SD-WAN is on the rise, global survey shows

The use of software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) is increasing globally, with 62% of organisations either already deploying them or expecting to do so in the next 12 months, a study has shown.

The survey of more than 750 IT decision-makers, led by Vanson-Bourne, looked at SD-WAN market trends and acquisition preferences — showing varied adoption rates across industries and regions.

Within the APAC finance industry, uptake was particularly pervasive, with 46% already using the technology and 38% on the cusp of it.

In contrast, the construction industry was lagging, with none of the 250 APAC respondents currently using SD-WAN. The vast majority (89%) were, however, in the process of deploying or expecting to in the coming year.

Andrew Huntley, Regional Director of ANZ and Pacific Islands for Barracuda — the survey sponsor — said these industry disparities were expected.

“It’s not surprising that financial services is leading the charge, as the industry moves to be more flexible, responsive and agile in their approach to improving the availability and reliability of services they offer customers and employees,” he said.

In an Australian context, most of the 50 respondents used SD-WAN for either improved network security (48%), network flexibility and agility (43%) or application performance (43%).

SD-WAN fully integrated into public cloud was Australia’s solution of choice, with Microsoft Azure the preferred public-cloud platform for 52% of respondents.

A quarter of the Australians surveyed used SD-WAN for securing public cloud deployments and a further 40% wished to use it for protection.

“As more Australian organisations move to the public cloud, SD-WAN technology is a critical part of securing these cloud deployments,” Huntley added.

“By deploying an all-in-one, secure SD-WAN solution natively built into the public cloud network, organisations can reap the full benefits of public cloud.”

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