For its latest cloud market trend report, leading analyst firm Futuriom surveyed nearly 200 qualified enterprise networking...
Before SASE’s meaning, the first question to ask is, what does SASE stand for? SASE stands for Secure Access Service Edge. To define SASE, it is a technology which brings WAN (wide area networking) and security solutions together and delivers it as a cloud computing service for a cloud-first world. The term SASE was coined by Gartner analysts Neil McDonald and Joe Skorupa in 2019. The intent is to deliver the two capabilities in a simple, flexible and secure infrastructure that offers consistency across the cloud and edge. The business objective is to deliver much better application performance with reduced security risk irrespective of location.
As depicted below, the focal point here is delivering both the capabilities in an “as-a-service” model. A combination of Network as-a-service (NaaS) and Network Security as-a-service (NSaaS) is crucial, as SASE is meant to be consumed as a managed service, aligned to cloud services adoption.
Unified SASE involves integrating all the necessary security and networking capabilities into a single platform to be managed by the organization itself, offering greater control and flexibility over the security and networking functions with potentially lesser costs.
Managed SASE, on the other hand, involves outsourcing the management of the SASE infrastructure to a third-party service provider, providing the organization with a simplified and streamlined approach to managing their network and security while reducing the burden on internal IT staff.
Similarly, the SASE offerings between single and dual vendors brings the question of choosing between the ease of deployment in one unified vendor or managing multiple vendors who are all tied together to bring you a comprehensive network and network security solution as-a-service.
The SASE framework is a significant departure from traditional network security solutions in its foundational infrastructure. The latter were often deployed on-premises and worked perfectly to keep network and security within the organizational framework. But with the rise of cloud computing, SASE’s core element of being a cloud-based service makes it more flexible and scalable, as it can be accessed from anywhere and can be adjusted to meet changing business needs of enterprises as they become more mobile. The best part about the core capabilities of SASE and its security offerings is how it combines multiple security technologies into a single cloud-based solution. Its integration of security with networking functions and customer-centricity makes it extremely user-friendly for enterprises of all sizes.
In the nascent stages, SASE’s framework was mainly focused on providing secure remote access for corporate resources in a mobile-working setup. This was done by combining VPN (Virtual Private Network) and SD-WAN (Software-Defined Wide-Area Network) with cloud-based security services such as web filtering, intrusion detection and prevention, and advanced threat protection.
However, with its evolution, it began to incorporate more advanced security technologies such as ZTNA to make things more strictly secure. Now SASE functions in a manner where it assumes that all network traffic is untrusted and requires strict authentication and authorization before allowing access to any resources. Additionally, the core capabilities of SASE also began to incorporate more advanced analytics and artificial intelligence to better detect and respond to security threats in real-time.
This shows that SASE is a flexible technology which is open to evolution according to the changing needs of enterprises in the industry. The main goal is to deliver network and security solutions that organizations need and want in a form that is accessible, flexible and optimal.
The growing sophistication of cyberthreats is driving the demand for cloud-based AI solutions in the secure access service edge (SASE) market. The next level of SASE could see the development of new AI and ML tools. According to a report by SdXCentral, Palo Alto Networks SVP Kumar Ramachandran emphasizes the need for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) tools due to the increasing prevalence of technology vulnerabilities and shrinking response times for security vendors and customers. This is not surprising considering the significant 161% increase in the usage of tools like Cobalt Strike, which enable large-scale attacks, with generative-AI technology generating at least 100 new URLs daily. Ramachandran believes that deep investments in data science are necessary in this domain.
Click to read more >>15th May, 2023
The global SASE market is set to expand significantly, reaching USD 5.9 billion by 2028, with a projected annual growth rate of 25.0%. As businesses undergo digital transformation, cloud-based security solutions are becoming crucial. This shift is fueling the demand for converged services that streamline operations, enhance speed and flexibility, enable multi-cloud networking, and ensure secure SASE architecture. The Security as a Service (SaaS) segment is anticipated to experience even higher growth during this period. SaaS, a key element of SASE, offers cloud-based security services accessible over the internet, eliminating the need for costly hardware and software investments. The rising importance of meeting regulatory requirements, policies, and obligations is expected to drive the expansion of this segment.
Click to read more >>25th April, 2023