Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN
Gartner defines SD-WAN as functionality primarily used to connect branch locations to other enterprise and cloud locations. SD-WAN products provide dynamic path selection based on business or application policy, routing, centralized orchestration of policy and management of appliances, virtual private network (VPN), and zero-touch configuration. SD-WAN products are WAN transport/carrier-agnostic and create secure paths across physical WAN connections. SD-WAN products replace traditional branch routers and enable connectivity between enterprise branch locations as well as the cloud. They facilitate WAN connectivity's evolution from Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-centric to public internet-centric in support of enterprise traffic shifts from private data centers to public cloud and SaaS.
Vendors must, among other requirements:
A: This research evaluates 13 SD-WAN vendors across their Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision. It covers vendor positioning in the Magic Quadrant (Leaders, Challengers, Visionaries, Niche Players), detailed strengths and cautions for each vendor, market definition and mandatory/common features, inclusion and exclusion criteria, evaluation criteria, market context including convergence trends with SASE and adjacent technologies, and market recommendations for infrastructure and operations leaders.
A: Infrastructure and operations leaders responsible for networking should use this research to identify SD-WAN vendors most aligned with their branch connectivity and security requirements. This includes those responsible for building and managing WANs who need to evaluate vendors based on product capabilities, sales execution, pricing, market responsiveness, customer experience, innovation, and strategic vision for addressing enterprise SD-WAN use cases.
A: Mandatory features for SD-WAN vendors include: (1) The ability to operate as a branch office router with support for eBGP, OSPF, and various network topologies for at least 250 sites, including traffic shaping/QoS; (2) Centralized management/orchestration with GUI for reporting, troubleshooting, configuration changes, and software upgrades; (3) Zero-touch configuration; (4) IPsec VPN with AES 256-bit encryption and integrated firewall; (5) Application-aware path selection based on business or application policy that responds to network conditions in active/active configuration; (6) Autodiscovery of at least 200 well-known application profiles; (7) Visibility of application performance data across the WAN; (8) Demonstrated integration with at least one third-party cloud security solution (SSE vendor); (9) Full DIY support with complete granular management capabilities; and (10) Software deployable in at least two cloud providers (such as AWS and Microsoft Azure).
A:
A: Ability to Execute focuses on current market performance and execution capabilities, evaluating vendors on their existing product quality, sales effectiveness, pricing competitiveness, customer experience, and market responsiveness. It emphasizes operational excellence and current market success with high weightings on Product/Service, Sales Execution/Pricing, and Customer Experience. Completeness of Vision, in contrast, assesses a vendor's future-oriented strategy and innovation potential, focusing on product roadmaps, market understanding, innovation capabilities, and strategic planning. It emphasizes forward-thinking approaches with high weightings on Offering (Product) Strategy and Innovation, evaluating the vendor's ability to anticipate and shape future market needs rather than just execute in the current environment.