Software-defined cloud platform and network solution for the digital enterprise, Masergy, have announced the results from its new 2020 SD-WAN market trends report. For the third year in a row, this report demonstrates the increasing adoption of SD-WAN technology, with a growing interested in co-managed and managed tools for navigating an integrated security and network solution.
The timing of the survey throughout the global pandemic uncovered the challenges posed in a work from home landscape with things like business continuity and security. According to Masergy, as anywhere working becomes the new normal, supporting remote team has increased the need of IT departments to update their cloud and security infrastructure.
An Insight Into the New Landscape
Masergy’s research, conducted with support from IDG, analyses the responses from a series of IT decision makers in global enterprises across a host of industries. Findings indicate that the network and security infrastructure are two of the top areas of focus for ensuring business continuity in an age of remote work.
Connecting the security and network landscape into a single strategy is also important today, along with having a managed service provider for assistance. Some of the other major findings of the survey include:
- Around 64% of participants say that they’re spending more on their network infrastructure now than they did in the previous quarter. Additionally, SD-WAN trends for adoption have continued rising with each study. In 2020, 56% of companies are installing or upgrading their installation
- Enabling collaboration at a distance and remote work are now the top IT investment strategies for most companies. Around 44% of respondents are prioritizing the support of their home workforce in the new era
- Multi-cloud connections are the top SD-WAN function (66%) that companies are interested in as IT leaders continue to address the challenges of cloud app functionality
- Security is an overwhelming focus for all brands. Around 91% of participants say that they had a significant interest in services covering SD-WAN and security. These tools are otherwise known as secure access service edge tools
- Enterprises are beginning to demand a more managed SD-WAN solution, with 45% looking into a fully-managed approach, and 29% choosing co-managed. Only 25% of companies are going for a “do it yourself” strategy
Adjusting Connectivity for the New Normal
According to the CMO of Masergy, Rebecca Carr, working from home is quickly becoming the new normal for most companies. This means that businesses are focusing more than ever on new strategies for supporting remote workers. In this landscape, it’s not surprising to see the transformative impact of SASE solutions and SD-WAN becoming the new necessity for achieving secure remote access.
SD-WAN is becoming the go-to option or companies that need reliable performance and secure remote access to cloud applications. Companies can access the full report on SD-WAN trends from Masergy today, for a more complete overview of the results.
