The Evolving Landscape Of SASE: Trends Shaping The Future Of Secure Access

The Evolving Landscape of SASE: Trends Shaping the Future of Secure Access

The Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) market is experiencing explosive growth, driven by the ever-increasing need for secure and agile network architectures in today's cloud-centric world.  

As organisations embrace remote work models and leverage a multitude of cloud applications, traditional security approaches struggle to keep pace. SASE offers a comprehensive solution, integrating networking and security functions into a cloud-delivered platform.

This blog explores key SASE trends predicted to shape the landscape in 2024, drawing insights from industry analysts and expertise in cybersecurity solutions. Connected Networks' SASE solutions integrate seamlessly with existing security infrastructure, leveraging AI to proactively identify and mitigate threats.

Single-Vendor SASE Takes Centre Stage

The market is witnessing a clear shift towards single-vendor SASE solutions. This approach simplifies deployment, management and ongoing operations by ensuring all necessary components – SD-WAN, firewalls and cloud security tools – originate from the same vendor. This eliminates the complexities associated with integrating solutions from multiple providers, often leading to compatibility issues and hindered efficiency.

A single-vendor SASE platform, designed with a unified policy engine, streamlines operations across all use cases. Additionally, it delivers predictable ROI due to fewer point products and streamlined integration, potentially leading to cost reductions of 40-50%. Procurement becomes simpler, with seamless licensing, a single SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) across the entire security service edge (SSE) stack and easier deployment of various SASE components. Connected Networks can be your one-stop shop for all your SASE needs.

Unified SASE and the Zero-Trust Journey

SASE empowers organisations to seamlessly integrate zero-trust principles into their security strategy. Zero-trust focuses on continuous user and device behaviour verification, moving beyond traditional methods that rely on infrequent authentication checks. Verifying users, devices and connections every few seconds becomes crucial to ensure trust in every connection, agent, user and device accessing applications.

A truly unified SASE solution delivers this capability through single-agent functionality. This approach makes life easier for IT teams, enabling them to troubleshoot and manage everything from a central platform. Consolidation reduces the number of products involved, further enhanced by a single agent for all security needs. Unified SASE solutions offer additional benefits like flexible and scalable zero-trust enforcement, lower latency, improved performance and enhanced overall efficiency. Connected Networks' SASE solutions can help you implement a robust zero-trust framework with centralised management.

AI-Powered Security and Operations

The future of SASE lies in solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). These capabilities are instrumental in detecting zero-day threats and protecting users from evolving malware strains, including ransomware. While many SASE vendors emphasise simplification, their solutions often rely on non-integrated OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) security components. Additionally, the lack of threat intelligence in such solutions makes them vulnerable to new threats and exploits.

When selecting a SASE solution, security should be the top priority, especially considering the growing risk faced by remote workers and devices. The most successful SASE solutions, like those offered by Connected Networks, will provide the following capabilities:

Zero-day threat detection and ransomware protection: These are critical features considering the ever-evolving threat landscape.

Integrated security platform: SASE needs to be part of your overall security platform strategy, integrating seamlessly with your Security Operations Centre (SOC) to share threat intelligence effectively.

Broad product platform integration: SASE needs to be part of a holistic product platform where policies, enforcement and AI-powered capabilities are applied consistently across the entire security framework. Connected Networks' SASE solutions integrate seamlessly with existing security infrastructure, leveraging AI to proactively identify and mitigate threats.

SASE Expands Connectivity Beyond Traditional Boundaries

The future of SASE envisions solutions with complete flexibility in connecting and securing locations of all sizes, from large offices to home offices and even microbranches without dedicated firewalls or SD-WANs. On-premises security remains essential and SASE solutions need to adapt to support hybrid architectures. As a result, SASE is poised to play a vital role in securing microbranches through its SSE components, delivering cloud security for local area networks (LAN) and wireless local area networks (WLAN).

Furthermore, SASE will need to adapt to secure devices and connections in various environments, enabling secure access capabilities for BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) scenarios and agent-less environments commonly found in coffee shop networking settings. Additionally, SASE will integrate OT (Operational Technology) security to secure critical infrastructure through its SSE components. Connected Networks' SASE solutions are designed to be adaptable and secure, offering comprehensive protection regardless of location or device type.

End-to-End DEM Becomes a Cornerstone of SASE

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) provides invaluable end-to-end visibility into network performance and user experience. While currently considered a premium feature by many, DEM is predicted to become a core component of future SASE solutions. Integrating DEM into SASE solutions will lead to:

Improved user experience and application performance reporting: Organisations gain valuable insights into user experience and application performance issues, enabling proactive problem identification and resolution. Connected Networks' SASE solutions with built-in DEM capabilities can empower your IT team to identify and address user experience bottlenecks before they disrupt productivity.

Simplified troubleshooting and faster remediation: DEM empowers IT teams to identify and resolve issues quickly, leading to a reduction in mean time to detection and remediation (MTTD/MTTR). Imagine a scenario where a user in a remote location experiences sluggish application performance. With DEM integrated into SASE, IT teams at Connected Networks can pinpoint the root cause – be it network congestion, application latency or device limitations – and resolve the issue swiftly, minimising downtime and frustration.

Reduced operational costs: Integrating DEM directly into the SASE agent eliminates the need for separate tools, streamlining operations and lowering costs. Connected Networks' SASE solutions offer a holistic approach, reducing the complexity and cost associated with managing multiple security and monitoring tools.

A Secure and Efficient Future with SASE

Organisations are actively transitioning from legacy solutions like VPNs to embrace zero-trust and SASE architectures. This shift promises a future characterised by:

Consistent security: SASE offers a unified security framework that protects users and devices regardless of location or access method.

Unified management: A single platform simplifies security management, reducing complexity and operational overhead.

Reduced costs: Streamlined operations and fewer point products contribute to lower total cost of ownership (TCO) for security solutions.

Enhanced user experience: Improved application performance and proactive issue resolution lead to a more productive and positive user experience.

By staying informed about the latest SASE trends and choosing the right solution, organisations can confidently navigate the evolving security landscape and ensure a secure and efficient future for their business.

Ready to explore how Connected Networks can help you implement a future-proof SASE solution? Contact us today!

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