Why Masergy is the innovation leader in new Frost Radar™ report evaluating SD-WAN services

If you’re looking for the most innovative managed SD-WAN service on the market, look no further than Masergy — that’s according to Frost & Sullivan. The global analyst firm just published their Frost Radar™ report covering the North American managed SD-WAN services market for 2021. In it, they positioned Masergy as the most innovative service in the industry. We’re the Radar™ Innovation Index leader.

Here at Masergy, we’re honored and delighted by this news. Frost’s benchmarking system is the leading analytical tool, aiding IT leaders in evaluating providers with a key focus on continuous innovation. With five indexes to measure innovation, they dig deep into technology, global scalability, and customer alignment. When compared to last year, Masergy’s position on the innovation index improved, showing marked progress. Thank you Frost & Sullivan!

So, how does Masergy lead the industry in SD-WAN innovation? Here are the five reasons why we think Masergy earned first place.

1. A choose-your-own-adventure approach to connectivity

Today’s IT leaders want to mix and match private and public network services, leveraging SD-WAN to combine MPLS and ethernet WANs with broadband internet access, dedicated internet access, and xG wireless links. These options are infinite with Masergy’s “your network, your way” approach to connectivity.

Our solutions are designed with extreme flexibility for both connectivity as well as the underlying network. In addition to Masergy-provided private access (on-net services using our global software-defined network), direct internet access, and broadband internet access, clients can bring their own third-party network — an option we call “bring your own network.” Plus, there are direct interconnections for cloud service providers like AWS and Microsoft Azure along with cloud applications including more than 200 of the top business tools.

All of this means our clients have the freedom to choose the right configuration for their needs today and continually evolve as needs change. White glove service teams will even help you understand how proposed changes in your network will impact the quality of your application performance and your network service costs too.

2. Fully managed services take the work out of your WAN

“Daunting” is often the word used to describe the complexity of SD-WAN installation and management, particularly when it comes to interacting with public internet service providers. That helps explain why 75% of IT leaders prefer a fully managed service, according to IDG’s SD-WAN Market Trends Report.

Masergy has you covered with a “soup to nuts” service that encompasses:

• Dedicated project managers to guide installation decisions and oversee multiple implementations
• 24/7 network and application performance monitoring (for both public and private access)
• When you use public internet services from Masergy’s list of 300+ global access providers, we’ll also source, deploy, and manage those services for you — no more provider sprawl!
• Choose from fully managed SD-WAN services or co-managed services that let your IT team share the work of network management
• Industry-leading service level agreements include 100% availability for SD-WAN sites and cloud connections with proactive credits on availability
• 24/7 managed security services provided by Masergy’s own certified analysts

Here’s what Dole foods has to say about Masergy’s service:

“With our previous provider, we would go down hard for days. So, we were on the phone with them all the time. With Masergy, I don’t recall one instance where we were down hard at any of our sites,” said Curt Chapman, Manager IT Infrastructure at Dole. Before selecting Masergy, Dole tested three providers. “Masergy handled support requests almost instantaneously. The service is exponentially better,” he added.

And services don’t stop there!

3. No more alert overload — SASE coupled with managed security services

With business getting done via cloud-based apps working over the public internet and cybersecurity attacks on the rise, every IT leader is approaching SD-WAN with security top of mind. But no one wants to cobble together multiple providers and dashboards to ensure their solution protects corporate data. Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is the new category of solutions solving that problem by bundling security technologies and SD-WAN together in one platform. But while SASE is all the buzz, many don’t realize that a team of certified analysts are needed to support the technology bundle. In fact, the people and processes required to handle security alerts and take action against any identified cybersecurity threats is considered 90% of the success equation.

That’s why Masergy wraps SASE with 24/7 managed security services. Plus, we package our SASE solutions with security technologies only from the Leaders in their respective Gartner Magic Quadrants. This all-in-one toolbox delivers:

• Managed SD-WAN services
• Cloud-based firewall as a service (with the ability to also put firewalls on-premise)
• Cloud access security broker (CASB)
• Secure web gateway
• Endpoint security solutions
• 24/7 detection and response services (also known as SOCaaS)

4. Hybrid work made AI-intelligent: SD-WAN Work From Anywhere + AIOps

As hybrid work becomes the new normal, IT leaders are looking for ways to securely extend their corporate network into the homes and workplaces of distributed users in remote locations. Masergy’s Work From Anywhere solutions do just that with hardware- and software-based options giving at-home users uncompromising connectivity and remote users secure access to the information they need.

And it’s all enabled by artificial intelligence (AI).

Every SD-WAN solution from Masergy includes an AI-powered digital assistant, called Masergy AIOps. What does AIOps really do? Here’s a few examples of the real-world benefits.

1. Protect Performance Proactively: AIOps calculates your cloud app performance propensity and keeps things running smoothly with suggested network optimizations and application policies.
2. Find the Best Path for Critical Apps: AIOps evaluates your network performance history and service priorities, recommending the best path for your video conferencing apps and all your critical business tools.
3. Prevent Outages: If bandwidth saturation is degrading service for critical traffic and causing packets to drop, AIOps will suggest a bandwidth boost at the right time to prevent interruptions in service.

AI intelligence also powers Masergy’s newest innovation, Performance Edge. This patent-pending technology boosts public internet or broadband connections, making them perform more like private lines — with highly reliable service. As a result, applications can perform better, making your teams more productive all at a cost that is softer on the IT budget.

AIOps technologies provide the path to fully automated networks, and with it embedded deep into our SD-WAN solutions, Masergy is on track to deliver the autonomous networks of the future. Moreover, our clients will be right there with us.

5. Global collaboration powered by SD-WAN + UCaaS working together

In the age of work-from-anywhere, companies need to keep remote workers productive on every continent. For many IT leaders that means leveraging SD-WAN to address the network that supports bandwidth-hungry voice and video applications essential for hybrid work. SD-WAN brings the ability to prioritize applications and assign bandwidth first to critical VoIP and video conferencing tools, so you can see why it’s considered the perfect partner for unified communications as a service (UCaaS). It helps IT leaders ensure a high-quality application experience for all users.

Masergy pairs UCaaS and SD-WAN into one fully managed service, giving IT leaders the confidence of high-quality, more consistent collaboration all across the globe. With industry-leading SLAs and 24/7 network service monitoring and management services, clients don’t have to worry about babysitting application performance. We’re paying attention to VoIP and video, so you don’t have to worry.

• Best-of-breed communications tools from Cisco and Microsoft Teams
• Global availability with 100% packet delivery
• SIP trunking for hybrid deployments
• Full PSTN with in-country dial plans in 29 countries
• Performance visibility with usage metrics and call quality analytics
• 24/7 monitoring provided by Masergy’s own network analysts

At the end of the day, SD-WAN investors want the freedom to configure a solution that’s as unique as their business, and they want security, AI, and cloud services to be an intrinsic part of that solution. Moreover, they want a turnkey experience that doesn’t put the burdens of 24/7 security and network management on their IT teams but relieves them of the day-to-day, so they can stay focused on the next phase of their digital transformation. When you need to transform with certainty, talk to the experts at Masergy — the ones who know how to deliver the most innovative managed SD-WAN service on the market.

Contact us today for a free consultation.

Disclaimer: Frost & Sullivan does not explicitly endorse or guarantee results with any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications.