THE RECAP Fireside Chat: 2017 SD-WAN Updates with CEO Sean Barr and Senior Solutions Architect Chris Marshall
In this recap of our most recent episode, LookingPoint CEO Sean Barr sits down with Solutions Architect Chris Marshall to discuss what’s changed in the SD-WAN landscape since the start of 2017—and spoiler alert, it’s been big.
While SD-WAN isn’t new, it’s still revolutionizing enterprise networks. At its core, SD-WAN simplifies wide area networking through:
Centralized policy management
Bandwidth consolidation
Lower operational and total cost of ownership
Organizations continue to deploy SD-WAN to increase agility, reduce complexity, and improve performance. But since our last chat, the space has seen some major developments—especially Cisco’s acquisition of Viptela.
Cisco’s acquisition of cloud-based SD-WAN leader Viptela marked a significant shift. As predicted in our last discussion, SD-WAN vendors would consolidate—and Cisco made the first big move.
Viptela was known for:
Zero-touch provisioning
Simple cloud-based deployment
Native segmentation capabilities
Cisco’s existing SD-WAN (IWAN) was strong on features like:
QoS
Performance routing (PfR)
Application visibility via NBAR
Now, Cisco seems poised to merge the best of both: Viptela’s cloud-first ease with IWAN’s enterprise-grade features.
As internet reliability and bandwidth availability increase, the need for traditional WAN optimization (like Cisco’s WAAS) is diminishing. Chris predicts we may see optimization features phased out in favor of simplicity and speed. Most customers aren’t demanding it—and SD-WAN works well without it.
Cisco is likely to streamline SD-WAN management through DNA Center, unifying control across platforms. This could mean the end of legacy tools like APIC-EM or Viptela’s native manager. For customers, this means simpler management and deeper network visibility in a single pane of glass.
Many service providers—AT&T, Verizon, Windstream—have standardized on SD-WAN offerings from vendors like Viptela. While these managed options offer simplicity, they often sacrifice customization and provider independence. It’s a tradeoff IT leaders should weigh carefully.
Chris offers a final thought: Just as Cisco brought back Viptela (founded by ex-Cisco engineers), might Juniper follow suit by acquiring Versa Networks (a company built by ex-Juniper engineers)? Time will tell—but we’ll be watching closely.
Have questions about SD-WAN or want to explore your deployment options?
Read more about 2017 SD-WAN updates and predictions here.
If you are interested in having LookingPoint install SD-WAN into your network, feel free to contact us here!