VMware SD-WAN Other Advice

Sami-Isoaho - PeerSpot reviewer
Principal Cloud Architect at Loihe

It's an excellent product. The only small disadvantage is it's a bit difficult.

I would rate the product as nine out of 10.

Regarding the number of people working with VMware SD-WAN in our customers' companies, these companies have around 7,000 employees; they all work with VMware SD-WAN, including some 300 people in IT, a networking team of 12, and around 20 cloud guys. Less than 20 actually do product administration.

For people who want to implement VMware SD-WAN, I strongly suggest checking out the VMware SASE offering because there is a big difference in the approach. If you want something that combines all your VMware data centers into one with everything virtualized when you implement NSX, etc., VMware is a good solution. 

On the other hand, if you are primarily looking to replace FPS connections, VMware SASE is totally different from the big three security players, which mostly offer transfer capacity, bandwidth, and bandwidth transfer capacity as part of their SASE solution.

You should then check the combined operation of VMware and Microsoft's Azure Virtual WAN because it beats Fortinet for pricing and performance.  

If you choose Fortinet, which might be slightly more mature than the VMware solution, you'll need to replace all your network equipment in every branch. Some customers can't do this. It's laborious and incredibly expensive. In China, for example, network equipment is extremely hard to replace. The only approved vendor is China Telecom, which uses its own devices. With VMware, you have the boxes and old VeloCloud routers. But if you want a physical device or a small office, you can buy it. On the other hand, if you implement a software solution, you won't have to touch any of the existing network hardware.

Regarding overall performance, if you compare SD-WAN, all vendors provide high performance; that's not under question. The crucial factor is routing. Although SD-WANs all go through the same "public" internet, not everyone gets the capacity they want. Capacity doesn't only depend on having an internet connection. You also need to have a fixed bandwidth.

Buying IP transit capacity and using it with SD-WAN is much more effective, whether using VMware, Fortinet, Check Point, or implementing it like Azure Virtual WAN using Microsoft Backbone. It has much more effect on performance than doubling investment in SD-WAN hardware.

In short, the bottleneck is not due to the SD-WAN provider but IP connectivity between sites.

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AhmedElsakka - PeerSpot reviewer
Presales Manager Public Sector at Beya Systems

I am a system integrator. My customers are using the latest version of the solution. Our clients use the solution both on-premises and on the cloud. In my country, our clients choose the on-premises solution more. The solution is competing with Cisco. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.

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Tristan Van Rhyn - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager at Expect Solutions

I recommend the solution to those planning to use it. I'm a big fan of VMware, personally. These days nobody works in an office that much anymore. The important thing is connecting to the internet securely when you're working remotely, which is one big thing we see with some customers. If the aforementioned details are areas where people are struggling, then VMware is the correct choice. Versa would be a better choice if someone has more intensive internal corporate networks and they are more focused on private internal networks. If you are looking at a tool for one or two offices with not a lot of people, VMware is a better choice.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

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Buyer's Guide
VMware SD-WAN
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware SD-WAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Azer Reyes - PeerSpot reviewer
Hybrid Cloud Pre-Sales Engineer at Accent Micro

I rate SD-WAN a nine out of ten because most of the necessary technology is there. But there is room for improvement.

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Thomas Pane - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at Clear-Pane

My advice is that networking is the major issue. The prep time and understanding what you want to do and how much bandwidth you'll need and how you're going to configure it on the network, that's more of an issue than anything else.

I would rate this solution as an eight out of ten. 

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VinothS - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Architecht at airtel

I would rate the overall SD-WAN an eight out of ten. The tool is cloud-native and scalable. The solution is good for mid and complex environments.

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Erwan Bellec - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder and CEO at Pertineo SAS

We use both on-premises and cloud deployments.

I'm not sure which exact version we're using.

We're a service provider.

This is one of many SD-WAN technologies I'd recommend to clients. 

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

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RA
ISM Network Architect at a transportation company with 10,001+ employees

We're just customers. We don't have a business relationship with the company.

We are not using the newest version of the solution. They already have a newer version, however, we have everything outsourced to AT&T, and they have not upgraded the new version on it yet. The version we have on the VeloCloud is 3.4.3, and the newest version, which, from my understanding, is four, and is already out there.

The greatest advice I have for potential new users is this: when you do deploy the VeloCloud, it's pretty straightforward. However, the only thing you have to remember is to make sure that you have the site requirements in terms of the primary and secondary circuits. For us, the last mile circuit is always a requirement, so we have a tertiary as a cellular. That way, even if the primary and secondary go down, you are okay. Also, you need to make sure to size your VeloCloud equipment or VeloCloud model according to the size of your needs.

Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I'd rate the solution at a nine.

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AK
Network lead at SDGC

If you're a service provider or managing a large enterprise, I highly recommend considering VMware, a leader in virtualization. Their cloud-based solutions, particularly in virtualization and software-defined networking, are top-notch. Overall, I would rate it nine out of ten.

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Atif Mahmood - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Consultant at New horizon

VMware SD-WAN offers competitive features and benefits for various requirements. It is especially effective for customer branch offices, remote offices, and scenarios where seamless connectivity is crucial for voice and video-sensitive applications like Salesforce, Google Mail, AWS, and Office 365. The product is highly customizable and can provide a solid foundation for networking needs.

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. 

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EricBiederbeck - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Projektmanager at Telekom Deutschland GmbH

My advice to others is that not every SD-WAN solution fits every customer or requirement. If the requirements work with the solution, I would recommend using VMware SD-WAN. It's a good solution.

I rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

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Kamran Aslam - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT at Sefam pvt limited

I would definitely recommend using the solution. I would rate the solution a seven out of ten. 

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VM
Senior Lead Network Architect at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

The advice to others wanting to implement this solution is not to try and do everything yourself. A lot of customers choose this route and are negatively affected two years later. It is important to do a lot of proof of concepts and testing. Get the solution from a trusted service provider who can manage it for you because these technologies are really complex under the code. Having a trusted service provider who can work with you and can have a lot of benefits. If your company business is not running the WAN links, I would suggest just offload that burden to a trusted service provider because then you can focus on your business. Technologies are complex, and doing all of these operations through your own IP node is complex. A trusted service provider who knows what they are doing can offload a lot of that burden allowing for you to relax and actually focus on your main applications and business.

A lot of customers I have seen in the industry try to do all the operations themselves just because they think that it is good to insource everything. This is one of the areas that you should not be insourceed a hundred percent of your team because these technologies can be extremely difficult to do on a day-to-day basis. Service providers handle hundreds of customers and they know a lot more about what you are doing and can be very useful than if you did it by yourself.

I rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

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MS
Virtual Cloud Networking Specialist at a consultancy with self employed

I advise others to do a POC on trial. I rate VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

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SF
Senior Network Engineer at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees

There are firmware updates that require maintenance. One person can complete the task.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

We have had some issues with firmware, it is not as flexible as I would like it to be with the configuration. We have not had any critical outages and overall it has been working well.

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TM
Director Solutions Engineering at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I would advise others to understand what you're using SD-WAN for. It is not for replacing MPLS. It is about application performance, access control, and manageability of your sites. Most of our clients don't even understand why they need SD-WAN or what they're looking at in SD-WAN. They think they can just replace MPLS, which is not really the case for SD-WAN. They do it because they think they are lowering costs, which in some cases is true, but it depends on the application performance criteria and things of that nature. 

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. They can do some improvements. There are other solutions out there that I would highly recommend over this solution, but it is not bad.

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CS
Senior Technical Consultant at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

We are a reseller and distributor. 

I would give the solution a rating of eight out of ten.

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MG
Founding-Partner Executive at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. In order for it to be a ten out of ten, there should be more automation and self-service features.

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TT
Administrator at SOURTHERN WAVES Solution

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten. The advice I would give to others who are considering starting to use VMware SD-WAN is to assess their organization's technical expertise and requirements first. However, if they lack the knowledge or resources, it might be better to opt for a simpler solution or to seek external support.

The tool's value and impact are significant, particularly for larger enterprises. It allows for configuration. However, the benefits may not be as pronounced for smaller offices or enterprises.

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JB
CIO at Freelance IT Engineer

It's an SD-WAN solution and they've got edge devices of different sources and types. Depending on the client's needs, you pretty much choose the type of product that's required. The end result is cloud-based. It's a cloud-based software-defined wide area networking affiliation.

VeloCloud is in the cloud. They have over a thousand gateways to get to their services in the cloud. 

They're tied into Microsoft Azure, Office 365, and also AWS services. If you're going to do a cloud design, what you likely want to do is have an SD-WAN solution like VeloCloud, such that if you're dealing with multiple people or multiple businesses with multiple locations, what you'll do is utilize their cloud-based solutions and edge devices to connect to clients' network nodes. There are different offices and provide resilient connectivity.

They have to understand the solution. A lot of IT technologists don't have a full grasp of the software-defined networking SD-WAN, SD-LAN.

Until technologists understand that, businesses won't understand because the businesses rely on their IT staff to stay in touch with the latest and greatest technologies that can save the operational costs.

We haven't reached the crest of the wave yet for all of us, even VeloCloud. They're just not quite at the crest yet, but soon everybody will understand. Oh, I know what SD-WAN is, I know it's going to save me money. I know it's going to allow me to reduce my IT staff because they're not having to be encumbered by the way the legacy management solutions were back then. That's all dashboard monitorization.

I would rate VeloCloud a nine out of ten.

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MK
Network Analyst at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees

We are using the VeloCloud version or model.

On each site, on each branch, we have edges of either one or two for redundancies and that's how they communicate. There's an overlay and that's how they communicate between branches so we have on-prem edges, yes. We have one on AW as well, however, the most we use for now is between branches in Texas.

I would recommend people use this product. We've been using it and we don't have any issues. Honestly, we don't want to get away from this solution at all. I recommend using the solution as it's very reliable, convenient, and easy when you communicate with it. Supporting it and then looking into issues and trying to implement rules and best policies is pretty straightforward. Even if not, we always work with their reseller and they always help us.

I'd rate the solution a nine out of ten.

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NE
Technical Lead at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

For reliable connectivity, I would definitely recommend VeloCloud; however, if my customers want another kind of service in addition to connectivity, then I would recommend another kind of solution.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine.

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GV
Senior Solution Architect at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

My advice to others would be to trust the solution and buy it.

I rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten

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GT
Manager, Technical Solutions at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees

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.

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SL
Chief Infrastructure Architect at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

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.

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HC
Senior Technical Consultant at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

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.

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AO
IT Manager

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.

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Eric Liao - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Manager at DYXnet Group

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

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SS
Senior Network Consultant at a security firm with 51-200 employees

I would rate this solution as eight out of ten. I would recommend it.

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MP
Principal Sales Engineer at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees

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.

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Mohammed Gawas - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Network Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees

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.

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JL
Senior Manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

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DG
General Manager at Smartfren

I would absolutely recommend VeloCloud because it's user-friendly and because the integration is easier than with other solutions. 

I would rate VeloCloud a nine out of ten. 

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LD
Sales Engineer at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees

I rate VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten. I recommend it for smaller companies as bigger companies require some advanced features. The product’s reporting, security, and troubleshooting features need improvement.

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TEDDY LLANO - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead at Yssy

VMware SD-WAN can be used for on-premise and cloud integrations. Many scenarios are supported in the solution. They are flexible for many services.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a ten out of ten.

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PW
Founder at SDWAN Clan

I will continue to use this solution, we have another customer that wants to use SD-WAN, but they are better suited for Cisco Meraki, so we are just doing a proof of concept with them.

I would definitely recommend this solution to others. 100%. That said, it needs better security. There is always room to improve.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

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RM
IT Network Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

I would give VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.  

Deploying SD-WAN is very easy. When we deploy it on-premise, we need to get SD-WAN or VeloCloud X. When VeloCloud X affects any kind of form factor, it needs to to be a hardware box, it could be a server or it can virtualize in any Hypervisor like Hyper-V or IBM in order to support any kind of form factor. To deploy it in the cloud with Amazon, Google Cloud Platform, or Azure, the features are configured in a central manager called SD-WAN Orchestrator. Then the device is shifted to the location and it only needs one internet connection. When the device connects to the internet it downloads the configurations necessary and that's the SD-WAN deployment process.

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SB
Partner at a comms service provider with 11-50 employees

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

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MU
Executive Officer 1B at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC

At this time, I feel that just about everything is there in the product and it supports the requirements. My only complaint is about the pricing. Citrix is another good product but I recommend VeloCloud.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

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MH
Regional Technical Manager at Nestingtech

I recommend using this solution. It is a good product and if the support were improved then it would be even better.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

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YZ
Network Offering Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

I rate VMware SD-WAN a ten out of ten.

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MV
Telecommunications Specialist at a comms service provider with 5,001-10,000 employees

I would rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

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GB
Principal Network Engineer at a computer software company with 201-500 employees

I rate this solution a six out of ten. I would recommend this solution to others who are considering implementation and I have about 10 customers who are using this solution. 

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DH
Head of IT Network Division at Panorinformatika

Sometimes if a customer has used VMware previously and has had a positive experience they are more like to want to do a demo, compare it with the competitors, or purchase.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

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RK
IT Information Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees

I would rate this product a nine out of 10. 

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RP
Solutions Architect at Jedi Global Teknologi

We have been using multiple versions of this solution. We have been using the software as well as different Edge devices including the Edge 510 series and the Edge 520 series. The 510 series is the most common one.

Most of the deployments are cloud-based. Our customers prefer the cloud from a business point of view because it is less expensive. To deploy on-premise, the cost of using VeloCloud is quite high and it becomes an obstacle for some customers.

My advice for anybody who is considering this solution is to first think about their SD-WAN needs. VeloCloud is a very good product as long as you don't have any concerns about security. If the main concern is about the link performance and bridge connectivity then it is a very good product.

Overall, it is a good product that is friendly, integrates well, and has good performance. It is only lacking in the security perspective.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.

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AH
Network and Telecommunications Team Leader at a energy/utilities company with 5,001-10,000 employees

I would rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

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BV
Cloud & Network team lead at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

SD-WAN is a perfect fit as a solution for several branch sites.

I would rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

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GT
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees

Overall, this is a good product but there is always room for improvement.

I would rate this solution a seven out of ten.

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MC
Telecommunicatios and Electronics Engineer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

I would rate VMware SD-WAN a ten out of ten.

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Buyer's Guide
VMware SD-WAN
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about VMware SD-WAN. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
765,234 professionals have used our research since 2012.