SASE, or Secure Access Service Edge, brings security to the edge of an enterprise network. This is a crucial step in defending data from cyber attacks. But you shouldn’t just look at the technology when choosing a SASE solution for your business. It’s also important to consider the company’s support offerings and scalability.
Security
The security landscape is changing rapidly, with applications moving to the cloud and employees working remotely. These trends make legacy perimeter security, VPNs, and MPLS approaches obsolete. To address these challenges, network and cybersecurity leaders must consider SASE solutions. SASE integrates SD-WAN with best-of-breed security and threat prevention into a single-platform managed service. This simplifies IT operations and delivers exceptional user experiences. It also reduces costs by eliminating the need for expensive Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) lines and network infrastructure. Its Zero Trust access network (ZTNA) architecture makes secure remote application and data access possible by evaluating every connection for identity, device posture, and other signals. It also eliminates the attack surface by preventing lateral movement within the enterprise network. A SASE solution can protect branch offices by encrypting remote devices to a local cloud gateway. This helps protect against man-in-the-middle attacks and spoofing. In addition, leading SASE services support more rigorous inspection policies for connections to public access networks, such as public Wi-Fi. This makes it easier to comply with privacy regulations in the region where a worker is located.
Flexibility
A SASE solution provides network and security flexibility to meet the needs of a modern business. It enables remote work and allows employees to use any device or location. It also combines networking and security services into a single-service cloud-native architecture. This reduces complexity and enables the system to scale as the business grows. SASE solutions provide a complete and integrated security framework by delivering unified management across networking and security capabilities, including SD-WAN, branch FWaaS, Secure Web Gateway (SWG), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), CASB, DLP, and threat prevention. This reduces the number of points products IT teams need to manage and update, driving significant cost savings.
Availability
SASE converges networking and security technologies in the cloud, making them available anywhere from any device at any time. It also performs better and reduces complexity by enabling centralized visibility to identify and resolve network issues quickly. It can optimize connections to cloud applications and services by leveraging application-aware routing to direct traffic to points of presence with suitable capacity and speed. Unlike legacy hub-and-spoke architectures, which can only scale so far, SASE allows your business to work from anywhere while maintaining enterprise-level security. It also enables you to use secure public internet connections to support mobile users while protecting sensitive information. This approach gives your users a great experience and reduces the risk of data loss. Choosing a SASE provider is an essential step in adopting this technology. It’s crucial to find a company with a global footprint known for its flexibility, security, and performance. In addition, it should offer a variety of pricing options so that you can avoid vendor lock-in.
Scalability
SASE enables networks to scale security services on demand, eliminating the need for expensive on-site hardware. It also reduces network latency by routing traffic throughout the global edge network to process it closer to users. This is especially beneficial for latency-sensitive applications like collaboration tools and VolP systems. Moreover, SASE can be easily incorporated into SD-WAN solutions. This converges networking and security functions into a single platform, significantly simplifying management. Combined with next-generation firewall policies, it provides relevant security to the user, application, or device. It helps to identify threats and prevent data loss. Using SASE at the network edge ensures secure access for remote workers without compromising their productivity. It improves the performance of WAN links by providing intelligent management of Internet exchanges in real-time, optimizing connections to cloud applications, and reducing latency for users. It also enables enterprises to maintain enterprise-level security for mobile and remote workers by detecting lateral movement in the network, preventing the spread of malware or other threats.
Cost
Adopting SASE allows enterprises to achieve centralized visibility, enabling them to identify and resolve performance issues quickly. This helps reduce costs while lowering the risk of security breaches caused by a misconfigured system or an attacker exploiting one of its components. Additionally, many SASE solutions deliver network and security capabilities as a single service in the cloud. This eliminates the need for costly hardware and reduces the burden on IT to maintain, patch, upgrade, and manage point solutions. SASE allows enterprises to scale up and down as business demands change. The convergence of best-of-breed SD-WAN and security functions in the cloud provides significant benefits to businesses, including improved security, performance, and scalability. Unlike traditional VPNs, SASE creates a secure software-defined perimeter that connects remote users and devices to points of presence near them. This improves performance by reducing latency and allowing direct access to cloud resources. The scalability and flexibility of SASE help organizations keep pace with changing remote work patterns. A SASE solution can be easily expanded as new offices are added, and scalability is available at the click of a button.
