

VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN and Aruba Orchestrator are strong contenders in the SD-WAN market. VMware VeloCloud appears to have the upper hand with its advanced Dynamic Multipath Optimization, integration with cloud services, and dashboard visibility.
Features: VMware VeloCloud features Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMPO) enhancing link quality, zero-touch provisioning for simplified setup, and seamless integration capabilities with cloud services. Aruba Orchestrator focuses on WAN optimization, intent overlay for easier network management, and provides a single pane of glass view for comprehensive network visibility.
Room for Improvement: VeloCloud could benefit from enhancing its security features and expanding its global support network while offering better pricing models and user-friendly documentation. Aruba Orchestrator needs simpler management menus, more deployment flexibility, and better reporting capabilities with improved dynamic security certificate management.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: VMware VeloCloud provides flexible deployment options across private, public, and hybrid cloud environments but faces challenges in technical support consistency. Aruba Orchestrator is straightforward for hybrid and on-premises deployments, facing some complexities due to fewer configuration touchpoints. Aruba's support is generally positive with room for enhancements in training and documentation.
Pricing and ROI: VMware VeloCloud is competitive yet pricey, justified by its features, offering ROI through improved productivity over time, particularly for large-scale deployments. Aruba Orchestrator is seen as more cost-effective with subscription-based models that eliminate maintenance contracts, providing an appealing cost-to-feature ratio for enterprises.
I have seen a return on investment and financial benefit from using Aruba Orchestrator.
We don't see return on investment, but we love the technology, so we purchase because of the technology.
The deployment time with VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN saves 50 percent compared to traditional MPLS networks.
The technical support of Aruba is very supportive and excellent.
I would rate my experience with technical support from Aruba as eight out of ten.
I appreciate having dedicated service engineers who manage our account and ensure any technical issues are addressed efficiently.
The customer base for VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN has been growing 30 to 40 percent per year when transitioning from traditional MPLS networks.
We had Cisco infrastructure in the past before we replaced it with Aruba, and our experience is much better with Aruba compared to Cisco—far, far better.
The technical team from VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN addresses these issues promptly, making us very happy with their support.
Overall, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is a stable solution.
The price should be improved as it is very high.
It would be great if they would have a fully multi-tenant solution on their Orchestrator.
I would like to see improved security features, such as adding more SASE functions.
Unlike the comprehensive reports we receive from Palo Alto for our firewalls, VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN doesn't offer detailed reports that effectively convey the solution's benefits to management.
Regarding my experience with the pricing and setup costs, I find it expensive software compared to others.
The pricing is high, making the margin thin, which limits mark-up opportunities from the wholesale price.
The pricing involves licensing for the VeloCloud gateway based on the bandwidth used.
Integration capabilities with cloud and on-prem environments help my organization maintain a hybrid approach.
It also gives a lot of troubleshooting ideas when we are trying to troubleshoot any issues with the wireless network or the wired network.
It's really great that it connects today all the gateways and SD-WAN solution with the SASE and the zero trust network access.
Its proprietary Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMP) technology is regarded as the most powerful and valuable function by VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN.
Previously, organizations used MPLS links for 1 MB at around $200, but now they can use 4G or 5G SIM cards for half that price while achieving more bandwidth.
Real-time application prioritization offers MPLS-like quality of service using internet circuits, resulting in a cost-effective network solution.
| Product | Mindshare (%) |
|---|---|
| VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN | 7.6% |
| Aruba Orchestrator | 1.5% |
| Other | 90.9% |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 5 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 1 |
| Large Enterprise | 5 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 24 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 14 |
| Large Enterprise | 20 |
Aruba Orchestrator has an intuitive interface that allows you to centrally define, assign, and enforce policies across the WAN. Network managers experience the highest quality of experience to:
Centrally define, assign and enforce policies based on business intent to secure and control all application traffic across the WAN.
Orchestrator dashboards provide real time visibility into SD-WAN health and performance in a single screen, monitoring traffic throughput along with loss, latency and jitter across overlays and underlays.
Maintain the highest levels of application performance by automatically assigning application and security policies across 100s or 1000s of sites, including automated orchestration with cloud security services.
Central orchestration of network functions including SD-WAN routing, firewall, segmentation, WAN optimization, application visibility and control, and automated orchestration with cloud security services.
VMware Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is a secure access service edge (SASE) platform that combines many types of software-based network technologies in an attempt to enable users to virtualize their wide area networks and reduce their reliance on hardware. In essence, this solution makes it possible for users to reliably access their applications from anywhere in the world by leveraging cloud technologies. Users can simply, efficiently, and completely control their network devices and traffic. It ensures that organizations are always able to use the best possible connection to their data centers. VMware SD-WAN steers traffic so that it is always using the most reliable connections and at the same time takes steps to remediate any problems that it detects in other network links. This guarantees that organizations can access high-priority applications at all times.
VMware SD-WAN Benefits
Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by deploying VMware SD-WAN include:
VMware SD-WAN Features
Reviews from Real Users
VMware SD-WAN is a solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its ability to automate the process of creating and maintaining a virtual local area network and its intuitive user dashboard.
Sami I., principal cloud architect at Loihe, writes, “One of the solution's most valuable features is the VMware core automation stack at an SDDC. It includes NSX, the VMware virtualization layer for the networks (the LAN virtualization), which works extremely well with the VMware SD-WAN solution and is the primary advantage over all the others. None of the other vendors could integrate with the virtual LAN, making it quite complicated and virtualized to be fully automated.”
Chih S., senior technical consultant at a tech services company, says, “The product has a very good user dashboard that is simple to navigate.”
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