Sprint SD-WAN Goes Global

Sprint says its software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) platform can reach networks all across the world.

The carrier on Wednesday announced that the platform can service customers that are located in or have remote offices in Asia Pacific, Latin America, North America and Europe.

Sprint’s Mike Fitz

“With just one dedicated Sprint team and one simple portal in the cloud, an enterprise is now able to more intelligently manage all of its network resources across the globe with the geographic expansion of our SD-WAN services,” said Mike Fitz, vice president of the Sprint Global Wireline Business Unit.

Sprint said its “turnkey managed” solution will “lessen IT strain” and efficiently manage application performance. It is based in the cloud and transports workloads through both public internet and MPLS (private) networks.

“Intuitive cloud-based management allows thousands of applications to be easily managed across any network to any destination, all anchored by Sprint’s worldwide, Tier 1 wireline network,” Fitz said. “The result is better network availability, unparalleled monitoring, superior converged application support, an improved user experience and overall reduced operational costs.”

The announcement places Sprint among a host of SD-WAN providers touting their international reach. CenturyLink one month ago said that its product works in 30 countries. InSpeed Networks highlighted the expansion of its data-center coverage to numerous sites worldwide. Aryaka, which has essentially built its reputation on the idea of “global SD-WAN,” added a point of presence in Canada.

Sprint announced a partnership with SD-WAN vendor VeloCloud Networks two years ago and commenced a pilot before rolling out an SD-WAN solution in the spring of 2017.

The carrier has diversified its portfolio in a big way this year, and often through partnerships. Sprint teamed up with Zscaler and Samsung for respective security and mobility offerings last winter. It has also made serious strides in IoT, unveiling a new platform in September. WTG recently brought in Sprint’s “IoT in a box” solution.