CenturyLink, Thursday announced the market introduction of CenturyLink SD-WAN, a fully managed software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution. CenturyLink SD-WAN enables software-based centralized control to deliver full-featured private networks over any available connectivity. CenturyLink SD-WAN is designed to unify network management across disparate network types, creating an agile, responsive wide area network.
CenturyLink SD-WAN promises a 90-day proof-of-concept offer that is designed for businesses interested in testing SD-WAN within their wide area network. CenturyLink said that it will provide the customer-premise devices, access to an intuitive management portal and full customer support for up to five sites.
According to CenturyLink, the SD-WAN solution bundles site connectivity, equipment, software licensing, configuration, performance tuning and monitoring with a comprehensive management and analytics portal. Customers can manage their own policies or have CenturyLink manage their policies. CenturyLink can also manage connectivity from a wide range of providers as part of an aggregated solution. Customers can build standalone SD-WAN networks or pursue hybrid approaches that seamlessly integrate MPLS and SD-WAN connected sites.
The emerging market for SD-WAN services is expected to expand rapidly. Research firm IDC recently noted that nearly 70 percent of organizations expect to use SD-WAN in the next 18 months and the market could reach approximately $6 billion annually by 2020.
Aamir Hussain, Chief Technology Officer, CenturyLink
Cloud-based applications, media streaming, video surveillance, enhanced analytics and in-store experience continue to push the network needs of the enterprise. Without significant increases to their traditional private network budgets, enterprises are challenged to meet these ever-growing demands, improve the end-user experience and ensure security and application performance.
