Leader: VMware

A Leader for all five years of the report, the company’s offering is branded as VMware SD-WAN, which includes edge appliances, optional gateway points of presence (POPs) and a cloud-based orchestrator. VMware also offers optional SASE cloud security capabilities, of which VMware SD-WAN is a part.

VMware has a strong roadmap of planned product capabilities, which align with emerging customer requirements, including single-vendor SASE, service insertion in edge POPs and remote worker offerings. Gartner warned that VMware relies on its Menlo Security acquisition to deliver multiple cloud security functions, which could limit its ability to respond to customer requirements around SASE. Gartner estimates that it has more than 17,000 SD-WAN customers.

Broadcom announced its intention to acquire VMware in May 2022, which could change the company’s ability to be included for future Magic Quadrant SD-WAN reports. Customers have expressed concerns over potential price hikes due to the impending deal, Gartner said.