Juniper Session Smart Router vs Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Juniper Session Smart Router
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
14th
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Routers (9th)
Versa Unified Secure Access...
Ranking in Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
9th
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
WAN Edge (10th), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2024, in the Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions category, the mindshare of Juniper Session Smart Router is 4.3%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform is 4.3%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Software Defined WAN (SD-WAN) Solutions
Unique Categories:
Routers
0.4%
WAN Edge
4.6%
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)
1.6%
 

Featured Reviews

Imran Taiyeb Ali - PeerSpot reviewer
Nov 13, 2023
Efficiently handles point-of-sale and online transactions
The initial setup of this router is a bit complex even for experienced engineers. It runs on Linux and requires extra steps for configuration. The blasting process, where you load the software, often gets stuck, and we end up doing it a few times. It is not very reliable, and even Juniper tech support hasn't given a clear fix. Both the setup steps and software stability can be a bit of a hassle. Deploying Juniper Session Smart Router takes some time. After all the planning and documentation are done, it usually takes more than a week or around ten days to get the connector set up on our on-premises data center.
Hassam_Uddin - PeerSpot reviewer
Dec 22, 2022
A helpful solution to lower our costs with valuable security features
We mainly implement this solution for SD-WAN service, a next-generation firewall, and UTM It has improved our organization because we use SD-WAN for optimizing connectivity, and it has helped lower our costs by replacing legacy WAN links with a modern WAN architecture. The granularity when it…

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel."
"The solution is especially Session's smart, application-aware, AI-based."
"As compared to the other major vendors in the SD-WAN market, such as VeloCloud, Cisco, and others, the tunnel-free and secure vector routing technology is its major USP, which gives plenty of room to discuss with the customer why IPSec from 1998 is a bit outdated."
"The product has a dynamic VPN feature for SD-WAN."
"There are great security and ops features without the need for having a different box for security."
"Our customers are very satisfied with this solution. They have not mentioned any areas for improvement."
"The necessary enhancement pertains to the controller segment, specifically addressing the issue of frequent flapping when a link is left. In the case of Versa Unified, if a link experiences frequent flapping within an entire branch, it triggers instability. Hence, it is imperative that the overall routing system is not contingent solely upon the active dial branches."
"The granularity when it comes to configuration and security features are valuable."
"The solution is stable and suitable."
"The initial setup is simple."
"The most valuable aspects of the solution are the next-generation firewall features and geo-blocking capabilities."
 

Cons

"The UI of the SSR conductor is the main part where improvements can be done. Today, for every configuration step, you have to do a series of clicks. What we are missing there are wizards. For example, I have two applications, and I want one application to be prioritized against the other. In such a case, a wizard for assigning policies to a service without configuring each step by hand would be very helpful. There should be an overhaul of the GUI of the conductor. The functionality they have got in the Mist portal should be baked into the conductor itself. It would be really great, but as we all know, that won't happen."
"Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance."
"Juniper Session Smart Router can improve the integration for Wi-Fi devices and add additional Sassy deployments."
"There are limitations when you connect from multiple locations. It does not work as expected. If you have more than 400 users, then it will choke. It will not perform as expected."
"The stability of FlexVNF's controller and devices could be improved."
"We are thinking about how to make customers consolidate the loads to an SD-WAN network so that the customers can have bigger chunk from the SD-WAN side so that customers can have critical data be transferred with NPS VPN and non-critical data or some labeled traffic can be transferred by the SD-WAN network. I think it's a very important direction for digital transformation."
"Future releases should contain AI for the voice feature."
"The web interface can be improved."
"The smaller units lack a lot of functionality."
"The VPN feature is relatively new. It came out two releases ago, and they're still fixing that up."
"The support needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We are currently renegotiating the offer for the licenses and the license bundle model. The license for an ISP has to be different from the license for an end customer. This is something we are currently renegotiating with Juniper, but, of course, the pricing for the licensing is always an issue when you want to get more customers."
"It is a simple bandwidth-based license and the orchestration comes bundled with the solution by default."
"Price wise, it's more expensive than is the competition. I would give pricing a rating of three out of five."
"It is not very expensive because of the white box support. Its hardware is much cheaper than other products. With the support for x86 and white box, it is one of the most cost-effective platforms that are currently available."
"I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of remote access and secure web gateway elements."
"The price is expensive but it makes sense for the market."
"We provide subscriptions for our customers on a yearly, not monthly, basis."
"It is neither cheap nor expensive. I rate the pricing a five out of ten on a scale where one is cheap and ten is expensive."
"While I cannot provide too much commentary on the price, I feel it to be fair for the moment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
21%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Retailer
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Juniper Session Smart Router?
The most valuable feature of Juniper Session Smart Router is its unique SDR channel.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Juniper Session Smart Router?
Juniper Session Smart Router is not significantly cheaper than, for example, Cisco.
What needs improvement with Juniper Session Smart Router?
Juniper Session Smart Router could be better in terms of software performance. Sometimes, there are glitches, especially with MTU issues that affect application communication, although this seems t...
What do you like most about Versa FlexVNF?
Versa is a good centralized solution, where you're setting up your infrastructure in a data center type thing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Versa FlexVNF?
Both Versa and VMware are cheap in terms of the router. I find Versa a little more expensive than VMware in terms of remote access and secure web gateway elements.
What needs improvement with Versa FlexVNF?
We've had the odd occasional stability issue with software upgrades, etcetera. They don't support certain other third-party applications, which can be a bit limiting at times, whereas VMware seems ...
 

Also Known As

128T Networking Platform, 128 Technology SD-WAN, Juniper SSR Series
Versa FlexVNF, FlexVNF, Versa Titan
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Revation Systems
CenturyLink, RCN Business, Colt Technology Services
Find out what your peers are saying about Juniper Session Smart Router vs. Versa Unified Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) Platform and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
787,817 professionals have used our research since 2012.