What a time it is to sell software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) services.

The experts seem to agree that the technology has gone mainstream among customers, and early SD-WAN adopters need bigger pockets to hold all the return on investment. Many of us wondered in previous years if SD-WAN’s bark was bigger than its bite, but study after study shows that adoption is matching the hype.

TBI’s Corey Cohen

“It’s picking up momentum — less theoretical and now put into practice,” said Corey Cohen, vice president of marketing for TBI, which is reporting a 700% year-over-year SD-WAN sales increase.

Stefanie Whittington, vice president of brand experience for QOS Networks, said customers are more and more aware of SD-WAN’s possible benefits.

QOS Networks’ Stefanie Whittington

“From making their application performance more stable to enabling better flexibility in connectivity choices, SD-WAN has become the preferred solution that forward-thinking companies are adopting,” Whittington said. “Especially those that are considering new technologies for 2020 like IoT, preparing for 5G, or increasing the amount of demand at the edge.”

Cohen and Whittington spoke to Channel Partners about trends and predictions for the world of SD-WAN.

They’re part of a panel – consisting of two master agents, a consultancy and an MSP – that shared where it sees the SD-WAN market moving. Scroll through the images below to learn more about the hot technology that’s driving convergence between the IT and telecom channels. You can also check out a fascinating channel-related SD-WAN survey Heavy Reading conducted.