Macquarie Telecom invests AUD $30m to offer VeloCloud SD-WAN

Macquarie Telecom has announced a four-year agreement with VeloCloud, backed by an estimated AUD $30 million investment, to become the sole Australian pinnacle partner for the Broadcom-owned networking technology provider.

The deal will enable Macquarie Telecom to exclusively offer VeloCloud's SD-WAN technology to managed service providers (MSPs) and other businesses across Australia, providing what the company describes as the best commercial terms available within the local market.

SD-WAN, or software-defined wide area networking, has become popular for virtualising and simplifying corporate networking, as well as optimising application performance across distributed business locations. The investment by Macquarie Telecom is described by the company as a fraction of its total spending in SD-WAN since it began introducing the technology to Australian customers in 2017.

Macquarie Telecom's agreement with VeloCloud allows the company to extend its existing SD-WAN expertise to a broader base of channel partners, including provisions for hardware, licensing, managed services, and network carriage. Macquarie Telecom highlights the benefit to partners of dealing with a local provider trading in Australian dollars, which is expected to improve price certainty in the context of fluctuating exchange rates and recent price adjustments by global technology vendors.

As part of its roll-out, the company has appointed Tony Emmanouil, formerly Chief Marketing Officer, as the director of marketing and channel. Emmanouil is set to lead Macquarie Telecom's VeloCloud Partner Channel and collaborate directly with MSPs and partners on customer-focused offerings.

Emmanouil said, "This agreement empowers us to deploy a wide range of VeloCloud solutions, ranging from licencing to fully managed services to best suit different partners across Australia."

He added, "This isn't just a resell play, we will go to market with partners to bring the world's leading SD-WAN technology to their customer base. We've got a truly unique blend of experience, expertise, commercial value and service to enable more partners to bring this technology to a greater cross-section of Australian businesses."

The new partnership aims to address the challenges faced by mid-sized enterprises and businesses accessing advanced networking solutions, according to Sanjay Uppal, vice president and general manager of Broadcom's VeloCloud division.

Uppal stated, "With this partnership, we can serve the needs of people who otherwise may not get access to this advanced technology."

He continued, "The world is changing, with new apps coming in, security threats, and people are really relying on their distributed networks a lot more on a day-by-day basis. This partnership together really epitomises what people are looking for in mid-to-large enterprises."

Macquarie Telecom was an early adopter of SD-WAN technologies in Australia and claims to have deployed the solution to more local businesses than any other provider. The company sees the latest agreement as proof that its strategy, which includes more recent expansion into Security Access Service Edge (SASE) solutions, is generating value for the broader Australian ICT channel.

Luke Clifton, Macquarie Telecom group executive, stated, "We've worked closely with VeloCloud and nearly all of our customers to harness the value of this technology while major telcos have maintained a complete lack of vision, zero innovation, and buried their heads in the sand."

He went on to say, "We see many of the same issues affecting our traditional mid-sized-enterprise customer base hitting the channel. They're overcharged and underserved by vendors and major telcos, and we can deliver a far better experience together."

According to Macquarie Telecom, the expanded VeloCloud offering will be made available to managed service providers and channel partners across the nation, who will now have access to SD-WAN's flexible architecture under local commercial terms.

The company expects that the combination of managed services, local customer support, and existing SD-WAN deployment experience will appeal to partners seeking alternatives to the offerings available from larger telecommunications incumbents.