Uncertain of how to approach security Planning to install a firewall at each site Planning to use a cloud based firewall service Source: AVANT Research & Analytics, August 2019 According to AVANT’s Assessment Data, 54 percent of customers entering the SD-WAN decision discussion are uncertain of how to approach security, while 22 percent are planning to install a next-generation firewall at each site. Another 14 percent are planning to use a cloud-based firewall service. Those who are uncertain would be well advised to work closely with their Trusted Advisor to ascertain the best solution for their needs. Competing Technologies SD-WAN is widely viewed as being in the slow-motion process of displacing multiprotocol label switching (MPLS), a routing technology that uses abbreviated labels, as opposed to lengthy network addresses, accelerating traffic flows by avoiding the need to use conventional routing tables. MPLS supports a wide variety of network technologies, including T1/E1, Frame Relay, and DSL. Having gotten its start in the early 2000s, MPLS is widely deployed, and continues to have a strong position in enterprise networks, particularly, though not exclusively, in the cores of those networks. In fact, according to AVANT’s 2019 State of Disruption survey, 40% percent of overall respondents that have already deployed MPLS planned to meaningfully increase their use of MPLS in 2019. Just under 15 percent expected their position with MPLS to remain about the same. 53% of companies with revenues in excess of a billion dollars plan to meaningfully increase their MPLS usage. Among companies with under $1 million in revenues, that stat dropped substantially to 26%, while 25 percent expected to transition away from MPLS. Source: AVANT State of Disruption Report 2019 Copyright © 2019 AVANT Communications, Inc. 14