Oracle has acquired Talari Networks, a Top 10 provider of SD-WAN technology, according to third-party market research. Talari develops Failsafe, which offers secure site-to-site and site-to-cloud connectivity and application access over any IP network, Oracle says. The deal is expected to close in 2018. Financial terms were note disclosed.
The SD-WAN market is growing rapidly, but key players such as Cisco Systems and VMware have already achieved major footprints in the sector. During the first quarter of 2018, Talari revenues in the SD-WAN sector were about $5.4 million -- making the company the No. 7 player in the market at the time, according to IHS Inc.
Talari's technology potentially complements the greater Oracle software portfolio in several ways. For instance, Talari adds high availability and Quality of Experience capabilities to Oracle Communication Session Border Controller (SBC) and network management infrastructure, the company claims.
Oracle has also been seeking ways to accelerate its cloud business. Although the company's overall cloud revenues are growing, Oracle no longer discloses IaaS-related revenues -- which lag those of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure by a wide margin.
Talari Channel Partner AVANT Weighs In
Drew Lydecker
Among those watching the deal closely: AVANT, a master distributor of Talari services. Reacting to the deal, AVANT President and Co-Founder Drew Lydecker offered two key perspectives:
- “The pace of change in IT is continuing to accelerate. Companies people have never heard of just a few years ago are disrupting the IT landscape. SD-WAN is the latest example and Talari is the prototypical disruptor. The network world has not changed much over the past decade, but enterprise network and data center needs are changing dramatically with migration to cloud services, growing mobile workforce, and dramatically changing enterprise WAN network patterns.”
- “The demands on enterprise application performance has never been greater. Talari SD-WAN makes today’s enterprise applications dance and puts the power of enterprise WAN back into the hands of the enterprise, democratizing utilization of carrier services. The behemoths like Oracle are gobbling up the nimble innovators and disruptors like Talari as a way of leapfrogging into this new technology space. SD-WAN is really about improving the application experience and enhancing the WAN security posture, and will be a phenomenal compliment to Oracle’s portfolio.”
SD-WAN Market Forecast: Growth and Consolidation
The SD-WAN infrastructure market will grow at a 40.4 percent compound annual growth rate from 2017 to 2022 to reach $4.5 billion, according to IDC's 2018 SD-WAN Infrastructure Forecast.
The market also is consolidating rapidly through M&A deals. VMware acquired top player VeloCloud in December 2017. And Cisco acquired Viptela in August 2017.
Still, a range of highly focused players continue to build SD-WAN partner programs. Among the names to know: Netsurion develops "ultra-secure" SD-WAN technology that's catching on with channel partners. Also, Live Action promotes SD-WAN and other network management technologies specifically to service providers.
