Description

The European managed software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) services market is in the growth phase of the product life cycle. Compared to other regions of the global managed SD-WAN services market, Europe ranks second, just behind North America.

SD-WAN deployments have been increasing during the last 2 to 3 years in Europe, showing a preference towards managed SD-WAN services. Businesses across the region want to simplify their network architecture and ensure greater network flexibility. The process can prove daunting when it involves multiple transport and access providers from across the globe. A managed service provider with the expertise and technology needed to integrate disparate operations and management systems from various access providers can help address the complexity. Hence, fully managed SD-WAN services continue to gain traction.

With the widespread emergence of COVID-19 in Europe, network managers need to focus on optimizing networks as businesses adapt to the economic impact of the pandemic. This may also increase the attractiveness of broadband and wireless services with SD-WAN. SD-WAN solutions leverage real-time performance monitoring of transport networks to make application-aware, policy-based network link selections and steer traffic over the best available link. Customers in Europe are increasingly demanding enhanced security with SD-WAN solutions and considering service providers that offer secure access service edge (SASE) solutions. Although demand for SASE continues to increase, customers’ still lack clarity regarding the adoption of an SASE framework in the market.

In this Radar™ report, Frost & Sullivan focuses on the 9 leading telco providers that have full-fledged managed SD-WAN offerings in the market. Service providers are primarily analyzed based on their managed SD-WAN portfolios, which include but are not limited to: choice of SD-WAN vendor solutions; underlay choices; managed service support before, during, and after deployment; self-service portals and network management capabilities; and the ability to deliver on value-added services to create customer stickiness (security, routing, VoIP, UCaaS). The competitive Radar™ mapping is based on full year 2020 and 2021 (YTD) quantitative data (a combination of operational sites and revenues) and features and functionalities that have been generally available in the market for at least 6 months.

The Frost Radar™ reveals the market positioning of each company using its Growth and Innovation scores as highlighted in the Radar™ methodology. The document presents a competitive profile of each company based on its strengths, opportunities, and market positioning. We discuss the top strategic market imperatives and the competitive environment that vendors operate in as well as make recommendations for each provider to spur its growth.

Author: Divya Prasad