bandwidth intensive markets, but vulnerable for verticals like retail and travel. Pre-pandemic site growth was 89% for managed SD-WAN services in 2019.
• AT&T, Hughes and Verizon retain the top three U.S SD-WAN LEADERBOARD positions for the third consecutive year based on latest site share results.
• Comcast advances to rank fourth for 2020, moving up from seventh position in 2019.
• Windstream remains in fifth position. Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) moves to sixth position, from fourth in the prior year. Aryaka dips from sixth to seventh position. TPx debuts in eighth position, moving up from the Challenge Tier.
• MetTel advances to Challenge Tier, up from the Market Player tier.
• MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Service Certification has been attained by four of the 2020 LEADERBOARD companies: AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Windstream.
• The primary technology suppliers for the 2020 LEADERBOARD companies are VMware, Versa, Fortinet, and Cisco (vEdge/Viptela and selected Meraki MX models). Additionally, Aryaka and Hughes utilize internally developed technologies.
• MEF 3.0 SD-WAN Technology Certification has been attained to date by Versa, VMware and Fortinet.

Market Players include providers selling Carrier Managed SD-WAN services in the U.S. with site share below one percent (1%), including global network providers that manage U.S. customer sites. For 2020, the Market Player tier includes the following companies (in alphabetical order): AireSpring, American Telesis, Bigleaf, bSimplify, BT Global Services, Cincinnati Bell, Cogent, Colt, Consolidated Communications, Cox, Crown Castle Fiber, DQE Communications, FirstLight, Frontier, Intelsat, Masergy, NTT, Orange Business, PCCW Global, PS Lightwave, RCN Business, SDN Communications, Segra, SES, SingTel, Sparklight Business, Spectrum Enterprise, Syringa, T-Mobile, T-Systems, Tata, Telefonica, Telia, Telstra, Transtelco, Veracity Networks, Virgin Media Business, Vodafone, Wave Business, Zayo and others.

Vertical Systems Group defines a Carrier Managed SD-WAN Service for segment analysis and share calculations as a carrier-grade offering for business customers that is managed by a network operator. Required components and functionality for these offerings include an SDN service architecture that enables dynamic optimization of traffic flows, a purpose-built SD-WAN appliance or CPE-hosted SD-WAN VNF (Virtual Network Function) at each customer edge site, support for multiple active underlay connectivity services, and centralized network orchestration with application visibility end-to-end.

https://www.verticalsystems.com/2021/03/25/2020-us-sd-wan-leaderboard/

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Aryaka: 2021 State of the WAN report

 A significant majority of enterprieses expect a hybrid work environment to persist after the pandemic recedes, according to Aryaka's fifth annual 2021 State of the WAN report. The study surveyed over 1350 global IT and network practitioners at enterprises spanning all verticals, headquartered in NA, APAC and EMEA. The survey asked respondents about their networking and performance challenges, priorities and their plans for 2021 and beyond. 

The report finds that the number of enterprises connecting to over 100 inter-regional sites growing by 50%, from 19% in 2020 to 28% in 2021. This is coupled with continued application growth, with the number of enterprises stating that they’ve deployed over 500 distinct applications growing to 46%, compared to 32% in 2021. As evidence of collaboration traction, Zoom was identified as critical by 36% in 2021, up from 25% in 2020.

Key trends identified in this year’s report include:

• Accelerating fusion of networking and security planning, with almost a third of enterprises stating that they are already deploying what they consider to be a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture
• A hybrid work environment that will persist after the pandemic recedes, with over 80% stating that they expect over a quarter of workers to remain remote, and over two-thirds desiring flexibility between on-premises and remote deployments
• Continued WAN and application growth, resulting in increased network complexity. The number of enterprises reporting they’re deploying over 500 distinct applications has grown to 46%. 37% of enterprises identify complexity as their number one network concern     
• 43% of enterprises identify application performance as an underlying driver for WAN transformation. However, WAN transformations have slowed this year due to the pandemic
• Over 70% of enterprises intend to move to managed services versus just 18% who prefer the autonomy of a do-it-yourself WAN solution  

“The fifth edition of the Global State of the WAN is bigger and better than ever, with survey inputs and insights from over 1350 Enterprises worldwide,” said Shashi Kiran, CMO of Aryaka. “On behalf of Aryaka Networks, I would like to express my gratitude to those who participated in this survey, and hope this serves as an excellent resource and guidebook for all those CIOs, network, cloud and security practitioners to leverage and proactively Plan their WAN™. Of particular interest are the trends focusing on SD-WAN and SASE deployments.”

https://www.aryaka.com/state-of-wan-2021/

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