Masergy Releases 2019 SD‑WAN Market Trends Report

New Survey Highlights Security and Skills Gaps as Top Drivers for SD-WAN

Avatar for Jody GilliamBy Jody Gilliam|Jul 16, 2019|7:30 am CDT

DALLAS – July 16, 2019 – Masergy, a leading provider of managed SD-WAN, cloud communications and managed security solutions, today announced results from its new 2019 SD-WAN Market Trends Survey, which found that security drives selection, skills gaps remain a primary obstacle to adoption, and adoption continues to rise.

The survey, conducted in partnership with IDG Research, analyzed responses from IT decision makers in global enterprises across a variety of industries. This survey was also conducted in 2017 as a benchmark in order to measure SD-WAN trends over time. Optimizing the network to support cutting-edge technology stands out as the most prominent objective that was covered in the survey. Most survey participants find that security is the biggest WAN challenge, even outweighing cost concerns. Managing numerous users, devices, and locations is also an increasing pain point.

Key findings from the 2019 survey include:

  • Optimizing the network to support cutting-edge technologies remains the top WAN objective (61%) among survey participants.
  • Security (50%) is the top WAN challenge and the leading factor (81%) guiding companies in the SD-WAN selection process.
  • The skills gap (46%) remains a top barrier to SD-WAN adoption, whereas concerns regarding interoperability with existing WANs are less prevalent than they were two years ago.
  • SD-WAN adoption rates increased from 35% to 54% over the past two years, with 90% of respondents actively researching, piloting, actively using or upgrading their existing SD-WAN.
  • Network management simplification (46%) continues to be the top expected IT benefit of SD-WAN adoption, and the top three expected business benefits of SD-WAN are increased efficiency, improved security, and cost savings.

“Masergy pioneered software-defined networking two decades ago, and this survey validates the growing maturity of SD-WAN solutions. IT leaders are tasked with transforming their business through cloud-based applications and emerging technologies, but these pivots introduce a new level of complexity that can be daunting for network and security teams,” said Masergy CEO James Parker. “Masergy is uniquely positioned to deliver on the digital ambitions of today’s global enterprises with our software-defined network, integrated security, and fully-managed SD-WAN services.”

Download Masergy’s 2019 SD-WAN Market Trends Report for a detailed view into the research results.

About Masergy

Recognized as a pioneer in software-defined networking, Masergy is a leading secure cloud networking platform for global enterprise businesses. Masergy leverages artificial intelligence to enable superior application performance, offering managed SD-WAN, Security, UCaaS, and CCaaS solutions. Masergy was acquired by Comcast Business in October 2021 – combining the power and scale of Comcast’s network with Masergy’s industry-leading SLAs and exceptional customer experience to redefine what’s possible for future-thinking businesses. Learn more and follow us on our Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

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