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SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN 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

SteelConnect EX Enterprise ...
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
25th
Ranking in WAN Edge
20th
Average Rating
7.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.7
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
6th
Ranking in WAN Edge
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN is 1.0%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN is 7.6%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN7.6%
SteelConnect EX Enterprise SD-WAN1.0%
Other91.4%
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
 

Featured Reviews

Jason Best - PeerSpot reviewer
Data center network architect at Cloudwire
Analytics feature is very granular and comprehensive, although complicated to use
It's like an SD-WAN project basically. You really need to make sure that the product matches the needs of what the customer's trying to achieve and their overall strategy to meet their core business requirements. I think a certain customer made a mistake in choosing this solution because a large part of their network was Cisco and they had firewalls that were from Fortinet. I think they would have been better off and it would have been better from a CAPEX, OPEX point of view. It would've been more advantageous for them to have maybe chosen a Cisco or Fortinet solution based on their existing environment. Make sure you understand your network correctly before you try to implement any SD-WAN solution. That was one of the good lessons I learned about SD-WANs with this specific product. I wouldn't say it was a fault of the product. I would say it's more a fault of the CTO who tries to do things quickly without taking into account the existing environment or give the internal faculties the time to provide real low-level design implementation. It was more of a management mistake than from their technical team. In the next release, I would like to see things like integrated security but with local internet breakout instead of using third party solutions like NetScaler or Palo Alto. I would also like to see the integration of things like a VPN so that if you have remote sites where you might have remote workers that need to access the site from home or something, there's a VPN solution. Those are two key features and hotspots in the sort of global crisis. I would rate Riverbed a seven out of ten. I could never give any solution a 10 cause they all have good and bad points. To get any solution to a ten is pretty much impossible. If I was to rate it against others like Fortinet, I would probably give Fortinet an eight or nine. Again, I think you have to be careful because it's very subjective. I think it really depends on the type of environment, the type of customer you're deploying the SD-WAN solution for, and from which perspective you're looking at like if you an operator, if you're a large enterprise, if you're looking for a plug and play type solution. If you're looking for more of a security solution, I would go for Fortinet. It's kind of tough to say. I'd probably put the clouds a little bit ahead of the game because it does what it's supposed to do and easily. It's a little more of a plug and play type solution. Fortinet, for example, is more complex. I put it in a close second place, it's better from a security perspective. It has integration with FortiGuard. After that, I would put Riverbed in third place.
KF
At Messer Manager, Network & Communications (Americas) at a manufacturing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Dynamic Multipath Optimization transforms network with high-quality circuits and cost-effective bandwidth
VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN has truly transformed our environment, providing significantly more bandwidth at lower costs, which is essential for tasks like Teams calls. Its Dynamic Multipath Optimization allows us to use both high-quality and cost-effective circuits concurrently, avoiding the frustration of unused backup circuits. Additionally, real-time application prioritization offers MPLS-like quality of service using internet circuits, resulting in a cost-effective network solution.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use."
"The analytics is the most valuable feature because it was very granular and very comprehensive, although a little complicated to use. If you're really interested in knowing what's happening on your network, it's a very good solution. That was the .NET Profiler part of the solution."
"VeloCloud performs as well as the Cisco SD-WAN but it is cheaper in price."
"I like VMware SD-WAN's automation and zero-touch provisioning. Its main advantage is simplicity. Anyone can use this gateway."
"They have a lot of built-ins. There are so many applications defined inside the solution. It makes it so that we don't have to create some policies. Each and every application is already defined in it."
"The service they provide is very stable and is the main influencer of why customers purchase this solution."
"VMware SD-WAN is a complete solution."
"It is fairly straightforward; after you've done it once or twice, it is fairly simple."
"Honestly, we don't want to get away from this solution at all."
"Compared to Fortinet or Cisco, VMware is quite easy to set up, and the management dashboard is intuitive."
 

Cons

"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routine perspective, things like RSPs line support. It was supportive but not really supportive."
"The routing scalability needs improvement. We have run into a lot of limitations and also primarily from a routing perspective, things like RSPs line support."
"The product should have on-demand tunnels instead of fixed tunnels."
"The initial setup could be simplified for beginners."
"The only thing that I'm having issues with is on one of the sites, I can't see the location on the map. That's the only thing that can be fixed."
"Some of the service providers that use VeloCloud as their SD-WAN should be enabled to have better global visibility."
"In the future, we would like to have more capacity using this solution as there are limitations on the VCE. For example, only 50 tunnels can be supported currently but we would like to have 200 tunnels using the VeloCloud VCE device."
"The security of the firewall should be improved."
"The initial setup of VMware SD-WAN was simple. However, it took six days to complete."
"VeloCloud could improve its integration capabilities with other solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"The pricing is very comparable to Fortinet."
"I would rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten since the license is costly."
"Overall pricing could be lower. It is much more expensive than traditional hardware vendor pricing."
"Price would be a challenge for customers, because it is expensive."
"The price of this solution should be lower."
"VMware SD-WAN provides competitive pricing."
"VeloCloud performs as well as the Cisco SD-WAN but it is cheaper in price."
"The price is reasonable for this solution, but the only challenge for us is that the Rand currency fluctuates to the dollar and provides some complexities. The price might go up just because the Rand has actually lost value."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Construction Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

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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 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...
What needs improvement with VMware SD-WAN?
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.
 

Also Known As

SteelConnect, Riverbed SteelConnect
VMware SD-WAN, VeloCloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Roxtec, Software Solutions Company, Rignet
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 Fortinet, Cisco, Palo Alto Networks and others in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions. Updated: April 2026.
886,932 professionals have used our research since 2012.