Global survey uncovers industry and region dynamics of SD-WAN adoption

CAMPBELL, Calif., June 11, 2020  —  

Highlights: 

• 74% of respondents have either already deployed software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) or expect to do so within the next 12 months.
• The financial services industry has the highest rate of SD-WAN adoption. The public sector has the lowest.
• 52% of respondents want to acquire an SD-WAN solution via a cloud provider.
• Microsoft Azure is 50% more preferred than Amazon AWS and 125% more preferred than Google GCP.

Barracuda, a trusted partner and leading provider of cloud-enabled security solutions, today released key findings from a report titled Secure SD-WAN: The Launch Pad into Cloud. Commissioned by Barracuda, the research surveyed global IT decision makers to capture their attitudes and opinions about SD-WAN adoption, along with data about acquisition preferences, variations by industry, and a variety of related issues. 

Read the full report: https://www.barracuda.com/sdwan-report-2020

The survey, conducted by independent market researcher Vanson Bourne, includes responses from 750 executives, individual contributors, and team managers with responsibility for or knowledge of their organization’s cloud infrastructure. They came from organizations of all sizes and across a broad range of sectors, in EMEA, APAC and the US.

Overall, the study indicates that while adoption rates for public cloud continue to grow, security is still the number one roadblock, which is understandable considering the volume and variety of threats organizations face today. Highlights from the report include: 

• Secure SD-WAN fully integrated into public cloud is the solution of choice.
• 23% of respondents have already deployed SD-WAN, with another 51% either in the process of deploying or expecting to deploy within the next 12 months.
• SD-WAN is being used by more than half of those who have added security to their public cloud.
• SD-WAN deployments vary greatly by industry.
• The financial services industry has the most SD-WAN adoption, with 35% of respondents saying it is already in use. Another 41% are in the process of deploying SD-WAN or expect to do so in the next 12 months. 
• The public sector has the lowest amount of SD-WAN deployment. Only 7% currently have SD-WAN deployed, and another 36% are in the process of deploying SD-WAN or expect to do so in the next 12 months
• Acquiring SD-WAN via a cloud provider is the overwhelming preference.
• 52% of respondents want to acquire an SD-WAN solution through a cloud provider.
• In comparison, 16% prefer to get SD-WAN from an independent vendor, while 15% would opt for a telecommunications partner, and 12% would choose a value-added reseller. 6% had no preference 
• Microsoft Azure is the preferred public-cloud platform.
• Microsoft Azure is 50% more preferred than Amazon AWS and 125% more preferred than Google GCP.
• Responses indicate that Azure is perceived to be more secure and more user friendly than AWS and GCP.

“As more organizations move to public cloud, SD-WAN technology is a critical part of securing these cloud deployments,” said Klaus Gheri, VP, Network Security, Barracuda. “By deploying an all-in-one, secure SD-WAN solution natively built into the public cloud network, organizations can reap the full benefits of public cloud.”