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Riverbed Launches Major Updates to SD-WAN Offering

Riverbed Technology announced major updates to its SD-WAN offering Riverbed SteelConnect, an app-defined, cloud networking solution that provides an intelligent and simplified approach to designing, deploying and managing distributed networks.

SteelConnect now supports complex enterprise environments and dramatically simplifies the implementation of large-scale SD-WAN deployments in the data center with non-disruptive network integration.

Riverbed also announced availability of a new line of SteelHead SD models, which combines SteelConnect and WAN optimization into a streamlined single-device solution, providing network-agility and one-click connectivity into Microsoft Azure and AWS for superior app and cloud performance.

“In today’s cloud era, legacy approaches to networking which are hardware-centric, rigid and error-prone are preventing businesses from moving forward,” said Paul O’Farrell, SVP and GM of Riverbed’s SteelConnect, SteelHead, and SteelFusion business units. “Riverbed has redefined networking for the cloud with an SD-WAN solution that is application and software-defined, and delivers unprecedented simplicity and agility. The market has responded with hundreds of customers deploying our SD-WAN solutions to date. With today’s SteelConnect and SteelHead SD launches, Riverbed is taking cloud networking one step further, with a new integrated offering driven by customer demand, and updates that deliver greater scalability, and superior network agility and cloud performance.”

The new SteelConnect SDI-5030 Data Center Gateway Appliances simplify the deployment of SD-WAN for large-scale global networks. While other SD-WAN solutions can require thousands of lines of configuration updates and/or firmware upgrades to core data center routers, SteelConnect benefits from integration with the battle-tested Riverbed Interceptor appliance to non-disruptively integrate and orchestrate SD-WAN and WAN Optimization services into data center networks, with elastic scale and high-availability to support application delivery across thousands of remote locations.

Riverbed SteelConnect and SteelHead WAN optimization work together to exchange application identification and classification information to ensure an end-to-end application-centric solution across the network and into the cloud. This is in contrast to dual-vendor approaches where the fidelity of application identity is compromised as packets transmit between discrete network services. The new line of SteelHead SD models (570-SD, 770-SD & 3070-SD) seamlessly integrates SD-WAN and WAN optimization services into a streamlined single-device offering. By deploying a unified solution combining SD-WAN (SteelConnect) and WAN optimization (SteelHead), enterprises can streamline and simplify their approach to cloud networking, drive network agility and deliver superior performance for on-premises and cloud-based applications with ease.

SteelConnect, initially launched as an early access offering in April 2016, unifies deployment and orchestration of hybrid WANs, branch networks, and cloud environments, including one-click connectivity to AWS and Microsoft Azure. SteelConnect also enables zero-touch provisioning, allowing an enterprise to set-up a global network and connect to the cloud in minutes, and easy ongoing network management that provides the ability to make network or business/application policy changes with a few clicks of a mouse. Riverbed announced general availability of SteelConnect 2.0 in September 2016 with many new features, including integrated visibility with Riverbed SteelCentral. In January 2017, Riverbed announced a “One-Click” cloud networking solution for secure connectivity to Microsoft Azure cloud networks. Now, Riverbed’s SD-WAN solution boasts seamless platform integration with the Riverbed SteelHead solution, and streamlined data center integration for large-scale deployments. Riverbed’s 300 SD-WAN customers spans across a wide range of industries globally, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, finance, technology, and many more.

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Riverbed Launches Major Updates to SD-WAN Offering

Riverbed Technology announced major updates to its SD-WAN offering Riverbed SteelConnect, an app-defined, cloud networking solution that provides an intelligent and simplified approach to designing, deploying and managing distributed networks.

SteelConnect now supports complex enterprise environments and dramatically simplifies the implementation of large-scale SD-WAN deployments in the data center with non-disruptive network integration.

Riverbed also announced availability of a new line of SteelHead SD models, which combines SteelConnect and WAN optimization into a streamlined single-device solution, providing network-agility and one-click connectivity into Microsoft Azure and AWS for superior app and cloud performance.

“In today’s cloud era, legacy approaches to networking which are hardware-centric, rigid and error-prone are preventing businesses from moving forward,” said Paul O’Farrell, SVP and GM of Riverbed’s SteelConnect, SteelHead, and SteelFusion business units. “Riverbed has redefined networking for the cloud with an SD-WAN solution that is application and software-defined, and delivers unprecedented simplicity and agility. The market has responded with hundreds of customers deploying our SD-WAN solutions to date. With today’s SteelConnect and SteelHead SD launches, Riverbed is taking cloud networking one step further, with a new integrated offering driven by customer demand, and updates that deliver greater scalability, and superior network agility and cloud performance.”

The new SteelConnect SDI-5030 Data Center Gateway Appliances simplify the deployment of SD-WAN for large-scale global networks. While other SD-WAN solutions can require thousands of lines of configuration updates and/or firmware upgrades to core data center routers, SteelConnect benefits from integration with the battle-tested Riverbed Interceptor appliance to non-disruptively integrate and orchestrate SD-WAN and WAN Optimization services into data center networks, with elastic scale and high-availability to support application delivery across thousands of remote locations.

Riverbed SteelConnect and SteelHead WAN optimization work together to exchange application identification and classification information to ensure an end-to-end application-centric solution across the network and into the cloud. This is in contrast to dual-vendor approaches where the fidelity of application identity is compromised as packets transmit between discrete network services. The new line of SteelHead SD models (570-SD, 770-SD & 3070-SD) seamlessly integrates SD-WAN and WAN optimization services into a streamlined single-device offering. By deploying a unified solution combining SD-WAN (SteelConnect) and WAN optimization (SteelHead), enterprises can streamline and simplify their approach to cloud networking, drive network agility and deliver superior performance for on-premises and cloud-based applications with ease.

SteelConnect, initially launched as an early access offering in April 2016, unifies deployment and orchestration of hybrid WANs, branch networks, and cloud environments, including one-click connectivity to AWS and Microsoft Azure. SteelConnect also enables zero-touch provisioning, allowing an enterprise to set-up a global network and connect to the cloud in minutes, and easy ongoing network management that provides the ability to make network or business/application policy changes with a few clicks of a mouse. Riverbed announced general availability of SteelConnect 2.0 in September 2016 with many new features, including integrated visibility with Riverbed SteelCentral. In January 2017, Riverbed announced a “One-Click” cloud networking solution for secure connectivity to Microsoft Azure cloud networks. Now, Riverbed’s SD-WAN solution boasts seamless platform integration with the Riverbed SteelHead solution, and streamlined data center integration for large-scale deployments. Riverbed’s 300 SD-WAN customers spans across a wide range of industries globally, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, professional services, finance, technology, and many more.

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In live financial environments, capital markets software cannot pause for rebuilds. New capabilities are introduced as stacked technology layers to meet evolving demands while systems remain active, data keeps moving, and controls stay intact. AI is no exception, and its opportunities are significant: accelerated decision cycles, compressed manual workflows, and more effective operations across complex environments. The constraint isn't the models themselves, but the architectural environments they enter ...

Like most digital transformation shifts, organizations often prioritize productivity and leave security and observability to keep pace. This usually translates to both the mass implementation of new technology and fragmented monitoring and observability (M&O) tooling. In the era of AI and varied cloud architecture, a disparate observability function can be dangerous. IT teams will lack a complete picture of their IT environment, making it harder to diagnose issues while slowing down mean time to resolve (MTTR). In fact, according to recent data from the SolarWinds State of Monitoring & Observability Report, 77% of IT personnel said the lack of visibility across their on-prem and cloud architecture was an issue ...

In MEAN TIME TO INSIGHT Episode 23, Shamus McGillicuddy, VP of Research, Network Infrastructure and Operations, at EMA discusses the NetOps labor shortage ... 

Technology management is evolving, and in turn, so is the scope of FinOps. The FinOps Foundation recently updated their mission statement from "advancing the people who manage the value of cloud" to "advancing the people who manage the value of technology." This seemingly small change solidifies a larger evolution: FinOps practitioners have organically expanded to be focused on more than just cloud cost optimization. Today, FinOps teams are largely — and quickly — expanding their job descriptions, evolving into a critical function for managing the full value of technology ...

Enterprises are under pressure to scale AI quickly. Yet despite considerable investment, adoption continues to stall. One of the most overlooked reasons is vendor sprawl ... In reality, no organization deliberately sets out to create sprawling vendor ecosystems. More often, complexity accumulates over time through well-intentioned initiatives, such as enterprise-wide digital transformation efforts, point solutions, or decentralized sourcing strategies ...

Nearly every conversation about AI eventually circles back to compute. GPUs dominate the headlines while cloud platforms compete for workloads and model benchmarks drive investment decisions. But underneath that noise, a quieter infrastructure challenge is taking shape. The real bottleneck in enterprise AI is not processing power, it is the ability to store, manage and retrieve the relentless volumes of data that AI systems generate, consume and multiply ...

The 2026 Observability Survey from Grafana Labs paints a vivid picture of an industry maturing fast, where AI is welcomed with careful conditions, SaaS economics are reshaping spending decisions, complexity remains a defining challenge, and open standards continue to underpin it all ...

The observability industry has an evolving relationship with AI. We're not skeptics, but it's clear that trust in AI must be earned ... In Grafana Labs' annual Observability Survey, 92% said they see real value in AI surfacing anomalies before they cause downtime. Another 91% endorsed AI for forecasting and root cause analysis. So while the demand is there, customers need it to be trustworthy, as the survey also found that the practitioners most enthusiastic about AI are also the most insistent on explainability ...

In the modern enterprise, the conversation around AI has moved past skepticism toward a stage of active adoption. According to our 2026 State of IT Trends Report: The Human Side of Autonomous AI, nearly 90% of IT professionals view AI as a net positive, and this optimism is well-founded. We are seeing agentic AI move beyond simple automation to actively streamlining complex data insights and eliminating the manual toil that has long hindered innovation. However, as we integrate these autonomous agents into our ecosystems, the fundamental DNA of the IT role is evolving ...

AI workloads require an enormous amount of computing power ... What's also becoming abundantly clear is just how quickly AI's computing needs are leading to enterprise systems failure. According to Cockroach Labs' State of AI Infrastructure 2026 report, enterprise systems are much closer to failure than their organizations realize. The report ... suggests AI scale could cause widespread failures in as little as one year — making it a clear risk for business performance and reliability.