SD-WAN FEATURED ARTICLE

BigLeaf-Aligned Partnership Sign of Enterprise Market Embracing SD-WAN

July 27, 2016

By Christopher Mohr, Contributing Writer

BigLeaf Networks and Aligned Communications recently announced that they had formed a channel relationship to advance SD-WAN technology. BigLeaf will provide SD-WAN for the cloud service that emphasizes high reliability and performance. Aligned will make this service available to its extensive network of sales partners.




Beaverton, Oregon-based BigLeaf Networks, Inc. offers solutions for improving SD-WAN performance. Using redundancy, its technology has a rollover capability that minimizes Internet service disruptions. A prioritization mechanism ensures that VoIP traffic takes precedence over other Internet traffic, while a load balancing feature reduces the likelihood of bottlenecks. Dallas-based Aligned Communications is a master agency that works with carriers and sub-agents to distribute carrier plans and solutions.

Earlier this year, IDC released a report that amounts to good news for BigLeaf and Aligned, painting a very bright picture for SD-WAN technology in the next few years. Last year, the size of the SD-WAN market could be measured in millions, totaling $225 million. IDC (News - Alert) predicts that the market will grow at a CAGR of 90 percent between now and 2020, when it is expected to reach $6 billion. Such an explosive rate of growth (and unsustainable in the long term) is consistent with any new technology expected to have an abundance of takers.

Why is SD-WAN expected to take off like a rocket in the next four years? One huge reason is cost savings. According to a Gartner study from a year ago, the three-year estimated cost of a traditional WAN, which includes the upfront costs, maintenance, and staffing costs for a 250-branch setup is $1.285 million. That same setup with an SD-WAN is around $450,000, about 35 percent of the cost of the traditional setup. The flexibility of supporting different types of connections, being much easier to manage, and dynamic path selection to improve load balancing are also compelling reasons.

From a higher level perspective, SD-WAN is doing to traditional WAN what cloud phone service has done to the traditional PBX (News - Alert) system--the former is making the latter obsolete. For companies with a variety of different connection types and numerous branches, SD-WAN will be a great option that is more scalable, cost effective, and easy to manage than its hardware-intensive predecessor. 



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