TeleGeography says that last year’s SD-WAN business accounted for only $1.6 billion or 2.15% of the market. The whole WAN market was $75.9 billion in 2020, says the research company.
The company’s analyst, Elizabeth Thorne, said: “SD-WAN uptake is still toward the end of the early adopter cycle.”
The report says that, while SD-WAN services are gaining traction, enterprise spend is still dominated by MPLS and local access services. MPLS spend in 2020 was approximately $32.6 billion, almost 43% of the WAN market.
“As the migration from MPLS to SD-WAN continues, we expect the global WAN market to achieve greater balance in the coming years,” said Thorne.
“Despite the hype around SD-WAN, MPLS is still a force in the WAN market and it will continue to be a preferred option for many enterprises.”
She expects SD-WAN and direct internet access (DIA) to increase their market share as MPLS spend declines.
“The WAN Market Size Report enables enterprises and telecom operators to understand the state of play in the market and identify opportunities to invest in and transform their network services.”
The report outlined that the US and Canada account for 15% of global revenue, even though they are home to only approximately 4.5% of the global population.
TeleGeography senior manager Greg Bryan said: “Our report research relies on real metrics and data, not analyst opinion. Through this data we have been able to identify key WAN trends such as a move toward cloud computing, migration of the data centre away from corporate premises and the predicted growth of SD-WAN.”
