An in-depth look at the Benefits of SASE

Take a look at the benefits of Secure Access Service Edge – SASE

In this Blog we review in more detail the true benefits of implementing a SASE architecture and how it can support your business for the future state.

Increasingly security and risk professionals require network security capabilities that can be applied across the organisation when and where they are needed for staff to connect from any place at any time.

Gartner recently released a report, titled “The Future of Network Security Is in the Cloud,” which discusses the benefits of consolidating security services.

Some of the many benefits of consolidating your security vendors include reduction of the number of physical and/or virtual appliances in the branches, as well as the number of agents required on end-user devices.

The Gartner report outlined how security costs could be reduced over the longer-term as SASE services were adopted. Cost savings were made from technology stack and vendor consolidation when SASE was implemented.

It has been predicted by Gartner that at least 40% of enterprises will have explicit strategies to adopt SASE by 2024, so now is the time to take a serious look at the benefits of SASE for your business.

Here is the list of key benefits* for SASE adoption:

Security Improvements
For SASE vendors that support content inspection (identification of sensitive data and malware), any access session can be inspected, and the same set of policies applied to that session. In the recent ebook, Gartner uses the example of scanning for sensitive data in Salesforce, Facebook and cloud-hosted applications where a consistent policy is applied consistently regardless of where the user/device is located.

Low operational overhead
Given the current threat exposures across organisations, especially for mobile workforces- new inspection mechanisms are needed as enterprises are no longer limited by hardware capacity and multi-year hardware refreshes to add new functionality.

Cloud-based SASE offerings, ensure that updating for new threats and policies don’t need new deployments of hardware or software and should allow quicker adoption of new capabilities across the business.

SASE can enable new digital business scenarios
SASE services that are implemented correctly will enable enterprises to make their applications, services, APIs and data securely accessible to partners and contractors, without the bulk risk exposure of legacy VPN and legacy demilitarised zone (DMZ) architectures.

Improvement in performance/latency
Gartner explains that leading SASE vendors provide latency-optimised routing across worldwide points of presence. The importance is especially critical for latency-sensitive apps such as collaboration, video, VoIP, and web conferencing particularly now with current changes to the way businesses are operating.

Ease of use/transparency for users
When SASE is implemented correctly, it will reduce the number of agents required on a device to a single agent or device. SASE reduces agent and appliance bloat and should automatically apply access policy without requiring user interaction. This will provide a consistent access experience for any user, regardless of where the user is, what they are accessing and where it is located across the globe.

Enable zero trust network access
One of the principles of the zero trust networking approach is that network access is based on the identity of the user, the device and the application — not on the IP address or physical location of the device.

The SASE framework provides protection of the entity’s session seamlessly and consistently on and off the enterprise network. If you assume the network is hostile, the SASE offering will provide end-to-end encryption of the entire session and optional web application and API protection (WAAP) services (see “Defining Cloud Web Application and API Protection Services”). And Gartner comments that leading SASE vendors will extend this all the way to the endpoint device with public Wi-Fi network protection (coffee shop, airport and so on) by tunnelling to the nearest POP.

Increased effectiveness of network and network security staff
SASE will increase network effectiveness- so instead of the routine tasks of setting up infrastructure, your network security staff can focus on understanding your business, the regulatory, and application access requirements and map these to SASE capabilities.

Centralised policy with local enforcement
SASE allows cloud-based centralised management of policy with distributed enforcement points logically close to the entity and including local decision making where needed; for example, local to a branch office using a CPE appliance. Another example is local agents on managed devices for local decision making.

The above benefits were referenced from the Gartner report, “The Future of Network Security Is in the Cloud.”

To understand more about SASE – click here to speak with a SASE security expert today or visit our Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) resource centre here.