The acquisition furthers Riverbed’s strategy to deliver next-generation, software-defined networking solutions that provide superior application performance and business agility for today’s hybrid enterprises. The acquisition of the privately-held company will expand and accelerate Riverbed’s delivery of best-in-class SD-WAN solutions to customers, while creating significant new growth opportunities for Riverbed and its partners.
“Ocedo is a compelling and strategic acquisition for Riverbed. Their innovative software-defined networking solutions perfectly complement our own strategic investments in R&D, expanding our position to aggressively compete in the emerging markets for software-defined networks and SD-WAN, bringing disruption to the multi-billion dollar branch router market,” said Jerry M. Kennelly, Riverbed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “As the industry goes through one of the largest transformations in a decade, with cloud and hybrid IT environments requiring a different approach to networking, Riverbed is well positioned to help businesses reap the benefits of newer and superior network architectures that are application-centric and software-defined.”
SD-WAN solutions streamline and simplify how hybrid WANs are deployed and managed, enabling IT to provide fast and secure delivery of applications hosted on-premises or in the public cloud with greater agility and ease. The SD-WAN market is expected to grow significantly in the next several years. According to Gartner, “by the end of 2019, 30% of enterprises will use SD-WAN products in all their branch offices, up from less than 1% today.” (Gartner, Inc., Market Guide for Software-Defined WAN, Bjarne Munch, December 1, 2015)
“The acquisition of Ocedo is a game changer, as it immediately positions Riverbed among the leaders of software-defined networking and SD-WAN solutions,” said Zeus Kerravala of ZK Research. “Coupled with Riverbed’s industry-leading portfolio of application performance infrastructure, this move solidifies Riverbed’s position as a trusted provider of innovative and high performance network software solutions, at a critical time when enterprises are looking to deploy next-generation networks.”
This acquisition further fuels Riverbed’s Project Tiger initiative, announced in Fall 2015, in which Riverbed plans to bring to market a new suite of application-centric SD-WAN solutions that will eliminate the need for traditional branch routers, provides cloud-based zero-touch provisioning & management, and will be based on a new software operating platform that enables agile service-chaining for Riverbed-native and 3rd-party services and applications. Riverbed plans to launch an initial SD-WAN solution in Q1 2016 to complement and expand the Riverbed Application Performance Platform.
“We are very excited to join the Riverbed team, as they are as passionate and committed as we are to disrupting the status quo by delivering superior networking solutions in today’s cloud, mobile and hybrid-world,” said Jan Hichert, CEO of Ocedo. “I’m confident that Ocedo’s technology will thrive and grow within Riverbed, and we’re energized to continue to innovate and develop solutions that will change how applications are delivered in the modern enterprise.”