Working from home has gone from a pandemic solution to a permanent part of the business landscape. Years before COVID-19, the adoption of software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) provided a faster way for employees to connect to a company’s hosted services via mobile or high-speed transfer cable. The downside? Security was good but not encrypted. With ransomware attacks on the rise,1 keeping businesses safe from cyber threats has become a top priority. Remote access to cloud-hosted company software has created network nightmares and security headaches for IT teams. Enter SASE.
How SASE Works
Defined by Gartner2 in 2019, secure access service edge (SASE) was the perfect solution to the growing pains of SD-WAN. SASE (pronounced ‘sassy’) proved to be an efficient and more secure way to connect to sensitive SaaS, addressing the need for tighter cyber safety as remote workers utilize non-IT-controlled devices. But SASE’s true power lies in its ability to recognize malware, free up massive amounts of bandwidth on the network, and do all this in a budget-friendly way.
Network Access and Security Rolled Into One
When network and company computers were onsite, it was easy to control wireless access. The sudden growth of cloud-based apps meant workers accessed sensitive information on their phones or personal laptops. As 5G, LTE, broadband, and fiber capabilities grew, more workers accessed the network simultaneously. The result? Connection speeds slowed down, and calls to the IT manager to fix it pronto increased. SD-WAN solutions helped speed up SaaS access and reduced congestion.
But security is not SD-WAN’s most robust feature. Sure it utilizes security tools like traditional and next-generation firewalls, but it still requires IT management oversight. Not to mention the difficulties of enforcing and updating security policies on remote machines.
SASE and SD-WAN work in tandem. SASE optimizes SD-WAN through integrating firewall protection, incorporating stronger security like zero-trust network access (ZTNA) and secure web gateways (SWG), and enhancing networking services. Remote devices access company cloud apps through a SASE shield that identifies sensitive data and automates a company’s software, policy application, and security updates. This allows SD-WAN to provide maximum connectivity. The best part? SASE is a single service, scalable to your business’s needs, and is extremely cost-effective as it works with current WAN technologies.
Top Benefits of Implementing SASE
Besides giving IT teams peace of mind, SASE has several key benefits for the modern workforce.
- SASE helps keep hybrid, remote, or onsite employees safe from security breaches while increasing connectivity to the company’s cloud apps.
- It’s a single architecture, cutting the need for multiple vendors and reducing redundancy across the WAN.
- It is cloud-based, so it’s readily scalable to fit your company’s bandwidth and security needs.
- SASE does not require hardware. IT departments save time with minimal maintenance and money with unnecessary software licensing and hardware.
- It integrates data loss prevention at the source and throughout the transfer process.
CommQuotes Can Consolidate Your Security Solutions
Whether you’ve already implemented SD-WAN solutions or are just getting started with securing your cloud-based applications, SASE is a seamless, cost-cutting addition. The CommQuotes team will help you evaluate your WAN security requirements and navigate to the best, and most cost effective SASE option in the marketplace.
Call CommQuotes at 888-978-6837 or send an email to improve your competitive advantage with a highly productive and secure remote or hybrid workforce.
Sources:
