AT&T prepping SD-WAN solution for 2017

AT&T today announced a collaboration with VeloCloud to release a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution by 2017.

AT&T’s SD-WAN product will let customers manage application performance and bandwidth by allowing them to set parameters for routing data traffic across different access types. For VPN customers, AT&T says it can help manage multiple site types with different performance and bandwidth needs. And for customers with similarity across all sites, AT&T is touting its SD-WAN premises-based, over the top option, available later this year.

"Businesses need to satisfy increasing bandwidth demands while reducing costs. That means network needs are evolving, too," said Rick Hubbard, senior vice president of AT&T Network Product Management, in a statement. "This initiative is part of our software-centric strategy that gives our customers more flexibility and control of their networking services."

AT&T said it will continue to collaborate with other SD-WAN technology companies in addition to VeloCloud.

The hybrid networking integrated solution comes as AT&T continues its similar minded work in software-defined networking and network function virtualization.

Meanwhile, AT&T’s competitors in the telecom space have also been working to get SD-WAN offerings into the market. EarthLink, like AT&T, is collaborating with VeloCloud. Verizon is busy beefing up its SD-WAN portfolio with help from Cisco and Viptela. And CenturyLink is working Versa to keep pace on SD-WAN.

The push for SD-WAN among telcos is part of an effort to monetize the investments made in SDN, particularly by focusing on extending efficiencies for multi-site businesses. That involves offering SD-WAN as a managed service or as a technology, which can help service providers avoid having to deploy a head end in order to move customer premises onto SD-WAN.

As competition intensifies in the SD-WAN space, revenue opportunities are expanding for companies that can provide relevant services. IDC said that SD-WAN revenues will pass $6 billion by 2020, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 90 percent between 2015 and 2020.

For more:
- see this press release

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