VMware continues to be a beacon of reliability and innovation in a rapidly changing marketplace. In that spirit, I am very pleased to announce that Gartner has recognized VMware as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SD-WAN for the sixth year in a row. VMware has been named a Leader in this report every year since 2018. Click here to read the full report.
This recognition is more than just an industry recognition. We believe it’s a testament to our customers, our partners, and our employees, all of whom push the company forward toward a constant re-thinking of what SD-WAN can do, how it enables business benefits and solves real-world problems.
From SD-WAN to SASE to software-defined edge
At VMware Explore Las Vegas last month, VMware announced VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator™, an industry-first offering that will create a friction-free bridge between edge networking, security, and compute. Although VMware Edge Cloud Orchestrator is much more than simply an extension of the original VeloCloud Orchestrator, it began as the VCO: a single-pane-of-glass portal for SD-WAN that is used to create, configure, and monitor software-defined wide area networks. (And it still performs those functions, beautifully!) As the orchestrator has evolved to manage VMware SASE™ (secure access service edge) services and services at the edge, VMware SD-WAN™ remains a fundamental part of VMware’s end-to-edge strategy.
Enterprises are adopting edge technologies rapidly. In a May 2023 market report, IoT Analytics estimated that over four years, connected IoT devices will grow by 77 percent, and analyst firm ESG says edge computing is a top-five priority for 44 percent of IT managers.
As the SD-WAN market matures, VMware SD-WAN plays a crucial role in the software-defined edge—a distributed digital infrastructure for running workloads across dispersed locations, placed close to endpoints producing or consuming data. Think medical centers, retail stores, manufacturing plants. These edge locations rely on local systems, from IoT sensors to checkout kiosks to car-building robots, that produce reams of data and need fast connectivity and data processing.
VMware SD-WAN addresses key pain points across multi-cloud, edge, security, and AI
The traditional WAN is obsolete. Applications, once monolithic, are increasingly distributed in and across clouds and at the edge. Employees, once clustered in office buildings, now can and do work from anywhere, and they require access to SaaS and multi-cloud applications no matter where they or the applications are located. As apps and people are ever more dispersed, enterprises are contending with inefficiencies and choke points in centralized networks that were not built for the multi-cloud, cross-cloud, hyper-distributed era.
VMware, as a leader in both SD-WAN and multi-cloud, has the expertise to software-define systems that were previously constrained by hardware and provide enterprises with the agility they need to compete.
There are four key market trends that enterprises should consider as they undergo digital transformation and move toward the software-defined edge. As part of VMware SASE, VMware SD-WAN plays a vital role in addressing these trends.
Secure the increasingly distributed perimeter. Widespread resources, including devices that are scaling up rapidly at the edge, are hard to protect using methods based in the data center. VMware SD-WAN and VMware SASE help more than 18,000 enterprises and small business securely connect their remote locations to the cloud, SaaS, and traditional applications. VMware SD-WAN features an ICSA-certified, FIPS140-2-hardened firewall including VMware SD-WAN Enhanced Firewall Service, which combines the power of VMware NSX Security with VMware SD-WAN Edge platforms. VMware also recognizes that many enterprises see the migration from SD-WAN to SASE as a multi-phase journey. We are committed to providing a dual-vendor approach for SASE, allowing enterprises to bring together VMware SD-WAN with many third-party secure service edge (SSE) vendors.
Access distributed apps from any location, especially as remote and hybrid work remain popular. VMware SD-Access™ was originally introduced as an SD-WAN client solution, but its capabilities now go far beyond that. It’s a simple and secure remote access solution that connects endpoints and devices, anywhere, to the global network of more than 200 VMware Edge PoPs from VMware and our partners that put cloud resources within milliseconds of users and devices. (We like to call it SODA POP, for SD-Access + PoP). VMware SD-Access extends security and connectivity to remote workers and devices—and devices are key as more and more IoT and OT devices come online at the edge. Based on zero-trust principles, VMware SD-Access provides a sustained user experience with path-optimized access, is simple to deploy and manage, and does not require additional hardware.
Connect to multiple clouds and connect clouds to the edge. VMware SD-WAN supports multiple options to connect to multi-clouds, including IPSec gateways, SD-WAN hubs deployed within a hyperscaler’s environment, and dedicated connections in a carrier-neutral facility. VMware partners with the hyperscalers to connect enterprises to the cloud with direct access, through the cloud via seamless integration with a cloud or transport provider’s backbone, and with the cloud using automated connectivity to cloud provider route servers with visibility and analytics. Customers can also take advantage of the global PoP network provided by VMware and our robust network of partners. This approach makes it simple to deliver security and policy to users and devices wherever they are. And VMware SD-WAN adds the advantage of Dynamic Multipath Optimization™ (DMPO) to ensure high bandwidth, reliable connectivity, and the lowest latency for business-critical application traffic.
Rapidly transform and simplify enterprise operations with AI. Network troubleshooting can be painful. VMware SD-WAN has integrated AIOps with VMware Edge Network Intelligence™. It helps reduce complexity, improves application response time, and uses the power of AI to greatly reduce operational time and effort. At VMware Explore Las Vegas, we provided a sneak peek at coming AI assistance features for VMware SD-WAN and VMware SASE solutions. These future features will help enterprise IT interact with networks, understand performance metrics, and provide faster time to resolution.
VMware SD-WAN sets the standard with the number one SD-WAN market share, and more than 18,000 customers in 180 countries across 580,000+ sites. As businesses continue to put more resources and IT services into edge locations, having a reliable and secure network structure is paramount. There’s no better time than now to investigate all that this groundbreaking technology can do for your organization’s success.
Learn more
Check out the press release announcing that VMware is a six-time Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for SD-WAN
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN, Jonathan Forest, Naresh Singh, Andrew Lerner, Karen Brown, 27 September 2023.
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This document was renamed from Magic Quadrant of WAN Edge Infrastructure to Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN in 2022.
