Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Juniper Contrail Networking vs VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Juniper Contrail Networking
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined Networking (SDN) (5th)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions (5th), WAN Edge (6th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Enterprise Networking solutions, they serve different purposes. Juniper Contrail Networking is designed for Software Defined Networking (SDN) and holds a mindshare of 6.4%, down 6.8% compared to last year.
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN, on the other hand, focuses on Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions, holds 9.8% mindshare, up 9.6% since last year.
Software Defined Networking (SDN) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Juniper Contrail Networking6.4%
Meraki SD-WAN21.2%
Cisco ACI13.2%
Other59.2%
Software Defined Networking (SDN)
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN9.8%
Fortinet FortiGate18.7%
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN14.8%
Other56.7%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

TA
Smart configuration management eliminates the need to worry about managing the network's configurations
Based on my experience in the Indian market, there are four to five areas that need improvement. First, there is a lack of marketing and awareness about Juniper, making it difficult to reach end-users and deliver solutions. Second, Juniper's education and awareness centers are costly and not easily accessible like Cisco's resources and their understanding of users' requirements. The information is not easily available on online channels like Youtube. Third, Juniper needs to promote its Mist integration better, and pricing is also a significant factor. Finally, Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch. In summary, improving marketing and sales, education and awareness, Mist integration, pricing, and catering to specific market requirements are areas that need improvement. I just want a good feature in the SD-WAN. Juniper should consider integrating its firewall experience with its SD-WAN devices to create a complete package. With everything moving to the cloud, companies require intelligence and security solutions for their on-prem infrastructure. Moreover, Juniper should integrate its SOC solution into its Mist portal and SD-WAN devices, including IPs, IDS, web and content filters, and messaging. This would provide a complete product and give Juniper an advantage over competitors such as Cisco. I believe that with a bundle that includes SOC and UTM flavors in their Mist portal, Juniper can make a significant impact in the market.
Mohammed Gawas - PeerSpot reviewer
Enhancements in deployment and monitoring simplify network implementation experience
We are dealing with VMware products including VMware VeloCloud, Cisco Catalyst, and Fortinet FortiGate as a system integrator, handling customer requests.We utilize VeloCloud's centralized orchestration for traffic prioritization. The impact of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN's Dynamic Multi-Path Optimization on network application performance has been significant. We have tested this feature multiple times, and it was really powerful for steering traffic and packet regeneration, resulting in better flow. We have leveraged the automatic link resiliency feature in VeloCloud SD-WAN, conducting a VoIP test scenario that involved disconnecting link A and seamlessly shifting traffic to link B without any packet loss. However, we have not sold any CPE for VeloCloud in the last one and a half years due to the impact of Broadcom's acquisition. The significance of VeloCloud SD-WAN's deployment flexibility in an organization's network strategy is critical now, as every organization needs to reduce costs and undergo digitalization. SD-WAN provides security and quality of service without needing costly links such as MPLS, and using this CPE from VMware meets the SLA the customer needs. I evaluate VeloCloud's comprehensive visibility into network traffic as enhancing the network security posture. It provides detailed information such as user IP addresses, MAC addresses, and operating systems, giving us visibility for everything related to which customer, end user, application, and link are involved. On a scale of one to ten, I rate VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN a nine.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It provides proactive alerting in a single dashboard solution."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is a stable solution."
"After we finished setting Contrail up, it seemed stable enough. Still, we never tested it in a real environment, so we don't have enough information to say whether it's stable with a given number of users and appliances. We have tested it in a lab environment, but we haven't tested enough to say that the platform is stable."
"Contrail automates the excellent communication between virtual appliances."
"VMware is the only SD-WAN solution that integrates with Azure Virtual WAN."
"VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN has truly transformed our environment, providing significantly more bandwidth at lower costs, which is essential for tasks like Teams calls."
"I have found the dynamic multipoint protocol(DNPO) most useful because it can tell you which is the best circuit to use for different types of traffic."
"This solution is as stable as most firewalls. VMware is a reputable vendor."
"The biggest feature is called D.M.P.O., or Dynamic Multipath Optimization, which is one of the technologies that they use to deliver or ensure data integrity."
"The setup is very straightforward."
"I would absolutely recommend VeloCloud because it's user-friendly and because the integration is easier than with other solutions."
"It is very simple to configure. When you use the cloud to configure the equipment, it has zero-touch provisioning."
 

Cons

"Concerns were raised about the complexity of involving networking components like MX routers, which often required expertise beyond the scope of software engineers. As a result, users encountered challenges in achieving comprehensive understanding and troubleshooting of networking issues within the Contrail environment."
"Juniper needs to address the market's specific requirements, such as the SME sector, and offer more lower-priced products like a lower-end segment switch."
"Juniper Contrail Networking is difficult if you do not have a certificate for Juniper. Juniper is a different type of configuration or operation than Cisco."
"Visibility, especially for the top of the platform, is a nightmare. The top was documented incorrectly and really complex to complete. In the end, it worked but only after several weeks of work with the support of a Juniper solution engineer in Holland."
"The cost is a little bit high."
"The improvement needed for VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is in the security area. The security part is the main issue for us when selling VeloCloud compared to Fortinet and Cisco."
"The solution needs improvement on security features and should include two firewalls. Cloud VPN can’t support any link. The solution needs to also improve the availability of centralized internal management. It needs to have debug detection and Deep Packet Detection features as well. The documentation for VMware is also hard to find."
"The product should have on-demand tunnels instead of fixed tunnels."
"VMware SD-WAN is harder than Cisco. It is complex, and we must take many steps to get the service. I think it would be beneficial if obtaining licenses could be simplified. Currently, numerous options and integrations are bundled together, which can make it quite complex."
"The only thing that I'm having issues with is on one of the sites, I can't see the location on the map."
"They need more gateways"
"There is no security included, which is something that should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Juniper Contrail Networking is low-cost for small and medium-sized businesses. Cisco and Palo Alto solutions are more expensive."
"There are many vendors in the wireless market that offer better pricing, solutions, and management skills compared to Juniper."
"VeloCloud performs as well as the Cisco SD-WAN but it is cheaper in price."
"You need to pay for a license to use this product."
"Price would be a challenge for customers, because it is expensive."
"The pricing is very comparable to Fortinet."
"The price of this solution is higher than that of other SD-WAN vendors."
"Overall pricing could be lower. It is much more expensive than traditional hardware vendor pricing."
"We pay about $500 USD, or 700,000 Korean won."
"The price of the solution could be reduced."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions are best for your needs.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Retailer
10%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business22
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Juniper Contrail Networking?
Juniper Contrail Networking enables the utilization of tier-two appliances and the creation of virtual networks or appliances. This is facilitated through the use of filtering devices. Additionally...
What is your primary use case for Juniper Contrail Networking?
We use the solution to host many services for multiple clients. We aim to transition from hosting Cisco clients to utilizing virtual appliances. Therefore, we intend to virtualize their infrastruct...
What advice do you have for others considering Juniper Contrail Networking?
Juniper Contrail Networking presents a distinct alternative for those encountering issues with vendor solutions. Consequently, individuals who may have previously hesitated to explore OpenStack sol...
What are the biggest differences between Fortinet Fortigate and VMware SD-WAN?
One of our favorite things about Fortinet Fortigate is that you can deploy on the cloud or on premises. It is a very stable, reliable, and consistent solution. We like that we can manage the entire...
What do you like most about VMware SD-WAN?
One of the key use cases for VMware SD-WAN was assisting a customer in the industrial zone. They required virtualized servers and wanted to enable VMware SD-WAN to connect their sites in Japan or C...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware SD-WAN?
When it comes to setup cost and licensing cost for VMware, it is on the expensive side relative to the market. We are struggling to sell VMware as Fortinet offers SD-WAN with no additional costs. T...
 

Also Known As

Contrail Networking
VMware SD-WAN, VeloCloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Lithium Technologies, Orange Business Services, Cloudwatt, Symantec, Cloud Dynamics, CloudSeeds
Redmond, Coca Cola, Roka Bioscience, MetTel, Deutsche Telekom, Rockford Construction,  The Bay Club, tru Independence, Triton Management Services, DevCon, AXPM
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, TP-Link, Aviatrix and others in Software Defined Networking (SDN). Updated: August 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.