Looking to capitalize on the emerging software-defined WAN market opportunity, Verizon has entered into an agreement to offer startup Viptela’s SD-WAN technology as a hosted product.
+MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: SD-WAN: What it is and why you’ll use it one day +
SD-WAN is the idea of bringing software defined networking capabilities to branch office sites. Controlling the WAN through software allows for easier management of the network if changes are needed and SD-WANs typically support multiple types of connections, from broadband to MPLS to LTE.
A hosted SD-WAN offering like the one Verizon announced that is powered by Viptela means that the intelligence and automation of the SD-WAN services are hosted in Verizon’s data center. Individual branch offices get the benefit of using the SD-WAN without having to host the infrastructure needed to run it.
Late last year Verizon teamed up with Cisco to offer a SD-WAN kit that combines Cisco IWAN with Verizon networking services, which is meant for organizations that do want to host their own SD-WAN infrastructure.