As SD-WAN adoption continues to flourish, the market has begun to stabilize and competitive pressures have begun to force prices lower, according to research from TeleGeography.
SD-WAN costs are apparently becoming more accessible, particularly at the lower-capacity end of the market, according to TeleGeography’s research, which said that median non-recurring charges for SD-WAN implementations—meaning charges for the SD-WAN appliances themselves, not for additional managed services—have decreased by about 15% compounded annually since 2018.
That’s due in large part to increasing technological sophistication, according to Brianna Boudreau, senior research manager for TeleGeography.
“What we’ve seen is that as SD-WAN has matured, pricing models have evolved,” she said. “[Vendors] have been making cuts to become more competitive.”
SD-WAN pricing is a somewhat complicated issue to study, given the wide variety of pricing models offered by SD-WAN vendors. Some focus more on capital expenditure-based plans where the cost is mostly in purchasing the actual SD-WAN appliance; others are more opex-based, where the costs are more focused on paying for an ongoing software subscription.