VMware VeloCloud SD-WAN Reviews

We use VMware to install some servers and virtual appliances.

It can be deployed on cloud and on-premises.

We have a team of five engineers.

Only one of our customers uses this solution. They're a medium-size enterprise.

It can be used for load balancing and load sharing. It's easy to use and customizable.

The dashboards could be improved.

I have used this solution for one year.

I would rate the stability as 10 out of 10.

It's scalable. I would rate the scalability as eight out of ten.

I would rate technical support as eight out of ten. I haven't faced any challenges.

Deployment took two hours.

I would rate this solution as eight out of ten. I would recommend it.

The platform's use cases extend to various industries, including retail, where it helps security policies around POPs and implements SASE. It also enhances network visibility and the endpoints.

VMware SD-WAN is easy-to-use and provides many different analytics, showing latency and anomalies. It has an excellent security aspect.

There is still room for improvement in support and security, especially in enhancing the SASE aspect of the platform. They could include more functionalities similar to Fortinet.

I have been using VMware SD-WAN for three and a half years.

VMware SD-WAN has good stability. 

It is a scalable platform. I have scaled from 20 sites to a couple of 1000 sites.

Although the platform's service and support are improving, there are still some difficulties in obtaining specific units due to product manufacturing constraints, particularly with hardware. Getting some units can take time and effort. It's essential to set clear customer expectations regarding this aspect.

Neutral

VMware SD-WAN is easy to set up. The deployment takes two minutes and requires one network engineer. I rate the process a seven out of ten.

VMware SD-WAN provides competitive pricing. I rate the pricing a seven out of ten.

I advise others to do a POC on trial. I rate VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

We use VMware SD-WAN to connect our network globally.

The most valuable features of VMware SD-WAN are the overall capabilities and ease of use.

VMware SD-WAN could improve if the hardware could integrate the interface using ICP. Additionally, if VMware SD-WAN is used with SSE providers that use tunnels there are some issues prioritizing traffic because it cannot decrypt.

I have been using VMware SD-WAN for approximately four years.

The solution is stable with the physical connectivity.

There are occasional issues with certain devices depending on the current firmware, causing them to reboot with a different configuration. Although this does not affect the operation of the devices, it is a known issue that exists in the background.

I rate the stability of VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

The solution is scalable.

The solution is used daily and is an intricate part of our business.

We have approximately 3,000 users using the solution.

I rate the scalability of VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

We use a third party for support.

I have not used a similar solution prior to VMware SD-WAN.

The installation is relatively easy. We only need to plug it in and it works. However, sometimes there needs some configuration but it is not difficult.

I rate the initial setup of VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

There are firmware updates that require maintenance. One person can complete the task.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a seven out of ten.

We have had some issues with firmware, it is not as flexible as I would like it to be with the configuration. We have not had any critical outages and overall it has been working well.

Our main use cases have been for customers who have been traditionally using MPLS lines and are now moving into a lot more SaaS-based applications to transform the WAN infrastructure. A lot of our customers have end-of-life, end-of-support devices on the WAN and they are always looking for doing RFPs on cutting edge technology. Some of them happen to use a lot of VMware and Cisco portfolios in their data centers and they are constantly trying to see what solution fits best for them.

VMware has been chosen by many of our customers who do not want to do a lot of complex routing in their environment and want a very easy-to-use solution. The most valuable features are simple troubleshooting, Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMPO), and cybersecurity. 

DMPO is a technology that is similar to a proprietary technology that VMware has. Customers probably do not understand too much about it in detail but they know about the benefits of it in general. What it does is constantly monitors all different areas, such as latency, jitter bandwidth, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. It makes sure that if there is a case where there is a networking jitter contained in the link, it figures out how to maneuver your traffic elsewhere. This is all done automatically without customers getting slowed down on those poor links. The customers do not want to spend too much time researching these complex technologies which VMware automatically takes care of them. It benefits many IT teams by taking a lot of the burden away who are constantly juggling a hundred different other things as well.

The cybersecurity component is very important. VMware also has a lot of security components embedded into the SD-WAN, especially with the traditionally SD-WAN, and now a lot more integration through secure access with partnerships companies, such as Zscaler and other SaaS-based solutions. VMware has a lot of portfolios within themselves that can support many security use cases and if they cannot they have partnerships with industry leaders who can. For example, the Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions through the Zscaler partnerships can help customers who want to move from traditional VPN solutions towards ZTNA based ones.

Overall as an experience, I have found that customers like the UI/UX experience that they receive from VMware.

There are customers that have very large routing and segmentation operations who do a lot of segmentation within their network and have complex routing requirements. VMware does not provide the facilities in terms of doing a lot of operations with routing tables, such as complex routing policies. It is more about that out-of-pocket experience that customers get out of VMware. There are other technologies for this type of use case from solutions, such as Versa or other WANs. These are for customers who are wanting to maneuver or configure things themselves, similar to DIY solutions, for them going to technologies, for instance from Versa, makes much more sense because they can do a lot more with routing, complex segmentation, and complex configurations. For customers who have complex service provider requirements, VMware and other solutions cannot support a lot of those use cases.

In an upcoming release, they should allow customers the flexibility to use mobile applications where they can go and check on the information about their networks. A lot of vendors, such as Meraki, have a lot more integration with the use of portals to a mobile application. Having this feature as an alternative to logging into a laptop would be beneficial. If you are a SaaS-based company why not make a mobile application as well. You might not be able to do configurations but at least monitor while away or on vacation.

I have been using this solution for approximately four years.

The software itself is very stable which our customers really like. They do not want to have buggy software or problems. I see the customers choose VMware over others and over time because of positive experiences with use cases, it becomes a trusted vendor and they tend to trust in the name as a brand in the future.

IT vendors are getting much more stable with the code, but nowadays everybody has more attention towards SaaS technology. Networking will just become another bundle to a lot of those providing this type of solution. Many vendors are getting into SaaS solutions and in terms of documentation, code releases, and features, there are probably more advancements. In SD-WAN specifically, a lot more features are moving into SaaS-based solutions. These new solutions are going to get reviewed and push the industries even further towards SaaS solutions it is the future.

The technical support is good.

The solution is straightforward to install compared to other solutions, VMware makes setup simple. SD-WAN vendors have a kind of simplicity embedded into them, just because of the nature of the software-defined components into it. 

I have evaluated Zscaler and Versa.

The advice to others wanting to implement this solution is not to try and do everything yourself. A lot of customers choose this route and are negatively affected two years later. It is important to do a lot of proof of concepts and testing. Get the solution from a trusted service provider who can manage it for you because these technologies are really complex under the code. Having a trusted service provider who can work with you and can have a lot of benefits. If your company business is not running the WAN links, I would suggest just offload that burden to a trusted service provider because then you can focus on your business. Technologies are complex, and doing all of these operations through your own IP node is complex. A trusted service provider who knows what they are doing can offload a lot of that burden allowing for you to relax and actually focus on your main applications and business.

A lot of customers I have seen in the industry try to do all the operations themselves just because they think that it is good to insource everything. This is one of the areas that you should not be insourceed a hundred percent of your team because these technologies can be extremely difficult to do on a day-to-day basis. Service providers handle hundreds of customers and they know a lot more about what you are doing and can be very useful than if you did it by yourself.

I rate VMware SD-WAN an eight out of ten.

Our only use cases are large multinational enterprise customers, as well as very large service providers. The solutions get deployed to the public cloud or to the private cloud depending on the user's requirements.

There are 400 functionalities of the system. Depending on the user's requirements, we may find one feature more important than the other.

Sometimes the room for improvement is designing it for a different customer base that they're not currently in. We match the right solution to the right user's requirements. Some users need a multitenant offering, whereas most large enterprises don't need that. But if you are talking to a service provider, some don't offer a multitenant solution. And so when the customer needs that, we would say use one with a multitenant, like VMware.

We have been using this solution for about two or three years.

The ones we work with are all very good.

The scalability of the solution is very good. We have plans to increase usage.

Some clients want to go very slowly and test out just one country first. If you're going into a lot of countries, you sometimes have regulatory problems with devices being imported and finding the right people to handle that.

I can't really comment because I haven't used it that much.

The initial setup is always pretty complex with what we're involved in.

The deployment time really depends on how conservative a customer is and how quickly they want it to go. Some of them are three months and some are a year.

The amount of staff we need for the deployment depends on whether you're deploying to 50 sites or 2,500 sites. 

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten. In order for it to be a ten out of ten, there should be more automation and self-service features.

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 China. We assisted in building the system by integrating VMware servers and utilizing the Cisco suite.

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 tool is stable. 

The product is scalable. We have three to four customers working with it. 

My assessment of the tech support for VMware is that it's generally accessible and valuable. However, there are some limitations. We typically contact them through a contracted third-party provider, often located outside of our region, such as in Singapore. While they are responsive, there are occasions when they may not immediately identify the issue and need to escalate it to a higher support tier, which can take some time.

We initiated the process by installing the software and configuring Windows on the VMware SD-WAN platform.

I rate the overall product a seven out of ten. The advice I would give to others who are considering starting to use VMware SD-WAN is to assess their organization's technical expertise and requirements first. However, if they lack the knowledge or resources, it might be better to opt for a simpler solution or to seek external support.

The tool's value and impact are significant, particularly for larger enterprises. It allows for configuration. However, the benefits may not be as pronounced for smaller offices or enterprises.

We use it for connecting multiple sites through the internet.

Typically, our clients are medium-sized businesses.

VeloCloud developed DMPO to increase performance and connectivity.

VeloCloud provides very good performance, support, portal configuration, and service integration — I think that it's perfect.

VeloCloud could improve its integration capabilities with other solutions. VeloCloud just provides connectivity, but what about advanced security services or administration service providers, and HPP for voice solutions? I think that VeloCloud could improve this kind of service integration. I know it's not their main use case, but it's part of their portfolio.

In the next release, I would like to see better support for IPv6.

I also think that a CPE that supports WiFi 6 is necessary.

I am a reseller — I have been using this solution for three years.

The stability is good, but it could be better.

Scalability-wise, I think it's pretty good. It can support various numbers of CPEs and VMs for different uses in order to grow the capacity of the platform.

Our customers don't have any complaints surrounding technical support. They don't often need help as there is plenty of reliable documentation online surrounding VeloCloud. We have yet to come across a use case that VeloCloud doesn't have documentation for.

The initial setup is very simple. You can auto-connect the CPEs. Once you activate the CPEs, the CPEs can then connect to other CPEs that are in the network.

For reliable connectivity, I would definitely recommend VeloCloud; however, if my customers want another kind of service in addition to connectivity, then I would recommend another kind of solution.

On a scale from one to ten, I would give this solution a rating of nine.

VMware SD-WAN is used for security and virtualization.

The most valuable feature of VMware SD-WAN is security. Additionally, the integration and configuration are easier to do than with other solutions, such as Cisco.

I have been using VMware SD-WAN for approximately three years.

The solution is stable.

We have approximately 200 customers using this solution.

The support from VMware SD-WAN is knowledgeable.

I rate the support from VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.

Positive

The initial setup of VMware SD-WAN was simple. However, it took six days to complete.

We use a third party to deploy the solution.

The price of VMware SD-WAN is less expensive than some solutions, such as Cisco.

I recommend this solution to others.

I rate VMware SD-WAN a nine out of ten.