Hybrid WAN FEATURED ARTICLE

It’s no secret that software is on a path to revolutionize networking as a whole, just look at some of the projections for the SD-WAN space. This arena is pegged for exponential growth in the coming years, which is resulting in an expanded networking presence. An area of technology that started as a small few is now growing in number as a result of innovation and partnerships. Today, in fact, Orange Business Services announced a partnership with Riverbed to bring SD-WAN to hybrid networks.

“Historically, Orange and Riverbed (News - Alert) have a strong relationship with joint innovation commitments to support developments in the network and cloud. Riverbed is a key partner, and we are working closely with them to integrate their SD-WAN technology into our network. This will provide our customers with yet more choice and simplicity in how they manage their infrastructure,” says Pierre-Louis Biaggi, vice president, Connectivity Business Unit, Orange Business Services (News - Alert).

The partnership is a rather large component of the Orange network-as-a-service strategy, empowering Orange customers to manage network operations in a user friendly manner, and optimize cloud and corporate applications. Orange is integrating Riverbed SteelConnect technology into its hybrid network portfolio, with the companies working in tandem to create a virtual network function (VNF) that customers can easily implement on universal customer premise equipment (uCPE).

“With the launch of our SD-WAN solution SteelConnect integrated into Orange’s hybrid network portfolio, Orange and Riverbed continue their journey of co-development aimed at rapidly introducing new services to the market in response to customers’ changing needs as they move more apps and services to the cloud,” noted said Phil Harris, senior vice president and General Manager, Service Provider Vertical at Riverbed.

Q2 2017 is when the first Orange pilot customers will be utilizing managed SteelConnect appliances, with the VNF expected to be available at the end of the year. When launched, the breath of service will offer easily managed, full virtualization and orchestration.

The duo produced successful efforts in the past and is building on that foundation, as new features will aid in mixing private and public connectivity as well as enhanced management of cloud access services.

Building on a foundation of networking knowhow, Riverbed and Orange are set to serve up quite the robust offering. Thanks to innovation in the cloud, virtualization and software in general, the network is heading in a rather neat direction. As SD-WAN continues to surge, only time will tell if the market hits the mark – I’m not betting against it.