Riverbed has unveiled a new SD-WAN product that it claims can make network management much simpler for IT professionals, whatever kind of infrastructure or system their company uses.
SteelConnect, as it has been called, brings together network connectivity and application delivery orchestration across remote LANs, hybrid WANs and cloud networks like AWS and Microsoft Azure (available now and later this year, respectively).
The product comprises four elements: SteelConnect Gateway, a line of physical and virtual WAN gateways, SteelConnect Switches, which are LAN switches, SteelConnect Access Points, which are WiFi access points, and SteelConnect Manager, a single cloud-based management console for all elements of the network.
Together, it prevents network administrators from having to configure individual appliances by offering policy-based orchestration across the entire network. This, the company claims, makes the process of designing, deploying and managing distributed networks much more simple for network administrators.
Jerry M Kennelly, Riverbed chairman and CEO, said: "The market is going through one of the largest transformations ever, with organisations moving quickly to adopt more digital and cloud services and hybrid networks. Unfortunately, legacy approaches to managing distributed networks and routing - which are hardware-bound, hard-coded, inflexible and error-prone - haven't changed much in 20 years.
"We believe SteelConnect has the potential to disrupt the multi-billion dollar branch office router market and redefine networking as we know it today. With SteelConnect, we're delivering an application-defined networking solution that leverages Riverbed's application DNA and integrates industry-leading visibility, to provide the agility, simplicity and speed enterprises need to manage today's complex cloud and hybrid architectures."
Riverbed SteelConnect is available as an early preview now, with general release coming in the autumn.
