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VeloCloud introduces SD-WAN security partnership program
VeloCloud introduced a partner program that lets security vendor partners develop integrated SD-WAN security services. Current partners include Fortinet, IBM Security and Check Point.
In a move to integrate security and software-defined WAN services, VeloCloud Networks Inc. introduced a program that allows security vendors to partner with VeloCloud to develop interoperable SD-WAN security services.
VeloCloud also announced security vendors that have already joined the program -- each in various participating, developing or deploying stages. These partners include IBM Security, Check Point Software Technologies, Fortinet and Zscaler. VeloCloud aims to provide its cloud-delivered SD-WAN customers with a range of security vendor options that can be integrated along with SD-WAN deployment.
"The idea is that if you deploy VeloCloud SD-WAN with these partners, your level of confidence should be high that there will be interoperability and the systems will work well together -- even to the point where API integration has already been done," said Mike Wood, vice president of marketing at VeloCloud, based in Mountain View, Calif.
The SD-WAN security program addresses three areas of security: network security, cloud security and security management. The network component focuses on integrating partners' security virtual network functions with VeloCloud's VNF framework.
VeloCloud security partners receive access to APIs and full software development kits for VeloCloud's SD-WAN and VNF framework, Wood said. Partners can then develop their own products and services to deploy in the market, or to integrate within VeloCloud's VNF foundation. VeloCloud also works with partners throughout the development process, solving bugs that might surface, or adding new features or API instances if they need to be created, he said.
Making it easier to add services
"We've always had this fabric or framework that allows the VNFs to run, but now we're opening this up to full-scale development and allowing security vendors -- initially -- to develop against that," Wood said. "Any one of these vendors, if they choose to, can develop a VNF that would run within [VeloCloud's] VNF framework and be a service inserted within it."
The cloud security component allows security partners to insert their services more easily into cloud services via VeloCloud Gateways. VeloCloud Gateways can also be used to directly connect VeloCloud SD-WAN with infrastructure-as-a-service security instances from Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, for example. The final security management element lets operators more easily roll out security services, and it also eases the management of monitoring, metrics, analytics and visibility, he said.
VeloCloud's SD-WAN security partnership is the first in a series of announcements the vendor plans to fortify a broader SD-WAN Technology Partner Program, according to Wood.
