Infovista claims SD-WAN implementation game changer with transparent hybrid technology
Application-aware SD-WAN technology provider introduces additional capabilities to ‘dramatically’ simplify migration and hasten transition to software-defined networking
Aiming to encourage enterprises that may previously have been discouraged to adopt software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) by the potential complexity and return on investment timescales, SD-WAN technology provider Infovista has unveiled technology that it says significantly reduces the typical implementation time for SD-WAN while eliminating the need for network reconfiguration and downtime.
The transition to SD-WAN has been one of the key trends of the past two years and research from Omdia calculated that the global SD-WAN market grew by 78% in 2019 year-over-year to reach $1.9bn. Yet while it said there was clear evidence that SD-WAN adoption is growing rapidly, there is also a definite market need for a hybrid WAN solution that’s easy to deploy to help customers move at their own speed and reduce disruption.
“As the market continues its shift from early adopters to the mainstream, there is room for a more methodical approach to migrate to SD-WAN via hybrid with the ability to respond and adapt to changing network and business conditions to deliver the highest quality of experience to application users,” said Cliff Grossner, a senior research director responsible for datacentre compute and networking, cloud services and SDN research at Omdia.
Noting these dynamics, and market value, Infovista has announced the addition of transparent hybrid WAN (THW) capabilities to its Ipanema SD-WAN offering. The company said unlike any other similar solution, its product when in THW mode can deliver all the benefits of SD-WAN without expensive changes to switching or routing hardware with seamless compatibility across all leading CPE suppliers.
Based on a proprietary Infovista technology that allows SD-WAN-based routing over internet connections that is “invisible” to currently deployed routers, transparent hybrid WAN is also said to help enterprise customers gain immediate business value from SD-WAN without the inherent risks of multi-month migration projects.
“For adoption of SD-WAN to deliver ROI, it needs to be simple to deploy, risk-free and easy to scale, with no ‘downside’ for enterprises and service providers. Transparent hybrid WAN is a real game changer for our industry”
Mike Wilkinson, Infovista
As a result, said Infovista, retailers, manufacturers and financial services organisations could see tangible return on investment (ROI) from digital transformation initiatives in stores, production facilities and branches in a fraction of the time needed with competing solutions, while minimising operational disruption.
“We recognise that for adoption of software-defined wide area networking to deliver ROI, it needs to be simple to deploy, risk-free and easy to scale, with no ‘downside’ for enterprises and service providers,” said Infovista chief product officer Mike Wilkinson. “Transparent hybrid WAN…is a real game changer for our industry.”
To further his case, Wilkinson highlighted a recent deployment with a large international manufacturing customer that deployed 90 sites across four continents. Implementing the Ipanema SD-WAN solution went from decision to roll-out in just a few months.
“In a legacy SD-WAN roll-out, there could be tens of thousands of configuration changes and potential risk of downtime,” he said. “The transparent hybrid capability of Ipanema SD-WAN meant zero changes to the router estate and, more critically, no disruption to business operations and no application downtime.”
