Versa has snagged its largest SD-WAN deal to date with Tata Communications, which is rolling out SD-WAN services in 130 countries using Versa's multitenant SD-WAN software solution.

The global scope of the Tata deal sets it apart from Versa Networks ' previous customer wins with CenturyLink Inc. (NYSE: CTL), Colt Technology Services Group Ltd and RCN Corp. , according to Kumar Mehta, co-founder of Versa, who talked to Light Reading late Tuesday. "The biggest difference [with Tata] is the reach. It's the first global reach." (See also Colt Takes Versa on Its SD-WAN Journey, Versa Adds RCN Business to Customer Roster and Versa Makes Its Mark at CenturyLink.)

Tata has two SD-WAN offerings: IZO SDWAN Prime and IZO SDWAN Select. Prime is based on Tata's own proprietary technology while Select is based on Versa's solution. (See Tata Selects Versa for SD-WAN Service.)

With Tata, Versa's solution is in 20 cloud service gateways around the globe and it connects existing, legacy MPLS networks to next-generation SD-WANs, says Mehta. "Tata already has an MPLS solution and a VPN solution but they realized that flexibility, agility and application experience is very important so what they wanted to do for the next-generation, cloud world is unfold the SD-WAN solution to their customers," he says. Tata has already deployed the Versa solution in India and is now going global, he adds.

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Mehta says Tata tested the Versa solution for six months up against the "usual suspects" of incumbents, as well as startups. "We were selected because we are multi-tenant from the ground up, have it packaged with full security stack so they can be assured that the branch is going to be protected, and we were the best brownfield solution where we connect existing MPLS networks with the next-gen SD-WAN solution," he says. "This way, if they have some sites on MPLS and some sites on SD-WAN, they need to make sure that all the sites can talk to each other transparently."

Tata also liked Versa "because they can get the white boxes directly from the manufacturer and they come packaged with our software -- compared to the other folks that will sell you a proprietary box," says Mehta. "It saves them a good bit of money. They can get very low-cost hardware and improve the margins of their managed service." Versa's analytics engine and portal also played a factor in Tata's decision. "These are all unique to Versa," notes Mehta.

With 2017 looking to be smoking hot for SD-WAN, and Kelly Ahuja at the helm as CEO, Versa is planning to "stay ahead of the market and reinforce our lead in software-defined branch with our security portfolio and other features that are coming up next year," says Mehta, giving us no hints about what's to come for the SD-WAN specialist. (See Ahuja's Next Chapter Is Versa.)

— Elizabeth Miller Coyne, Managing Editor, Light Reading