Optus Business launches SD-WAN service

Optus Business today stepped into the burgeoning local software-defined wide area network market, hot on the heels of rival Macquarie Telecom which launched its own service last month.

The telco’s Optus Fusion SD-WAN offering is supported by Riverbed’s SteelConnect platform and can be deployed as an ‘over-the-top’ managed service across any business network – regardless of provider or connection.

“Business is moving at an unprecedented pace and, in an effort to remain relevant, organisations have deployed technologies from multiple providers. With real-time insights into how network components are working together and performing, CIOs, network architects and developers are empowered with information shaping existing and future IT strategies,” said Enzo Cocotti, director at Optus Business.

Optus Business said the insights provided by the product allow businesses to improve and prioritise data flow between network branches, as well as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Azure cloud environments, to immediately address business needs.

“This is the start of the evolution of SD-WAN in Australia. As organisations continue to adopt more and more cloud apps and services, the network has to adapt to become more agile and intelligent,” said Keith Buckley, Riverbed Technology’s vice president ANZ. “[The offering] represents a catalyst for change – and a radical new approach to networking in today’s cloud-centric world.”

Huge growth

Enterprises are relying more and more on SD-WAN to streamline connections among enterprise sites, resulting in a market for the technology which is expected to balloon from $225 million in 2015 to US$1.19 billion by the end of this year, according to IDC.

Over the next five years, SD-WAN sales will grow at a 69 per cent compound annual growth rate, hitting US$8.05 billion in 2021, according to IDC’s Worldwide SD-WAN Forecast, 2017–2021.

“SD-WAN offers compelling value for its ability to defray MPLS costs, simplify and automate WAN operations, improve application traffic management, and dynamically deliver on the cost and efficiency benefits associated with intelligent path selection,” IDC analysts Rohit Mehra and Brad Casemore write in the report.

Macquarie Telecom launched its SD-WAN service in August, partnering with US cloud SD-WAN pioneer VeloCloud. The company claimed at the time that around 80 customers were already using the service.

The company's group executive Luke Clifton called the technology "the most exciting development in the market since the dawn of 3G".