Press Release

2018 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN LEADERBOARD

AT&T, Hughes, Verizon, Windstream, CenturyLink, Aryaka, Fusion and Comcast are the leading providers on the first benchmark for SD-WAN services

May 23, 2019

Vertical Systems Group announces that eight companies achieved a position on the 2018 U.S. Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD (in rank order): AT&T, Hughes, Verizon, Windstream, CenturyLink, Aryaka, Fusion and Comcast. These companies had the highest market shares of installed Carrier Managed SD-WAN customer sites in the U.S. as of year-end 2018.

“Providers in the Carrier Managed segment of the SD-WAN market have emerged as the best choice for delivering large scale, complex and resilient SD-WAN services end-to-end,” said Rick Malone, principal of Vertical Systems Group. “We believe that network operators with deep experience in MPLS, Ethernet and IP are most favorably positioned to support enterprise customers as they transition their networks to SDN.”

Companies with the next largest market shares in this segment are cited in the Challenge Tier. The following six companies attained a Challenge Tier citation for 2018 (in alphabetical order): Bigleaf, GTT, Masergy, Meriplex, Sprint, and TPx.

Research Highlights

• SD-WAN is one of the three Managed VPN segments that Vertical tracks, along with MPLS and Site-to-Site VPNs. Service migration analysis shows that the majority of Carrier Managed SD-WAN service installations to date are hybrid configurations that include partial conversions of existing Site-to-Site and MPLS networks.
• The top five Carrier Managed SD-WAN companies are also the leading providers of Dedicated IP VPN services, including landline and satellite connectivity.
• A number of SDN-based technologies are utilized to deliver Carrier Managed SD-WAN services. The fourteen LEADERBOARD and Challenge Tier providers use products from the following companies (in alphabetical order): Cisco/Viptela, Silver Peak, Versa, and VMware/VeloCloud, or employ their own internally developed technologies. Several SD-WAN service providers offer multiple solutions.

Vertical Systems Group defines a Carrier Managed SD-WAN Service as a carrier-grade offering for business customers that is managed by a network operator, utilizes an SDN architecture, enables dynamic customer edge site connectivity, and provides centralized network control and visibility end-to-end. This definition aligns with MEF terminology for an SD-WAN service.

Refer to the publicly available Vertical BLOG, Managed SD-WAN Services Reality Check, for a detailed definition and more on the Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services segment.

@SD-WAN is available now exclusively by subscription to an ENS Research Program. Research includes the market share detail that powers the Carrier Managed SD-WAN Services LEADERBOARD. Content quantifies revenue, billable sites, customer counts, WAN access connections, pricing by type (i.e., Broadband, DIA, MPLS, LTE, Satellite, etc.), site configuration analysis (i.e., BB+BB, BB+MPLS, etc.), migration drivers to SD-WAN, Directories of Managed SD-WAN Services network operators and technology suppliers – and more. Contact us for more information and pricing.