LONDON, June 12, 2017 — Software-defined networking has reached the wide area network (WAN). Software-defined WANs (SD-WANs) will play a key role in network evolution as organizations try to cope with the accelerating requirements resulting from digital transformation. In a new report, International Data Corporation (IDC) foresees rapidly growing demand for SD-WAN solutions in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

SD-WANs build on hybrid network architectures that have been rising in popularity for years, but add centralized software-based intelligence that monitors, analyzes, and controls the network, allowing end users to mix and match different forms of connectivity (like MPLS, internet, Ethernet, wireless) and services into a hybrid network that provides an optimal combination of cost and performance for every single location and application.

The momentum behind SD-WAN is strong, with many startup and established vendors and service providers jumping on the bandwagon. For end-user organizations the rationale for adoption is compelling, and IDC believes this will only increase as solutions mature and awareness and recognition of its benefits grow. The consequence will be a high growth opportunity, with revenues in EMEA expected to grow at an average pace of 92% per year to reach $2.1 billion by 2021.

"SD-WAN has emerged as one of the hottest topics in the WAN industry," said Jan Hein Bakkers, senior research manager at IDC. "It will become one of the key building blocks of network evolution, driving the flexibility, manageability, scalability, and cost effectiveness that organizations require in their balancing act between rapidly growing requirements and much flatter budgets."

The report — The SD-WAN Opportunity in EMEA (IDC #EMEA42433317, April 2017) — analyzes this emerging market in EMEA. It details trends, drivers, and challenges from a technology, managed services, and network life-cycle service perspective. It includes a pan-EMEA forecast and profiles the SD-WAN strategies of major CSPs.