Arista said the acquisition will better prepare it for next-generation SD-WAN demands as AI-driven data center traffic reshapes WAN requirements
Arista Networks has agreed to acquire VMware’s former VeloCloud Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology from Broadcom, expanding its portfolio beyond traditional data center and campus networking into the WAN and branch markets.
Broadcom came to own VeloCloud through its $61 billion acquisition of VMware, but considered the SD-WAN business outside its core focus. Arista plans to integrate VeloCloud’s technology into its enterprise networking offerings to support customers seeking unified campus, branch and WAN solutions.
Founded in 2012, VeloCloud was an early leader in cloud-delivered SD-WAN. However, the business struggled under Broadcom’s ownership following its acquisition of VMware, as Broadcom prioritized security-centric networking along with higher-margin private cloud and AI initiatives.
The sale underscores Broadcom’s strategy of focusing on data center and infrastructure software aligned with its semiconductor and enterprise goals, while divesting assets like SD-WAN that fall outside its core, high-margin business.
For Arista, the acquisition provides important portfolio diversification, enabling it to better compete with larger rivals such as Cisco by expanding beyond data center and campus networking into WAN and branch environments.
“With the completion of the VeloCloud acquisition, our customers will now have rich configuration choices such as leafs/spokes for branch sites,” wrote Jayshree Ullal, Arista’s CEO, in a blog post. “This modern WAN architecture delivers multipathing, encryption, in-band network telemetry, segmentation, application identification and traffic engineering into a single atomic identifier for WAN hub/spine and spoke/leaf applications.”
She added, “In today’s AI era, customers need more than traditional SD-WAN. WAN silos will no longer be viable, as traffic caused by generative AI in data centers (either on-premise or hosted in the cloud) will increasingly impact the WAN.”
The acquisition is expected to close in Arista’s fiscal Q3 2025, pending regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
