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Talari SD-WAN targets mobile with Meta Networks integration

Talari combined its SD-WAN service with Meta Networks' NaaS platform, and California Telecom chose Versa Networks for managed SD-WAN.

Jennifer English
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Published: 29 Aug 2018

Talari Networks' customers can now combine their software-defined WAN service with a network-as-a-service platform from Meta Networks.

The platform offered by Meta Networks, an Israel-based NaaS startup, targets remote and mobile users who need to access data center and cloud applications. While SD-WAN technology offers remote connectivity to an extent, it is limited in its flexibility to connect individual remote and mobile BYOD users, as most can't deploy a physical or virtual SD-WAN appliance. With Talari's support for Meta Networks' NaaS software, Talari customers located outside the software-defined WAN perimeter can connect using one of Meta's multiple points of presence (POP) worldwide.

With the platform, user devices connect to the closest Meta POP to access corporate resources. Instead of applying policies based on site location, Meta Networks takes a user-centric approach by specifying policies and application authentication based on individual user permissions. Network administrators, for example, can create policies that deny mobile users access to certain websites or cloud applications.

The integrated offering is now available for Talari SD-WAN customers.

Versa Networks adds managed SD-WAN partner

Versa Networks added another service provider to its managed SD-WAN partner list. California Telecom, headquartered in Chino, Calif., joins existing Versa Networks partners CenturyLink, China Telecom Global, Comcast Business and Verizon in adding managed SD-WAN services to its portfolio.

California Telecom customers can choose from three available purchasing options: SD-WAN standard, SD-WAN advanced and SD-WAN secured. Load balancing, automated failover, error correction and circuit monitoring, among other features, are included in all three options. Customers can add additional features, such as firewalls, antivirus and content filtering and advanced routing.

"We spent over a year looking for an SD-WAN platform we could integrate into our existing MPLS infrastructure that could offer all the features that were being promoted in the industry," said Jim Gurol, California Telecom's CEO, in a statement. Versa's Cloud IP Platform paired well with California Telecom's infrastructure, he added, allowing the service provider to go to market immediately.

Customers can deploy California Telecom's managed SD-WAN service to create various WAN designs, including hybrid MPLS, cloud-based SD-WAN and security-focused models, Gurol said.

SD-WAN adoption impeded by available options

Enterprises are investigating SD-WAN, but the technology is still being adopted relatively slowly, according to a report conducted by Sapio Research at the request of Teneo, a consulting firm and technology integrator.

While almost half of the 200 senior IT and networking managers surveyed said they were investigating SD-WAN in some form, only 20% said they've deployed the technology. A third of the respondents hadn't yet evaluated SD-WAN technology. Part of the reason for SD-WAN's slow adoption is the large number of available SD-WAN options and variants, according to Marc Sollars, CTO of Teneo, based in Dulles, Va.

"Many firms are clearly putting a toe in the water on SD-WAN or doing a proof of concept, but it's still very hard to say when this test phase will start to translate into enterprise-level implementations," Sollars said in a statement. "In many ways, the broad range of choice that SD-WAN brings is what's causing companies to hesitate over their decisions."

Respondents indicated the primary driver to consider SD-WAN deployment is to help address the growing complexity of network infrastructure and performance tasks. Cutting network costs and better infrastructure management followed behind.

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