Challenger: Fortinet
Network security powerhouse Fortinet offers SD-WAN through its FortiGate SD-WAN firewall appliance, allowing customers that use FortiGate products to get SD-WAN with a simple software upgrade. Fortinet's advantage in the market is its large branch security customer base and its reputation for high-performance, cost-effective products in that space, Gartner said. Among the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company’s strengths in SD-WAN are a strong global channel operation, aggressive pricing and a clear vision for increasing automation. On the other side of that coin, however, is the fact that Fortinet is not known as a networking vendor, Gartner said.