First coined by Gartner back in 2019, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) brings together software defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) and cloud-native security services in a single cloud service model.

SASE enables secure access, so organisations can get more control even though their users, applications and devices are more spread out than ever.

SASE is still largely misunderstood by customers and some vendors. But you can’t just mash networking and security together under the SASE framework.

According to Prasad Semrudkar — Cisco’s SASE Lead for Asia, Pacific, Japan and China — if it’s not SD-WAN, it’s not SASE.

SASE is a new concept for organisations acclimatising to the acceleration of data centres being supported by secure cloud-based services.

SASE is not a single product. A network and security framework that builds on technologies like SD-WAN, Zero Trust, CASB, cloud proxy and FWaaS.

There’s a common misconception that a cloud proxy solution is a SASE solution — that’s not the case without SD-WAN.

The rise of remote work has highlighted the competing needs of remote access and remote edge — and the challenge of combining networking and security in a robust SASE framework.

“We have a hyper distributed workforce accessing hyper distributed applications via multiple devices,” says Prasad.

“There are multiple functions to tap into to deliver each one.”

According to Gartner, SASE combines network security functions (like SWG, CASB, FWaaS and ZTNA), with WAN capabilities to support dynamic secure access needs.

“Without SD-WAN, you have an incomplete solution, which means risk,” says Prasad.

“When you are under attack, your time to resolution will depend on how quickly you can navigate through the multi-vendor landscape to fix it. An incomplete solution makes the task much harder.”

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“SASE is brand new for many organisations,” explains Prasad.

“It’s not a shift and lift game. Outcomex can come in, look at what you’ve got and come up with a solution so you realise your investment potential sooner.”