Select VMware customers and partners will begin an evaluation of its SD-WAN Client “across numerous use cases” prior to the product’s general availability launch, the vendor announced at MWC Barcelona 2023.

First introduced in November, the VMware SD-WAN Client aims to help IT teams reduce the operational burden of managing increasingly distributed environments by providing consistent connectivity, performance, and security capabilities to remote workers. And the other, less "obvious” use case for the product is IOT devices deployed in remote locations, VMware SVP Sanjay Uppal said in a pre-briefing for the MWC event.

“It gets you that zero trust and zero touch, plus gives you the network resiliency that you need from devices and not just from users,” Uppal said.

The vendor’s customer Nature Fresh Farms and partner Coevolve will in their remote device use cases “thoroughly evaluate the SD-WAN Client,” which is expected to be made generally available in VMware’s first fiscal quarter of 2024.

VMware acquired the team, products, and IP of Ananda Networks in order to “accelerate the development of the SD-WAN Client,” VP Abe Ankumah told SDxCentral when the product was announced. The new PC and mobile soft client will “leapfrog” legacy remote-access virtual private networks (VPNs) via a cloud-delivered approach, enabling the transition to zero trust.

“What’s powerful about this soft client that we’re introducing is it’s delivered as-a-service. Traditional VPN has been something that enterprises have to manage and maintain with a VPN head end within the island data centers,” he added. “This is basically managed as-a-service the same way that an SD-WAN solution within the enterprise branch is managed as-a-service.”

VMware Senior Director Karl Brown noted that there will “very much so” be a channel sales opportunity with the SD-WAN Client once generally available, and that the vendor has “already started engaging with several of [its] partners ahead of the GA.”

“From value-added resellers who can resell that offering to our managed service provider-type partners that can offer it more as a completely managed service on behalf of the enterprise, there are channel sales opportunities for the SD-WAN Client, which of course complements the ongoing business that these channel providers have with our SD-WAN Edge appliances and software. We're looking to leverage our existing channel partners with the SD-WAN Client offering,” Brown said in the pre-briefing.

VMware also announced it will continue its long-standing partnership with Intel to provide enhanced 5G connectivity for SD-WAN edge devices, making it easier for enterprises to employ wireless to augment or replace existing wired connections.

A small form factor solution featuring a low-power Intel Atom processor C series for small branches will be the first in a set of new devices expected to be available in 2023, and a 5G equipped version will follow. The new appliance series will offer improved WAN throughput, updated wi-fi technology, an integrated eSIM to simplify provisioning, and better economics, VMware announced at the MWC Barcelona 2023 event.

“The capabilities of 5G help to further advance edge services,” said Intel VP Bob Ghaffari in the announcement. “Together, Intel and VMware are reimagining the enterprise edge with solutions that utilize 5G to enable new use cases.”

The partnership will also look to bolster SD-WAN use cases including moving vehicles, ATMs, and IoT devices.