AT&T Joins Forces With VeloCloud, Announces SD-WAN Portfolio

October 05, 2016, 04:32 PM EDT

AT&T continues to push hybrid networking as it revealed its software-defined WAN portfolio on Wednesday for business customers.

The AT&T SD-WAN service will let businesses intelligently prioritize and route data across their networks based on the performance requirements of the applications. The offering, which is powered by SD-WAN vendor VeloCloud, will also let businesses better manage their bandwidth, AT&T said.

AT&T's SD-WAN offering will come in two flavors -- a network-based offering and a premises-based solution. The network-based SD-WAN solution will be available in 2017, and the premises-based solution will be available later this year, according to the Dallas-based carrier.

[Related: AT&T FlexWare Makes Mix-and-Match Networking ]

Regarding whether AT&T SD-WAN will be immediately available through the channel, an AT&T spokesperson told CRN: "We are always evaluating distribution opportunities that would include indirect channels."

Vince Bradley, CEO for Malibu, Calif.-based World Telecom Group (WTG), a master agent and AT&T partner, said that WTG is seeing "a ton" of demand for SD-WAN solutions. Carrier SD-WAN solutions also give partners, like VARs, a way to sell connectivity and network-based services and earn recurring revenue, Bradley said.

"My favorite part is that this offering enables VARs who are selling SD-WAN boxes to get into connectivity," he said. "Now, we have a product that these partners can sell both the hardware, and at the same time, they are getting into network services – that's pretty rare."

The SD-WAN space has been historically led by networking vendors that specialized in hardware-based solutions, such as Cisco Systems. But carriers are entering the market to add more value to their basic connectivity offerings.

Atlanta-based EarthLink last week unveiled its SD-WAN service for customers and channel partners. That service, EarthLink SD-WAN Concierge, is also powered by VeloCloud.

Basking Ridge, N.J.-based Verizon announced its SD-WAN platform and managed service in February via a partnership with SD-WAN startup Viptela. Verizon's SD-WAN service, like EarthLink's service, was made immediately available through the channel.

Similar to its competition in the telecom space, AT&T has had its sights firmly set on software-centric networking this year. The carrier on Monday announced that it rebranded and expanded its Network Functions on Demand managed service, now called AT&T FlexWare. FlexWare lets businesses adjust their run multiple virtualized network functions from a single premises-based appliance, saving power, space and capital costs. Like FlexWare, AT&T SD-WAN is part of AT&T's Network on Demand portfolio.

"It's great to see AT&T jumping in now because SD-WAN is really taking off," WTG's Bradley said. "The carriers that aren't in this space yet have got to get in."

AT&T plans on partnering with more SD-WAN vendors down the road to give customers more options, the carrier said.

Gina Narcisi

Gina Narcisi is a senior editor covering the networking and telecom markets for CRN.com. Prior to joining CRN, she covered the networking, unified communications and cloud space for TechTarget. She can be reached at gnarcisi@thechannelcompany.com.