Simplify, secure, succeed: discover the power of SASE!

Trying to keep track of new architectures and technologies? That can surely be overwhelming. Especially with the growing amount of options these days. One of most recent additions to that list is SASE. But what is it exactly? What are the key components? And how can you adopt this new framework? We’ll tell you all you need to know.

What is SASE?

Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE for short, is a cloud-centric architecture that merges security with networking. It’s delivered in a cloud-based platform and consists of two parts:

• Security Service Edge (SSE): Focuses on providing unified security services in a cloud-based platform, such as Firewall-as-a-service, Secure Web Gateway, etc.
  
  
• Software-Defined Wide-Area Networks (SD-WAN): Focuses on providing simplified network services, including SD-WAN, Quality of Service (QoS), WAN optimization, etc.

The main goal of the SASE architecture? Ensuring your users enjoy a smooth experience, pristine security and optimized connectivity, while meeting the ever-growing needs of your businesses.

What are the benefits of SASE?

Now that we’ve handled all the technical jargon and learned some new acronyms, let’s look at what the SASE framework has to offer. And how your organization could benefit from it.

SASE simplifies your IT operations

The SASE framework is a new architecture that unifies networking and security in one simple service, all managed in the cloud. So, no need to keep maintaining a disperse landscape of tools and solutions for networking and security, SASE combines it all into one easy system. This makes it cheaper and faster for businesses to set up and keeps everything secure, no matter where employees are. Or what devices they're using.

SASE not only simplifies your IT operations, but also offers a more cost-effective solution. Designed as a single, ready-to-consume service, it consolidates multiple services into one cohesive platform. The result? A reduced total cost of ownership (TCO), due to the increased speed of delivery, improved uptime and streamlined security architecture. All while keeping your operational costs at a minimum.

SASE secures your network

Whether it’s a user working from home or abroad, legacy applications still running in a classic on-premise datacenter or accessing company data via mobile devices, SASE offers streamlined security, no matter the scenario. It allows you to apply uniform policies, identify issues quickly and secure all edges with consistent protection from within a single platform.

You no longer need to puzzle multiple physical and virtual appliances from different vendors together, or integrate security solutions on top. Connecting with your SASE platform is a breeze, because security measures, such as Firewall-as-a-service (FWaaS), Secure Web Gateways (SWG), Data Loss Protection (DLP), Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) and Zero-Trust Network Access (ZTNA) are all centralized.

And, by integrating industry-leading threat intelligence, SASE helps addressing the latest security threats. It provides the necessary tools for comprehensive visibility and analysis at every touchpoint in a hybrid environment, improving the robustness of your organization everywhere.

SASE empowers your organization

Implementing a new architecture is not an easy task, but SASE is more than just a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic enabler that harmonizes networking and security to meet today’s digital demands and ensures your organization stays agile and resilient.

The push for infrastructure modernization is not about keeping up with today’s trends, but about supporting initiatives that can drive the core business or your organization forward, without feeling hindered by your underlying infrastructure. SASE makes it easier to adapt to changing business needs without the heavy lifting that’s traditionally associated with infrastructure changes.

The result? Consistently good end-user experience, wherever the user may be, while being rest assured it’s all handled securely. By reducing technical complexity, simplifying management and implementing a unified security posture, SASE strengthens your business to meet or surpass application performance expectations and scale rapidly, which is essential in a world where user experience defines success.

SASE flavors to your infrastructure

As we already mentioned, the SASE framework consists of SSE and SD-WAN. But there are different possible deployments. Integrated SASE, on the one hand, and Unified SASE, on the other. But what is the difference. In the first case, we combine different vendors for both SSE and SD-WAN. And in the second, we use the same vendor.

As a long-standing Cisco partner with broad experience in their portfolio, we offer Cisco Secure Connect with Cisco Meraki as a Unified SASE solution. In addition, we rigorously choose Cisco Secure Access as an integrated SSE solution, because third-party vendors can interconnect with the SSE platform.

Still got support contracts running for those old firewalls? License terms haven’t expired yet? No worries, Cisco Secure Access perfectly offers you all the benefits, while you can still make use of your existing infrastructure. Looking to take your network infrastructure to next level? Deploying Cisco Meraki in combination with Cisco Secure Connect will transform your organization all-together.

Need a helping hand?

Feeling motivated to get started? But need some assistance? At Arxus, we’re committed to helping your business harness the power of the SASE framework, assessing your organization’s unique needs and ensuring your deployment aligns with your business goals, user expectations and security requirements.