A recent study by Masergy by Altman Solon revealed that many IT decision-makers recognize SD-WAN technology as the new standard for businesses, especially in a post-pandemic world.
Indeed, SD-WAN (software-defined wide-area networking) enables businesses to expand the reach of their internal networks to remote offices or home workers, through a leased line that connects one location to another using routers, or by transmitting data over ISP circuits.
It was found out that 79% of businesses are currently using some form of SD-WAN, and it is expected that it will rise up to 92% by 2026. Among these, 58% are planning to use a hybrid access model to get the best of both public and private SD-WANs.
The study also stated that private SD-WANs are more expensive but more reliable and secure, while public SD-WANs are the opposite. Hence, only 17% of IT decision-makers declared to be using fully private SD-WANs, and 16% said they’ll still be fully private in five years. 16% of respondents said that their organization was completely public now, with 27% planning to be in five years.
Moreover, the report noted that hybrid represents 67% of the SD-WAN market. 55% of public access users declared that they would be willing to move to a hybrid model as application performance is insufficient and savings are outweighed by quality issues. On the other hand, 65% of private access users stated they would be willing to go hybrid due to the growth of remote work and the desire to have a better cost-benefit.
Therefore, this study showed that IT leaders understand the full value of SD-WAN connectivity and are planning to lean into hybrid access models to have the best price and performance for a better ROI.
