What are SDWAN and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE)?

The Wonders of SASE and SDWAN

SASE provides end-to-end visibility for all network users, applications, and activity, across all locations. No more rigid and costly connectivity, fragmented and complex IT infrastructure, or restricted visibility and control. The SASE architecture has been streamlined and simplified, enabling IT to regain control of the network, ensure an optimal security posture and accelerate business growth.

We are all aware of the clear benefits of cost savings, simplicity, and scalability when IT moves key business services and applications (e.g. SFDC, Office 365, and AWS) to the cloud. It only makes sense that networking and security, as the underlying infrastructure for all applications, data, branches, and users, should also be moved to the cloud.

Gartner sees the business and technology situation as follows:

The enterprise data center is no longer the center of access requirements for users and devices. Digital business transformation efforts, the adoption of SaaS and other cloud-based services, and emerging edge computing platforms have turned the enterprise network “inside out,” inverting historical
patterns

• By 2023, 20% of enterprises will have adopted SWG, CASB, ZTNA, and branch FWaaS capabilities from the same vendor, up from less than 5% in 2019.
• By 2024, at least 40% of enterprises will have explicit strategies to adopt SASE, up from less than 1% at the end of 2018.
• By 2025, at least one major IaaS provider will offer a competitive set of SASE capabilities.

But, moving networking and security to the cloud was not possible before SASE. Well, now it is, and the value gained is enormous:

Agility

With SASE architecture support, IT can deliver an optimized network and robust security to all locations, applications, and users, regardless of where they are located. Provisioning new resources and capabilities are quick and easy. Just deploy the right edge client and connect it to the SASE platform, and corporate policies drive your network and security experience.

Collaboration

IT teams can leverage network and security convergence to manage all functions and policies in a single interface, using common terminology and gaining deep visibility into network and security events. Cross-team collaboration improves overall service delivery to the enterprise, which often involves a combination of availability, performance, and security requirements, of availability, performance, and security requirements.

Efficiency

With SASE, IT teams are freed from the drudgery of maintaining local infrastructure. Physical topology, redundancy, scaling, sizing, and upgrading are drastically reduced. IT can better serve the business while focusing their valuable resources and skills on business-specific problems, rather than the drudgery of generic infrastructure maintenance.

Reduced costs

Simplifying the networking and security stack, as well as consolidating multiple point products, allows both vendors and customers to reduce overall infrastructure maintenance costs.

Business continuity

With or without the trigger of a sudden global crisis, enterprises have realized that enabling all employees to work remotely, from anywhere, at any time, has become a cornerstone of their business continuity planning (BCP). The elasticity of SASE’s cloud-native architecture makes it possible to switch instantly to a work-anywhere, work-anywhere model, to a working model from any location.

SASE SDWAN Architecture

Identities

User and resource identity, not simply an IP address, drives SASE security and network policies. This approach reduces operational burden by enabling enterprises to develop one set of network and security policies for users, regardless of device or location.

Cloud-native

SASE is a cloud-first, cloud-native architecture. All network and security functions are deployed in the cloud. Only the capabilities that must be deployed at the edge are delivered as simple edge clients. The SASE architecture leverages key cloud capabilities, such as elasticity, adaptability, self-healing, and self-maintenance, to uniformly deliver security and network capabilities across the enterprise.

Cato Networks and ZOOStock Solution

Cato Networks offers a secure, global managed SD-WAN service: Cato Cloud. Cato Cloud was built from the ground up to enable networking and security teams to effectively protect the corporate network from today’s changing threat landscape. Cato’s unique feature is the convergence of the network and security pillars into a single platform. The convergence allows Cato to bring together multiple security solutions, such as a next-generation firewall, secure web gateway, anti-malware, and IPS, into one cloud service that enforces a unified policy across all enterprise locations, users and data.