Despite grossing $350 million across the globe, the hotly anticipated Terminate: Genysis movie was actually classified as a flop at the Box Office. This was largely due to its huge pre-production costs, with the film delayed for years while it was being conceived.
The plot to this film remains extremely engaging to tech enthusiasts, however, as it basically tells the story of a world where WAN technology is taking over the world. A WAN (or a Wide Area Network) is a telecoms network that extends over a considerable geographic distance, and while it’s currently a convenient system for large businesses and international groups it actually has huge potential for the future.
We’ll address this below, while asking which companies are leveraging software-defined (SD) WAN firms as a way of boosting their future growth.
The growth of the Global WAN Market
Whether you’re looking to stabilise cloud-connected resources, better manage remote networks or simply upgrade a timeworn environment, SD-WAN technologies are all the rage in the current marketplace.
This is borne out by the recent performance of this segment of the global networking market, which will achieve a market value of $4.5 billion in four years’ time.
It will also grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 40.4% between now and 2022, after revenues within the market expanded by 83.3% in the 12 months ending December 2017.
Make no mistake; software components are emerging as a key driver of the market’s growth, with controller and virtual network functions growing almost twice as fast as hardware elements.
This trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future at least, with software revenues poised to grow at CAGR of 41% compared to a relatively paltry 21% for hardware.
With this in mind, it’s no surprise that SD-Wan providers such as redcentric are leading the marketplace, while the rising rate of recent mergers and acquisitions is also indicative of the rising demand for software-driven solutions in this space.
A Look at the Market Leaders and Future Targets for Acquisition
Around 12 months ago, a relatively unknown company called Viptela was revealed by IHS Market to be the leader in the SD-WAN space.
After all, this firm has filed a first quarter revenue of $7.7 million, which equated to around 21% of the market at the time.
The summer saw the more established brand Cisco complete a $610 million acquisition of Viptela, as it integrated new people and technology into its operators while also increasing its own market share to 28%.
This triggered further movement in the marketplace, with VMware also completing the purchase of SD Wan innovator VeloCloud for a hefty $449 million at the beginning of 2018. Riverbed also acquired Ocedo for an undisclosed amount around this time, as it commenced the process of managing its transition to a software-defined future.
This trend is unlikely to change any time soon, with startups such as Bigleaf Networks generating significant traction in the market and catching the attention of larger, more established firms. As a provider of Cloud-first SD-Wan solutions, it’s set to emerge as a new market leader and a potential target for acquisitions in the future.
About the Author:
Rupesh Singh is freelance writer and founder of moneyoutline.com You can follow him on Google + & Facebook.