In the South African market where multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) pricing is high, and in the rest of Africa where MPLS connectivity is difficult to obtain in remote areas, software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) becomes an attractive alternative.
Gartner predicts that by the end of 2019, 30% of enterprises will have deployed SD-WAN technology in their branches globally.
Greg de Chasteauneuf, CTO of Saicom, says business in SA is responding positively to SD-WAN. "SD-WAN is of particular interest to businesses that are moving their applications to the cloud and those with multiple branches that want to utilise high-speed off-the-shelf Internet connectivity but still want to have a service level agreement or control over those links.
"Any business, from one site that wants to manage its Internet bandwidth more effectively and prioritise certain traffic, for example SAP or Salesforce, or any of its business-critical applications over Facebook and YouTube to thousands of sites. It is suitable for SMEs to multinationals and global players. There is no specific vertical market, although it is well-suited to the retail and construction industries and businesses that have multiple sites," he explains.
Allan Paton, regional VP for UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa at Riverbed Technology, says enterprises' need for multiple network transport technologies to connect to mobile workers and cloud-based data centres is pushing network architects and operators towards SD-WAN.
"Just as the migration to the cloud is here to stay, so is the creation of hybrid networks. Enterprises need multiple network transport technologies to connect to mobile workers and cloud-based data centres, so having a mix of on-premises systems and public-cloud applications and services is now the best way to meet the demands of today's users.
"By simplifying the management of the network and ensuring consistent performance levels, IT spends less time managing and provisioning network resources. SD-WAN is an emerging technology with undeniable business benefits to the modern enterprise, such as improved agility, efficiency and performance."
An IDC study titled, "Cloud and Drive for WAN Efficiencies Power Move to SD-WAN", exemplifies SD-WAN's growth in the market by estimating that, worldwide, SD-WAN revenue will exceed $6 billion in 2020 with a compound annual growth rate of more than 90% over the 2015 to 2020 forecast period. The study highlights that benefits include cost-effective delivery of business applications, meeting the evolving operational requirements of the modern branch site, and improving IT efficiency through automation.
De Chasteauneuf concludes that even though adoption is slow in SA, there are some good signs. "Locally, uptake is dependent on when customers' MPLS contracts will phase out, but we predict that indeed 30% of enterprises will switch to SD-WAN within the next three to five years.
"Larger incumbents are protecting their MPLS networks, but they are now starting to offer the service, which is a positive sign."
Share