Enterprises need a SASE solution integrating network and security functions into a unified platform. With this, organizations are susceptible to multiple management consoles and complex policies that are easier to manage and often leave security gaps.

Many discrete network services and security point solutions, such as CASB, SWG, and firewalls, are constantly updated. These updates can affect performance and cause gaps in cybersecurity.

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What is SASE?

As digital business transformation and remote working accelerate, enterprises need more flexibility and scalability from their networks and security. SASE solves these challenges by combining networking and security functions at the distributed edge. This is achieved by leveraging a cloud-delivered model that makes scaling, simplifying management, and improving performance easier.

The SASE security pillar includes:

  • Zero trust network access (ZTNA).
  • Secure Web Gateway (SWG).
  • Browsing isolation technologies that ensure secure connections to private applications and the Internet.

It also includes a cloud-scale SSL/TLS inspection capability to protect against advanced threats that use encryption to evade traditional network controls.

Combined with Software-Defined Wide Area Networking (SD-WAN), the SASE enables optimized and automated network access for branch offices and remote sites to enterprise-based applications in the cloud. This provides better network performance and lowers overall costs.

Lastly, the SASE architecture converges networking and security functions into a single platform, simplifying IT administration by eliminating the need for multiple-point products and solutions. It also reduces costs by allowing enterprises to define a single set of security policies and manage different technologies against those policies. This approach to security enables organizations to minimize the inevitable cost-overhead and functional overlap associated with multiple cybersecurity systems. It also allows them to scale and deploy a cost-effective solid solution without needing a significant capital project.

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Benefits of SASE

A SASE solution eliminates the need for Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) lines and adapts network infrastructure to make it simple, secure, and cost-efficient. A SASE architecture with SD-WAN offers an incredibly effective way to connect and secure distributed users, applications, and data.

Fortinet’s SASE solutions in China help organizations address new IT challenges, such as supporting a work-from-anywhere culture and securing cloud applications. An authentic SASE architecture also provides a foundation for future IoT adoption and deployment initiatives.

The centralized management of a SASE architecture reduces complexity and costs compared with managing multiple-point solutions from different vendors. The tight integration of networking and security also improves security as threats evolve quickly and attacks move beyond traditional perimeters.

Finally, SASE enables you to get the most value from your IT investments by decreasing circuit bandwidth at your data centers. This is possible by getting internet access as close to the edge as possible. This allows you to right-size circuit bandwidth, save money, and realize additional benefits from your service providers.

In addition, SASE solutions can be more cost-effective by eliminating the need for expensive MPLS lines and reducing the hardware deployed in branch offices and remote locations. This may result in significant savings on capital expenditures and running costs, like maintenance, electricity, and cooling.

Challenges of SASE

SASE solutions deliver a network security model built to scale with granular access policies, but enterprises must be prepared for a few challenges. The first challenge is integrating SASE solutions with existing systems and processes. Enterprises must prioritize security in the implementation process, ensuring zero-trust principles and strong encryption are fully implemented. Additionally, they should ensure their SASE solution is compatible with current networks to prevent interoperability issues.

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Another challenge is navigating the SASE tooling landscape and ecosystem. SASE solutions often include networking, security, and SD-WAN capabilities, creating a clearer vendor ecosystem for organizations. This can lead to tool sprawl, disjointed capabilities, and an incoherent enterprise architecture.

Finally, SASE solutions can require significant resources to manage and deploy. This includes hardware, software, and additional support staff to ensure proper configuration and management. Additionally, scalability should be considered to allow the framework to scale up or down depending on business needs. Besides, it’s essential to have a solid disaster recovery and redundancy plan in place in case of a disruption. By implementing these measures, enterprises can overcome the challenges of SASE and experience all the benefits. In addition, they can ensure that their employees are secure while working remotely and that their data is protected. These benefits can help businesses achieve their digital transformation goals.

Conclusions of SASE

SASE is a network security architecture that can be delivered in the cloud and scaled as an organization needs to, whether it is a rapid increase in remote work or an expansion of branch offices. This type of architecture is an ideal solution for digital companies that must protect their resources while enhancing performance.

It allows organizations to implement granular visibility and security services through a single platform, such as threat prevention, web filtering, sandboxing, DNS security, and next-generation firewall policies. This reduces costs, complexity, and the time it takes for IT to manage multiple-point products.

Another benefit is that it can be deployed on the edge of an enterprise network, where users are located and where applications or data reside. This means it can protect against advanced attacks targeting the network’s edges. It can also protect devices connecting to the enterprise network, such as automobiles, refrigerators, intelligent health monitoring sensors, or Internet of Things (IoT) devices on industrial product lines.

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The security architecture of SASE is based on zero trust networking, which allows access to resources found on the user, device, and application rather than location or IP address. This can significantly increase WAN performance and security. It can also eliminate the need for expensive hardware appliances in data centers and branches

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