NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Riverbed Technology, the application performance company, today launched SteelConnect 2.0, a revolutionary application-defined SD-WAN (software-defined wide area network) solution that provides an intelligent and simplified approach to designing, deploying and managing distributed networks for today’s cloud-centric world. Riverbed SteelConnect disrupts legacy hardware-based approaches to branch networking with a software-defined and application-centric solution that delivers the agility, visibility, and performance that businesses need to succeed in the digital age.
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SteelConnect 2.0 delivers major updates and enhancements, including native dynamic routing for simplified networking (with the ability to replace old legacy routers), end-to-end visibility with Riverbed® SteelCentral™ integration, seamless WAN optimization with Riverbed® SteelHead™ integration, and support for large-scale data center deployments via integration with Riverbed Interceptor™. SteelConnect is the industry’s first and only product that unifies deployment and orchestration of hybrid WANs (Internet & MPLS), branch networks (LAN & WLAN), and cloud environments (IaaS & SaaS) such as AWS (available today) and Microsoft Azure (available in early 2017). With a fully integrated line of secure WAN gateways, remote LAN switches and Wi-Fi access points, single-click instant provisioning and all managed centrally with zero-touch using an intuitive and graphical cloud console interface, SteelConnect delivers business-intent orchestration and enables organizations to modernize their network architecture to realize the full potential of cloud and digital transformation.
“Legacy hardware-based approaches to branch networking haven’t changed in 20 years, and are simply too rigid, complex and fragile to support the modern needs of businesses today, especially as it relates to complexities introduced by the adoption of cloud services and hybrid WAN topologies,” said Paul O’Farrell, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Riverbed’s SteelConnect, SteelHead, and SteelFusion business units. “A fundamental rethink is needed to bring networking into today’s cloud-centric world, and that’s what we’ve been doing with the launch of our application-defined SD-WAN solution SteelConnect 2.0.”
With a successful early-access launch of SteelConnect in April, Riverbed showcased a radically new approach to designing, deploying and managing distributed networks for both on-premises locations and single-click instant provisioning into cloud environments. Instead of managing networks through configuration of individual appliances, SteelConnect provides policy-based orchestration that is naturally aligned to the language and priorities of business (applications, users, locations, performance SLAs and security requirements). An IT network architect can now easily set up global or local policies such as: send all video application traffic over the highest-capacity circuits; send software updates over Internet broadband circuits; or send all business traffic over secure VPNs. Previously network operators needed to enter hundreds or thousands of lines of CLI (command line interface) code to make network and application changes, which is both inefficient and prone to human error.
“We were attracted to Riverbed because of the possibility that SteelConnect could take our IT operations and business to the next level,” said Rob Gillan, CTO at SimplePay, an Australian-based global payments service. “Unlike other traditional vendors in the market, Riverbed has really embraced a software-defined approach for the cloud. With SteelConnect, we now have the ability to very quickly build and deploy a global network in a matter of hours, which would have taken months of planning and deployment before. Now, we can easily scale up and down with both SteelConnect and AWS quickly and without any concern.”
Now, Riverbed is extending the power of SteelConnect with seamless integration of Riverbed’s industry-leading visibility and WAN optimization technologies, providing the most complete and unified application-defined networking solution built for today’s cloud era.
Industry analysts are anticipating major growth in the SD-WAN market over the next few years, as Gartner expects SD-WAN uptake to grow from less than 1% of enterprises today to 30% of enterprises by the end of 20191, and IDC expects the market to grow from less than $225 million in 2015 to $6 billion in 2020.2
“Since its inception, we have seen enormous interest from enterprises to deploy SD-WAN solutions to better drive network agility, improve ROI and meet the demands of today’s cloud delivered applications,” said Daniel Conde, Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. “Riverbed is well positioned to disrupt the SD-WAN market with its SteelConnect solution, and has placed a great deal of visionary thought and engineering behind its development. With a holistic view that goes beyond connectivity by offering orchestration and workflow, SteelConnect is a product that focuses on both application delivery and security for the enterprise and takes a distinctive approach from what other vendors are providing in the market.”
SteelConnect 2.0 features the following updates and enhancements:
- New Platform Integrations. Riverbed announces SteelCentral integration into SteelConnect Manager for advanced SD-WAN visibility with APM & NPM capabilities allowing IT Managers to be better able to make informed policy and deployment decisions, monitor and troubleshoot performance issues, and plan for network changes regardless of whether the application’s performance is optimized across hybrid WANs, remote LANs or cloud networks. In addition, SteelConnect integration into SteelHead CX platforms offers for a converged SD-WAN and WAN optimization solution, and integration of SteelConnect with SteelHead Interceptor for streamlined integration into larger enterprise data center deployments.
- Native Dynamic Routing. With native routing capabilities, SteelConnect Gateways can be used in place of legacy branch routers to reduce the cost and complexity of managing connectivity to remote locations.
- Enterprise Scale. Riverbed announces two new SteelConnect Gateway models with increased performance and high-availability and a new SteelConnect Switch with increased density and throughput. SteelConnect Gateway 1030 delivers up to 1 Gbps throughput at edge locations while the SteelConnect Gateway 5030 delivers up to 10 Gbps throughput and supports complex networks and high-availability configurations in the data center. These new Gateway models enable large-scale enterprise deployments for companies of all sizes.
Availability
SteelConnect 2.0 will be available starting October 2016, with feature enhancements released throughout the remainder of the year. SteelConnect will be fully available through the Riverbed partner network. For more information, visit www.riverbed.com/SteelConnect.
Today, Riverbed is hosting Riverbed Disrupt, a premier customer and influencer event in New York City where SteelConnect 2.0 will be prominently featured. The event will also feature discussions around the significant network transformation underway as businesses shift to digital services in a cloud-centric world. For more information on the event, visit www.riverbed.com.
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About Riverbed
Riverbed, at more than $1 billion in annual revenue, is the leader in Application Performance Infrastructure, delivering the most complete platform for the hybrid enterprise to ensure applications perform as expected, data is always available when needed, and performance issues can be proactively detected and resolved before impacting business performance. Riverbed enables hybrid enterprises to transform application performance into a competitive advantage by maximizing employee productivity and leveraging IT to create new forms of operational agility. Riverbed's 27,000+ customers include 97% of the Fortune 100 and 98% of the Forbes Global 100. Learn more at www.riverbed.com.
Riverbed and any Riverbed product or service name or logo used herein are trademarks of Riverbed Technology, Inc. All other trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.
1 Gartner, “Market Guide for SD-WAN,” December 2015
2 IDC, Cloud and Drive for WAN Efficiencies Power Move to SD-WAN, Doc # US41101416, March 2016
