Today, CRN announced thatCiscoSD-WANwonits2019 Product of the Year Awardfor Software-Defined Networking.I could not bemore proudof our entire SD-WANteam. I'meven happierthat ourchannel partnersare finding successwith these productsandservices.  

For example, there'sWorld WideTechnology(WWT). They've been building acomprehensive SD-WAN practicesince 2016,deliveringboth on-premiseandcloud-managed WAN servicesto their customers.  "Cisco SD-WAN ticks all the boxes," according to Neil Anderson, WWT'sPractice Director for Network Solutions. "It's a great solution for customers who want cost savings, increased business agility, robust security, and support formulticloudnetworks." 

WWT's SD-WAN businessisgrowing more than 50 percent a year, and it's largely driven by Ciscosolutions. 

Katalystisa North Carolina-based Managed Services provider and reseller. It has been providingwhite-labeled Cisco-basedmanagedSD-WAN servicessinceJanuary,2019.Katalyst is able toremotelyonboard sites from hundreds of miles away,so their customersno longerhaveto wait months for the provisioning of network-to-network interfaces.Katalystmade the choice to "go big" with Cisco forseveral reasons, with security being key. ThecompanybundledSD-WAN and security into a managed service for its customers,saysJesse White,Katalyst field CTO.  Whitesays,"We've found harmony with our customersin simplifying theirITenvironments, andproviding customers with a box that can do Layer 7 firewalling as well as all the SD-WAN benefits." The new services are leading to an average deal size 25 percent higher than previously.  

NTTLtd.has an SD-WAN portfolio that includes bothfully-managedand customer-managed services. The company says the Cisco SD-WAN solution is a key element in NTT's ability to deliver transformative solutions. One NTT client saw a 25 percent cost reduction in bandwidth expense,and 300 percent increase in bandwidthefficiencyacross their sites. 

These stories are at the heart of what Cisco does. 85% of our business goes through our partners, and when they succeed, we do as well.  

The SD-WAN market is growing rapidly, thanks to the rapid business adoption of cloud services. The market demands new approaches connecting branches and cloud instances that delivers robust security to every device and every cloud.

We are leading this charge. Of the Fortune 100, seventy use Cisco SD-WAN; we have 20,000 SD-WAN customers in total, making Cisco the market leader in the category (verified by Gartner and IDC). The fact that CRN recognized the Cisco SD-WAN solution as the leader in all three of its judging criteria (technology innovation, financial opportunity, and market demand) speaks to our intense focus on making our customers and partners successful.

The advantages of helpingbusinesses adopt SD-WAN are significant.IDC research shows that almost 95% of the enterprises they surveyed ?expect to be using SD-WAN within 24 months1. That's a lot of opportunity.We are here to help our partnerscapture it. 

Read the full story: CRN 2019 Products of the Year

For more information on Cisco SD-WAN:

• Cisco SD-WAN on Cisco.com
• Cisco SD-WAN Partner Resources (Partner login required)
• Managed Secure SD-WAN Service Creation Guide (Partner Login required)

1: IDC Technology Spotlight, sponsored by Cisco. SD-WAN: Security, Application Experience and Operational Simplicity Drive Market Growth, April 2019