Leader: Cisco

Cisco rang in its fourth year in the Leader quadrant on this year’s report with its offerings that include Cisco SD-WAN powered by Viptela and Cisco SD-WAN powered by Meraki. The platforms are separate and provide SD-WAN appliances with optional integrated security feature sets, as well as required management and orchestration, with the option to supplement security via Umbrella Secure Internet Gateway. Gartner pointed to its massive global channel as one reason for the tech giant’s success with an estimated 43,000 plus SD-WAN customers of all sizes and verticals.

Gartner listed as potential cautions that the company’s Viptela and Meraki SD-WAN platforms are still separate offerings with limited integration, which could limit investment protection. Gartner expects Cisco will continue to invest in its industry-leading SASE offering with the addition of new consumption models, visibility and predictive insights for cloud traffic, as well as functionality to optimize SaaS and multi-cloud traffic.