MPLS is hanging on in this SD-WAN world

The SD-WAN networking market is booming and is expected to grow to $17 billion by 2025, and no wonder. Software-defined wide-area networking eliminates the need for expensive routers and does all the network connectivity in the cloud. Among its advantages is the support for secure cloud connectivity, one area where multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) falls short. MPLS is a data protocol from before the internet took off and while ideal for communications within the corporate firewall, it doesn’t lend itself to cloud and outside communications well. You would think that would seal MPLS’s fate, but just like IPv6 is ever so slowly replacing IPv4, MPLS is hanging on and some IT pros are even increasing their investment.