What is SASE?

Unified vs Managed SASE

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.

How is it different from traditional network security solutions?

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.

How has the SASE framework evolved over the years?

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.