Barracuda's latest report - Secure SD-WAN: the launch pad into cloud - discusses the insights gathered from their latest global survey which included the participation of 750 IT decision makers who are responsible for their organisation's cloud infrastructure.

In the study 23% of respondents stated that they had already deployed SD-WAN, and 51% reported being in the process or expecting to deploy in the next 12 months. These high numbers could indicate that IT professionals are realising that a cloud provider's native security solutions may not provide sufficient capabilities, leading many to seek out third-party providers to help them overcome any adoption barriers.

Despite these adoption rates, as well as the expectation that IT infrastructure in the public cloud will continue to rise from 45% to 76% in the next five years, security still remains as the biggest concern restricting these adoption rates from increasing even faster. In fact, 7 out of 10 organisations say that the security of the public cloud infrastructure, the impact of cyber attacks, and the security of applications deployed in the public cloud are inhibiting their public cloud adoption.

In this article we will be discussing more of the key findings presented in this recent report, including trends surrounding global SD-WAN adoption, acquisition preferences, driving factors, and security challenges.

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Key Finding #1

A fully integrated, secure SD-WAN is the solution of choice.

Organisations looking to achieve a securely integrated network for cloud deployments are choosing SD-WAN technology. 74% of respondents have either already deployed SD-WAN or are expecting to do so in the next 12 months.

 

Key Finding #2

Acquiring SD-WAN via a cloud provider is the overwhelming preference.

Organisations globally are consistent in their desire to acquire an SD-WAN solution from a cloud provider. In EMEA specifically, the priority is getting a tailored solution for the best price. Around the world driving factors also vary significantly depending on industry and their differing business needs.

 

Key Finding #3

Microsoft Azure is the preferred public-cloud platform.

Microsoft Azure is way ahead of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) as the preferred cloud platform.

 

Key Finding #4

Access controls present security challenges to organisations globally.

When asked if their company faces any challenges in securely accessing the public cloud, the top response across all areas was a lack of control over who accesses their public cloud. For EMEA specifically, this challenge was reported by 38% of respondents.

 

Key Finding #5

Simplicity and knowledge are the overall driving factors when it comes to acquisition.

Overall, organisations are acquiring SD-WAN from external vendors based on their knowledge and the simplicity of adoption. The exception is in EMEA, where the priority is getting a tailored solution or the best price with a simple adoption.

 


Conclusion

Organisations around the world are moving to public cloud, but security remains the prime concern. As they migrate their infrastructures, IT professionals prefer the cloud platforms they believe are intrinsically more secure, and Microsoft Azure stands out from the rest.

For best results, an SD-WAN solution needs to be fully secure. The ideal solution combines security and network optimisation to create an all-in-one, secure SD-WAN framework.

For more insights into the adoption of SD-WAN and security concerns relating to public cloud migration, download your copy of the full report:

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