A study of IT decision-makers done for software-defined networking company Masergy by Altman Solon, suggests that SD-WAN technology is emerging as the new standard for businesses, especially in the light of the major shift to remote work brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
SD-WAN, or software-defined wide-area networking, allows businesses to extend the reach of their internal networks to remote locations where workers are based.<\/p>\n
This is done either by a leased line that directly connects one location to another with the use of routers or publicly transmitting data over ISP circuits in conjunction with circuit or packet switching.<\/p>\n
The study revealed that 79% of businesses are currently using some form of SD-WAN, and will increase to 92% by 2026. 58% of those plan to use a hybrid access model to strike a balance between the benefits and drawbacks of SD-WANS.<\/p>\n
The same study showed that 17% of IT decision-makers said their organizations currently use fully private SD-WANS while 16% will be fully private in five years.<\/p>\n
But, 16% are using public SD-WANS while 27% becoming fully public in five years.<\/p>\n
Hybrid users, in turn, stand at 67% of the SD-WAN market but will lose users in five years as more organizations migrate to public SD-WANS.<\/p>\n
55% of public users are willing to move to a hybrid model to improve performance while 65% of private users are willing to go hybrid due to the growth of remote work and for greater cost efficiency.<\/p>\n
Secure access service edge (SASE), an alternative to SD-WAN, received a lukewarm response from IT users with 82% of respondents claiming familiarity with it against only 32% who claim to have a deep understanding of what it is and its effect on organizations.<\/p>\n