SAN ANTONIO, TX. – December 9, 2021 – Frost & Sullivan recently analyzed the global SD-WAN vendor market, and based on its findings, recognizes Fortinet with the 2021 Global SD-WAN Vendor Product Leadership Award for transforming and securing the WAN. Fortinet’s Security-driven Networking approach to SD-WAN enables a wide range of use cases including secure and optimized connections to cloud-based applications. The company’s Secure SD-WAN solution integrates SD-WAN capabilities, advanced routing functions, next-generation firewall (NGFW), and zero trust network access (ZTNA) proxy on a single appliance or a single virtual machine (VM) to deliver secure networking capability. The solution can be deployed in a virtual or physical format on-premise or as a VM in the cloud, with a throughput of 20 Gbps, the highest available in the industry.
Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN solution, powered by the industry’s first SOC4 SD-WAN ASIC for accelerated performance, features an unrestricted WAN bandwidth consumption model on appliances that is unique in the industry. Cloud adoption continues to grow, but enterprises have generally struggled to implement and maintain a secure, high-performing WAN that allows for efficient access to cloud-based applications across their user base. With the rise in remote working and with distributed users accessing cloud-hosted applications, the enterprise perimeter is no longer limited to users within the company site. Fortinet’s solution securely connects users to cloud-based applications delivering consistent policies off- and on-network.
Roopa Honnachari, VP of Research, Network Services & Edge, explained that “Fortinet has been a long-time leader in the network security market, which has enabled them to deliver a solution that tightly knits advanced security features with SD-WAN. Though Fortinet is best known as a security company, they have shown their strength and innovation in networking as one of the top SD-WAN solutions on the market capable of supporting enterprise digital transformation.”
To break the perception that it is a security vendor that also does SD-WAN and to eliminate the risk of not appealing to enterprise infrastructure or network decision makers, the company has consciously focused on highlighting its routing and networking capabilities in marketing activities and proofs of concept.”
With its focus on SD-WAN with integrated advanced security and ability to deliver multiple functions in a single hardware appliance or VM, Fortinet has experienced significant growth in the last three years. The company sells 100% through channel partners, including large telcos, such as AT&T, Verizon, British Telecom, Masergy, GTT, KDDI, Orange, and Windstream, that are looking to add secure SD-WAN to their portfolios. As a result, Fortinet has nearly doubled its revenue.
Honnachari further noted that “Fortinet has emerged as a formidable competitor in the enterprise secure networking space. While the company has always served as a leading competitor in the network security space, the transformation to adding SD-WAN, NGFW, ZTNA access proxy, and advanced routing capabilities on a single operating system and managed by a single console is highly commendable.”
Furthermore, Fortinet has experienced tremendous growth across all regions. With its strong overall performance, Fortinet earns Frost & Sullivan’s 2021 Product Leadership Award in the global SD-WAN vendor industry.
Each year, Frost & Sullivan presents this award to the company that has developed a product with innovative features and functionality that is gaining rapid market acceptance. The award recognizes the quality of the solution and the customer value enhancements it enables.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in various regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analyses, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
