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Modern businesses looking to thrive in today ’ s digital era are increasingly seeking technologies that enable faster and more secure connectivity across their global organization . Not only to successfully deliver digital transformation initiatives but also operational efficiencies and cost savings and to support knowledge workers who are either hybrid or fully remote working .
Additionally , networks that were once manageable now aren ’ t .
With more traffic being hauled through a VPN and the corporate network , users are experiencing more latency and a poor experience , not to mention bandwidth limitations .
As a result , this is driving demand for Secure Access Service Edge ( SASE ) solutions .
The rapid adoption of cloud services combined with increases in a variety of mobile devices and a distributed workforce have all created the need for secure and reliable access to applications anytime , anyhow , anywhere .
Deploying a single-vendor unified SASE solution may seem daunting , but it doesn ’ t have to be with the right partner and a clear roadmap .
Unfortunately , the traditional network and security architectures that organizations once relied upon primarily for permitted-based secure connectivity are no longer meeting the needs of this modern business environment .
For those less familiar , SASE converges the functions of network and security solutions into a single cloudnative service that delivers consistent connectivity and security from everywhere .
By replacing all point solutions , SASE provides a global and cloud-based network that supports all edges .
As a result , SASE solutions improve operational performance , business agility and connectivity , and they reduce IT overhead .
Ever since SASE was coined as a category by Gartner in 2019 , the global adoption of SASE has grown significantly .
According to the 2023 Ponemon Institute report , nearly half ( 46 %) of organizations surveyed have deployed a SASE-based architecture in the last 12 months .
So , what are the driving forces behind SASE adoption ? Put simply , security that was once effective in a traditional network set up now isn ’ t .
All of this is affecting their performance and productivity , not to mention user satisfaction .
However , this isn ’ t just causing inefficiencies , it is also costly . Solutions that once worked now don ’ t .
With the proliferation of both network and security solutions to deploy , maintain update and troubleshoot , the organization must spend more time resolving issues and managing the infrastructure .
All these issues have led to the adoption of SASE which is in effect made up of two distinct technology sets .
WAN Edge Services or SD-WAN and Security Service Edge which includes Zero Trust Network Access ( ZTNA ), Cloud Access Security Broker ( CASB ), Secure Web Gateway ( SEG ) and Digital Evaluation Model ( DEM ). Together these allow network and security teams to enable any user , device or server to securely connect from anywhere over any transport method .
However , not all SASE solutions are a silver bullet .
Some SASE providers offer multiple point solutions that are loosely integrated or require routing between different vendors ’ PoPs which can introduce latency and performance issues .
With more users , devices , locations and cloud services to protect , the organization must deal with more potential entry points for attackers . This means they have more security tools to manage and update .
This is where a unified SASE for a simpler more costeffective journey may prove more suitable . When we talk about unified SASE , this is a solution that delivers all the core capabilities of SASE from a single tightly
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