Aryaka CEO Matt Carter On Making SD-WAN A 'Win-Win' For The Channel

‘We're not a huge company, so we don't have the sales reach that others do, despite the fact that we have a quality product that is better than most out there in the marketplace,’ Carter says. ‘This gives us a chance to think more strategically about how we can provide value and target the benefits our technology provides.’

'Better Than Most'

Global SD-WAN powerhouse Aryaka's new CEO, Matt Carter, has his eyes squarely on growing the company and its market share while drawing a bold line between itself and competitors he says fall short of offering complete offerings.

To make all of that happen, Carter says he plans to expand Aryaka's channel operation so that it becomes central to the San Mateo, Calif., company's go-to-market strategy.

"We're not a huge company, so we don't have the sales reach that others do, despite the fact that we have a quality product that is better than most out there in the marketplace," Carter said. "This gives us a chance to think more strategically about how we can provide value and target the benefits our technology provides."

Carter became Aryaka CEO in September. He took over for John Peters, who acted as CEO for a number of months after former CEO Shawn Farshchi left the company last June. Carter was formerly CEO of communications technology firm Inteliquent and was previously president of telecom giant Sprint's global enterprise business.

At Aryaka, Carter's mission is growth as the heat around the SD-WAN market becomes red hot and large, well-funded competitors like Cisco Systems and VMware enter the market. Aryaka's SD-WAN revenue was $32.6 million in the second quarter, second only to VMware and its VeloCloud business and about $7 million ahead of Cisco.

"My mandate was to come in and really get the company to the next stage of growth," Carter said. "Business is strong, but it will only get stronger."

What follows is an edited excerpt of Carter's conversation with CRN.

What's your vision for Aryaka?

My primary focus is continuing the growth and expanding our market share. I will continue to build on Aryaka's already-strong momentum in the market while delivering the most innovative solutions to the pressing network problems of today. My mandate was to come in and really get the company to the next stage of growth. Business is strong, but it will only get stronger. One of the things I've noticed is that there is a lot of confusion and muddying of waters in the SD-WAN space in terms of what benefits certain vendors provide. My other mission is to clear up our message surrounding the benefits Aryaka provides and make sure there's no confusion when it comes to the advantages we provide. This includes focusing not just on our global private network, but improved network performance, security and application delivery.

How do you intend to drive growth for the company?

Our goal is to grow our business in alignment with the overall growth of the SD-WAN market. Key to that will be attracting additional Fortune 500 companies, as well as Fortune 100 organizations. Aryaka already does a really good job of serving small and midsize companies, so my plan is to look toward growing our existing enterprise customer base and taking on more of their networking outsource opportunities.

How can Aryaka take market share from VMware VeloCloud while putting distance between itself and Cisco Viptela, Silver Peak and other challengers?

One of the main differentiators that sets Aryaka apart from the competition is that we don't just provide software and hardware. Aryaka runs its own global private network on leased fiber and can provide the complete package of connectivity, including SD-WAN, MPLS and the 'last mile,' nearly anywhere in the world. That's what differentiates us and will help us secure market share in the congested SD-WAN market. Cisco and VMware provide a DIY approach, selling components that a customer, telco or MSP has to integrate. Aryaka provides a complete connectivity solution. For a company that needs to have network services anywhere around the world, Aryaka can provide that service head to toe. Aryaka also owns and manages the 'middle mile' of the network, which enhances security, with built-in WAN optimization, including TCP optimization, application processes and SaaS acceleration. Aryaka can connect 95 percent of the world's business population within about 30 milliseconds of latency. There's a huge opportunity to garner additional market share by just providing a comparable, reliable, high-quality service with the ability to deploy it on a much quicker time frame.

What are you planning for the channel in the next year or two? Do you have any plans for partner recruitment?

Our strategy is to help partners help Aryaka make more money. It's a win-win situation where we will provide better channel support with resources and enablement that will help them grow their business, which will in turn help us grow our top line and value as a strategic partner. We have a robust program and partner base, and will look to expand that, especially on a global level.

What companies are among Aryaka's Fortune 500 customers today?

Our current roster of Fortune 500 customers includes Samsung, Emirates Airlines and Cigna. Building on that base will help validate Aryaka's impact on maximizing network performance for enterprises with a global presence.

What are you seeing in the global economy that's working in Aryaka's favor? What are the challenges?

Network connectivity is a fundamental business need, so whether the economy is in a period of growth or retraction, companies need agility to execute their digital transformations. This means that their networks have to be simplified and capable of connecting sites and applications quickly, securely, reliably and will deliver good performance on a global level. Applications that are being migrated to public and hybrid cloud environments have to be integrated. One benefit of a growing economy is that companies continue to expand their sites and locations, which further highlights the need for the right type of network connectivity. All of this creates more demand for what Aryaka has to offer. One challenge is the shrinking of IT budgets, which can extend to networking services. The burden then shifts to providers like Aryaka to better relate solution benefits to the business needs of customers and to differentiate itself.

How do you see the SD-WAN market developing over the next couple of years?

There will be consolidation. We've already seen the first wave take place with some of the big networking vendors making their moves. More is to come. The market cannot sustain several dozen competitors. However, the number of players in this space is great validation of the market aligned to the business need for better WAN connectivity.

Would Aryaka consider making acquisitions? To fill what need?

Right now we're keeping our options open to any and all possibilities. I would say right now my primary focus is taking Aryaka through its next stage of growth, and whatever comes from that effort we'll evaluate at the time. There is no timeline or plan around making an acquisition, but if it will help us get to the next stage of growth, we would consider it.

What do you need from channel partners that you're not getting today?

It's not about what we aren't getting, and more about shifting our joint approach in terms of maximizing the value of our partnerships. I think there's real opportunity for Aryaka and our channel partners to look at how we go to market together and increase revenues. We work with several different channel partners that help us to reach a number of different customers around the globe. We have to be smart about these partnerships. How do we deploy and get the kind of distribution model that we need out there in the marketplace? We're not a huge company, so we don't have the sales reach that others do, despite the fact that we have a quality product that is better than most out there in the marketplace. This gives us a chance to think more strategically about how we can provide value and target the benefits our technology provides.