Technology Reseller - v22

technolog y reseller.co.uk Q&A 33 ...continued dealing with one player. TR : Have you gained this added functionality and expertise through acquisition? JF: The insights piece is very interesting in this context. The availability and protection piece has been our heritage for 20 years. What I say to clients is ‘Think about NetBackup; it is not version 1.3, but 8.2’. We continue to add functionality, to support new workloads and new approaches to data – the cloud, Dockers, containers etc.. We will always be the first to market with that kind of increased functionality. However, the APTARE acquisition is a good signpost of where we want to go. Whilst we have a lot of technology TR : Will customers have to do anything differently? JF: No. On a product level, what we are actually launching this week is the new version of NetBackUp, which will add more functionality e.g. cloud native data protection on AWS and Azure etc.. We are also launching enhancements in our availability portfolio, on the disaster recovery and virtual replication side of things, as well as adding more emphasis to our acquisition of APTARE (in March 2019), which is all about providing insights into a storage environment at a cloud level, physical level and virtual level. From a customer viewpoint, we are saying that while there are some cool vendors driving point products for particular problems, Veritas has every element covered. One of the complaints we hear from CIOs is that they have to use multiple tools to manage their data, their security environment, their network environment. That’s the headache. Our big play here is that while our flagship product has always been for protection, we now have all this other stuff that can help you enhance data management without increasing your TCO, because you are that provides visibility of a data back- up environment, specifically around NetBackUp, APTARE enhances our analytical capability by providing data protection visibility and virtual infrastructure and storage environment visibility, so that customers can say ‘Right, now I have this more holistic visibility of my overall environment, what policies do I need to reduce cost, to reduce risk and to increase profitability or customer value?’. So, APTARE changes the game. But enhancements will still continue across protection and availability. In summary, this week represents four big launches in one, which is why we are calling it the mega-launch – enhancements to NetBackUp and to our Infoscale product, which is our availability product, plus Information Studio, which is our big visibility product, together with APTARE, which is our new acquisition. What we want partners to understand (and to take to market) is the fact that we now have this multi-solution platform that will enable them to grow and to have new conversations both with existing and new customers. www.veritas.com Read next month’s issue for Part 2 of our interview with Jamie Farrelly, where he talks about Veritas’s partner strategy. Over the last two years, software-defined WAN (SD-WAN) adoption rates have increased significantly, from 35% to 54%, as familiarity with the technology and awareness of its benefits and use cases have grown amongst global enterprises barrier to SD-WAN adoption, whereas concerns regarding interoperability with existing WANs are less prevalent than they were two years ago; n Network management simplification (46%) continues to be the top expected IT benefit of SD-WAN adoption; n The top three expected business benefits of SD-WAN are increased efficiency, improved security, and cost savings. Masergy CEO James Parker said: “Masergy pioneered software-defined networking two decades ago, and this survey validates the growing maturity of SD-WAN solutions. IT leaders are tasked with transforming their business though cloud-based applications and emerging technologies, but these pivots introduce a new level of complexity that can be daunting for network and security teams. Masergy is uniquely positioned to deliver on the digital ambitions of today’s global enterprises with our software-defined network, integrated security and fully managed SD-WAN services.” www.masergy.com The Masergy 2019 SD-WAN Market Trends Survey reveals that 90% of IT decision-makers in global enterprises are currently researching, piloting, actively using or upgrading SD-WAN. In a 2017 study conducted by the managed SD-WAN, cloud communications and managed security solutions provider, the figure was just 69%. Key findings from the 2019 survey show that: n Optimising the network to support cutting-edge technologies remains the top WAN objective (61%) among survey participants; n Security (50%) is the top WAN challenge and the leading factor (81%) guiding companies in the SD-WAN selection process; n The skills gap (46%) remains a top Digital transformation accelerates SD-WAN adoption 2019 SD-WAN Market Trends Report M odern enterprises continue towork theirway through digital transformation: upgrading and adapting their infrastructure, business processes, and services as they strive to remain competitive.Many are finding that traditional networks have insufficient capacity and capability to support the demands and growth of digital business, so upgrading existing network environments to software-definedWANs (SD-WANs) is becoming a higher andmorewidespread priority. AsSD-WAN technologyhasmaturedandadoptionhas increased, theprioritiesandconcernswithwhichmost organizationsapproachSD-WANdeploymentdecisionshave alsoevolved.Securityandcost remaincriticalchallenges,but lookingatavarietyof factors revealed in theupdated IDG/ Masergysurveydemonstratesan increasedcomfort level withSD-WANandunderstandingof itspotentialstrengths andbestusecases. Thisyear’ssurveyproduced threekeyfindings,as compared to theearliersurvey,conducted in2017: • Security is the topWANconnectivitychallengeand the leading factorguidingcompanies in theSD-WAN selectionprocess. (seeFigures1and2.) • SD-WAN isno longer justconsideredasbeing “on the radar.”Adoption ratesareon the rise.SD- WANadoption increased from35% to54%over thepast twoyears, and futureadoption ratescould reachashighas90%. (seeFigure3.) ExecutiveSummary: Asorganizations look tomodernize andoptimize theirnetwork infrastructure,manyare consideringnext-generation technologiessuchassoftware- definedWAN (SD-WAN)solutions.Thesedelivermany benefits, includingcost-effectiveness, increasedflexibility andsecurity,and theability to refreshandconsolidate networkedgedevices. IDGandMasergy recentlysurveyed ITexecutiveson themost importantWANconnectivity issues theyare facing as they look tomodernize theirnetwork.Thissurveywasa follow-up toasimilarsurveyconducted twoyearsago, in 2017.Thisyear’ssurvey identifiesWANobjectivesandchal- lengesandalsohighlightsSD-WANadoption trends,benefits, andkeyconsiderations forbuyers.AsSD-WAN technology hasmatured,adoptionhas increasedandbuyerpriorities, concerns,andexpectationshaveshifted. Market Pulse WHITE PAPER AS COMPANIES CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THEIR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, SD-WAN IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY FOUNDATIONAL TO EVOLVING NETWORK CAPABILITIES. STRATEGIC MARKETING SERVICES Fig. 1 TopWANChallenge Fig. 2 Top Factors for Selecting SD-WAN SOURCE: IDG, JUNE,2019 Sponsoredcontent IDGCommunications, Inc. 50 % 43 % Security considerations saysecurity forbranchoffices and remoteworkers is the biggestWANchallenge 34 % Network visibilityand control 33 % Current IT staffing capabilities Masergy’s 2019 SD-WAN Market Trends Report, produced in partnership with IDG Research, can be downloaded from https://www.masergy.com/white-papers/2019- sd-wan-market-trends-report/.