'Channel Ready' Talari Networks Expands SD-WAN Partner Reach With New Tech Data Partnership

Software-defined WAN specialist Talari Networks is significantly expanding its channel and market reach through a new distribution partnership with Tech Data unveiled on Tuesday.

"Now that we have Tech Data, they have over 100,000 partners – so it’s a really great move for us," said John Dickey, president and co-founder of Talari, in an interview with CRN. "Tech Data will help us scale the number of partnerships faster … Channel ready is not just about the size of the company, channel ready is the company that can bring success to the channel partners and Talari has already proven that."

Talari’s distribution partnership will be with Tech Data’s Technology Solutions business, formerly a division of Avnet. The Technology Solutions division distributes networking and cloud solutions to more than 15 countries.

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Research firm IDC expects the SD-WAN market to grow at more than a 90 percent CAGR over the next four years, increasing from $225 million in 2016 to $6 billion by 2020.

Talari serves 400 customers and more than 8,000 SD-WAN endpoints. Tech Data has operations in 40 countries, with 14,000 employees serving approximately 115,000 customers in more than 100 countries.

"Next-generation networking technologies like SD-WAN are extremely important to our global partners' success in terms of accelerating the potential for recurring revenue streams," said Cheryl Neal, Tech Data’s vice president, data and networking solutions, in a statement. "By adding Talari to our enterprise solutions portfolio, our partners will be able to develop deeper expertise and scalable market coverage for software-defined networking customer initiatives."

Talari's SD-WAN offerings can be delivered both via the cloud or as an appliance-based offering on a subscription-based pricing model. The vendor’s solution creates a responsive network that adapts in real time to bandwidth demand and actual network conditions to ensure critical applications have priority. It brings continuous availability and predictable performance whether using all MPLS, hybrid WAN MPLS and broadband WAN, the internet, or wireless.

By 2020 more than 50 percent of WAN-edge infrastructure refresh initiatives will be based on SD-WAN versus traditional routers, up from less than 2 percent today, according to Gartner.

Although still relatively a new market, Gartner says the SD-WAN space is beginning to mature this year with consolidation expected ahead.

Last month, Cisco made a big splash in the SD-WAN market by unveiling plans to acquire SD-WAN startup Viptela for $610 million.

Other major players in the SD-WAN market include Aryaka, CloudGenix, FatPipe Networks, Riverbed, Silver Peak, VeloCloud and Versa Networks.

Talari Networks began in 2007 as a WAN path controller vendor and developed a set of dynamic path selection and multipath management capabilities. It soon enhanced its Adaptive Private Networking software to deliver full SD-WAN functionality.

"We were doing this type of solution before anyone labeled it SD-WAN," said Dickey. "If you counted the number of locations deployed in production networks, the number of hours that have been running in production networks – Talari is far and away the most mature player out there."

Earlier this month, Tech Data CEO Bob Dutkowsky said his $26 billion company had gained market share in several key countries and product categories following its $2.6 billion acquisition of Avnet Technology Solutions. Additionally, the Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor recently launched a pre-configured small-business cloud server for Microsoft Azure to make it less expensive and easier for partners to support customers in the public cloud.