I have found the optimization feature that acts to ensure the quality of the services running on the overlay to be most valuable.
VMware SD-WAN is a more complete product because of the SD-WAN feature.
I have found the optimization feature that acts to ensure the quality of the services running on the overlay to be most valuable.
VMware SD-WAN is a more complete product because of the SD-WAN feature.
The firewall can be more advanced.
The 4G connection doesn't come by default, and it would be good to have that in the next release.
The flexibility of use for customers could be improved as well. It would be good to also improve the reseller transfer of the box from one customer to another customer.
The cost could be lower too.
I have been using VMware SD-WAN for about 2 to 3 years.
The technical support is okay for Singapore. VMware has had quite good results this year.
To register with the orchestrator takes some effort sometimes. Our engineer did try a few times, and it's not exactly zero-touch. You still need to have all the information.
The cost of VMware SD-WAN is high, but I think you can still get better pricing if your volume is high.
If you are purely looking at it from a connectivity point of view and not so much from the point of security, then you can go for VMware. However, if you also want security features and you have a tight budget, then you probably need to choose Fortinet because Fortinet itself is a firewall. For VMware, you have to either get the NFV model that supports a third party firewall (it's a virtual appliance) or subscribe to additional services from cloud-based firewall vendors. So, you will have additional costs.
Although Fortinet is lower cost-wise than VMware, in terms of the SD-WAN feature, I think VMware is more complete. Fortinet is still lagging on the orchestrator function. So, I would rate VMware SD-WAN at eight on a scale from one to ten.
The most valuable features are the orchestration layer, plug and play capabilities, and also the fact that you can either configure it as a full mesh or hard install. Even though fully meshed is limited, it is still a good feature.
There are a number of customers we have that require a fully mashed SD-WAN on VeloCloud that is not available currently. If you compare the reporting tool to all other tools that you use for customers for MPLS, they are not as granular. Additionally, the security could be better and increasing the capabilities for fully meshed architectural typology would be beneficial.
I have been using the solution for approximately two years.
This solution is scalable, most of our clients are enterprise size companies.
The technical support is there if we need them. We are a premium partner to VMware, if there are issues that you cannot resolve internally, we reach out to them and they give us the help we need.
We currently use a few solutions other than this one such as Meraki. When picking the best solution for our clients, the best depends on the use case. It depends on the customer requirements, what they are looking for and then we will recommend the best fit based on our offering.
The installation is easy.
The price is reasonable for this solution, but the only challenge for us is that the Rand currency fluctuates to the dollar and provides some complexities. The price might go up just because the Rand has actually lost value.
This solution is at a very high level, and quite good. However, it is not one platform that fits all, it depends on the use case and what the customer looking for. You might find customers that want security or other UTM based features, which VeloCloud does not offer. It weighs heavily on the customer requirements, but if security is what they are after then I would not generally recommend the VeloCloud offering.
I rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.
There is a cloud gateway feature that centrally locates every space, which you don't get with Cisco. The cloud gateway is a very good feature for scaling purposes, etc. It's a very simple feature. In fact, everything about VeloCloud is quite simple, including the concept of the circuits, and, from a technical perspective, it's not as challenging as Cisco VPNs. They have VPN 0, VPN 1, VPN 2, VPN 3, but they're very simple in that approach — the concept of circuits. Overall, I think both products are good.
Cisco has begun to push its SD-WAN code within all of its ISR routers. This has made deployment quite challenging. With VeloCloud, deployment is much easier because they include all of their own hardware.
Cloud-based, it's okay because they roll up the device and provide you with a link for access. In regards to in-house, when you want to deploy the orchestrator, it becomes very difficult. Currently, I don't see any such good documentation compared to their competitors, like Cisco, etc.
Also, If you look at Cisco, just Google it and you'll get every detail: what to do, what specific system, what server, how much RAM, how much storage, all the details — it's just much easier.
If a customer has an optimization solution within their network, then you have to be very careful when designing — optimization and all. This can make your design very complex. If the customer has an existing optimization solution, then you have to be very careful when designing any part of the SD-WAN solution — Cisco or Velo.
They should provide us with the flexibility to scale up.
I have been using this solution for two and a half to three years.
VeloCloud is very stable — it's a very good solution.
I have not done a scale with something like 6,000 to 7,000 sites; however, if you look at the pure design, phase-wise, then you have to be very particular about new designs. Velo is purely based on design. I don't think the SD-WAN is that new and scaling that amount of sites requires a simple design rather than a complex solution.
With Cisco, we were working on a huge scale — I think it was around 1700 sites for that customer. After 900 sites, it started having problems. The controller was not sending the new site updates to the hub and it was not reflecting in the routing table; however, in the end, it scaled, but there were some challenges that we had to overcome.
There are not enough people within their support team. I would give them a rating of three out of five.
They have to improve, they have to be quicker and understand the types of problems customers face.
The initial setup is straightforward. The initial setup is very simple compared to Cisco. Cisco claims to be Zero Touch Provisioning, but I think they have a lot of complexity surrounding that Zero Touch. With VeloCloud, you can generate and send emails, and the receiver just has to connect to the device, open up the email and the configuration improves. In this way, I think Velo is good with Zero Touch Provisioning.
Deployment time really depends on what you deploy. If you want to roll out a small site on a single device, then the designing and the policies are all done — it's a really quick job. Your circuit and site will rollout quickly, everything will be up and running roughly within two to two and a half hours. If you're looking at a complex site, then of course, the complexity increases.
VeloCloud is a good solution. They are only lacking in regards to the in-house version.
On a scale from one to ten, I would give VeloCloud a rating of seven.
The solution offers ISP support for customers.
I love the solution because of its many features like cluster and cloud VPN.
The solution needs improvement for the security features and should include two firewalls. Cloud VPN can’t support any link. The solution needs to also improve the availability of centralized internal management.
It needs to have debug detection and Deep Packet Detection features as well.
The documentation for VMware is also hard to find.
I have been working with the solution for three months.
I am using the solution in a virtual machine and cannot comment on its stability. However, I think that the solution is stable because, in Libya, ISP uses this technology and many customers use it.
The solution is scalable and very important for quality view.
I worked with the solution in virtual Azure and it is complex. However, I think in the real scenario, the deployment should be more flexible.
I have evaluated Cisco SD-WAN and Fortinet SD-WAN. There is a need for more features in these solutions.
I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. The product is intuitive and easy to use. The solution is suitable for both medium companies and enterprise ones. I would recommend it for customers who have many branches.
VMware SD-WAN is used for security and virtualization.
The most valuable feature of VMware SD-WAN is security. Additionally, the integration and configuration are easier to do than with other solutions, such as Cisco.
I have been using VMware SD-WAN for approximately three years.
The solution is stable.
We have approximately 200 customers using this solution.
The support from VMware SD-WAN is knowledgeable.
I rate the support from VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.
Positive
The initial setup of VMware SD-WAN was simple. However, it took six days to complete.
We use a third party to deploy the solution.
The price of VMware SD-WAN is less expensive than some solutions, such as Cisco.
I recommend this solution to others.
I rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.
We use VMware to install some servers and virtual appliances.
It can be deployed on cloud and on-premises.
We have a team of five engineers.
Only one of our customers uses this solution. They're a medium-size enterprise.
It can be used for load balancing and load sharing. It's easy to use and customizable.
The dashboards could be improved.
I have used this solution for one year.
I would rate the stability as 10 out of 10.
It's scalable. I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten.
I would rate technical support as eight out of ten. I haven't faced any challenges.
Deployment took two hours.
I would rate this solution as eight out of ten. I would recommend it.
We use VeloCloud as our SD-WAN solution.
The most valuable feature is the dynamic multipath optimization. This is something that other competing products do not have.
Zero-touch provisioning makes it very easy to set up.
The single path optimization features are useful.
There is no security included, which is something that should be improved. For example, they should at least include basic firewall capabilities.
I have been using VeloCloud for six months.
The stability of VeloCloud is good.
Scalability-wise, this is a good solution. We have a large company but our group makes up just a small part of the network, with perhaps 50 users. This includes regular business owners and home users.
Prior to VeloCloud, we used Fortinet. However, the SD-WAN is not as good, which is why we switched over.
The initial setup is really easy.
Once you connect the appliance to the internet, you manage the policies and that enables SD-WAN.
The pricing is very comparable to Fortinet.
This is a product that I like. For anybody looking for an SD-WAN, this is a really good option, and probably one of the best. My only real complaint is about the lack of security. If security is their primary goal, then I would suggest implementing Fortinet instead. On the other hand, if SD-WAN is the primary concern then choose VeloCloud.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
VMware SD-WAN is a layer 7 firewall.
We're doing POCs and getting a lot of good feedback from customers about VMware. They see how simple it is to deploy and how it reduces the number of employees needed on the network team.
I like VMware SD-WAN's automation and zero-touch provisioning. Its main advantage is simplicity. Anyone can use this gateway.
Security is a challenge. I would like to see VMware add things like IPS, IDS, and web filtering. These features are the future of security, and most competing firewalls have them. We already have layer 7, but that is not enough for a headquarters. Maybe it's okay for a branch office.
We have been a VMware partner for three years.
VMware SD-WAN is highly stable. We haven't had any complaints about lost connections or the need to restart devices.
VMware's scalability is good so far. We have 100 devices.
We opened many tickets with VMware support in the last month. It's good, and they usually respond in under 24 hours. I rate VMware support five out of five.
Setting up VMware SD-WAN is simple and smooth. I would rate it four out of five for ease of deployment.
I rate VMware SD-WAN eight out of 10. If you are looking for automation and want to free up your IT to focus on other things, I recommend VMware SD-WAN.