SASE comes of age: how to protect your business in a shifting IT landscape

Why enterprises should move to the next generation of networking and security.

Widespread cloud adoption and the distributed workforce have created a highly dynamic IT landscape. As such, users, applications and data have become increasingly complex to manage, challenging traditional enterprise perimeter security models — and, as you might expect, cyber criminals have been quick to take advantage. Safeguarding your customers, employees and mission-critical data is paramount in an ever-changing world, and this is exactly where a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) approach comes in.

The decline of the traditional network

Today, with the huge rise in the number of remote users, branch offices, data and services located beyond the established network perimeter, the traditional ‘castle and moat’ security approach is no longer enough. Users, devices and apps are now ‘everywhere’, in effect inverting historic traffic flows and destinations.

Yet many current technologies are built upon architectures that were not designed to handle this shift in traffic and the associated security threats. This forces organisations to adopt multiple point products to handle different requirements, creating an administrative burden that introduces cost, complexity and gaps in security posture.

The rise of SASE

Overcoming these obstacles, SASE has emerged to help organisations embrace cloud and hybrid working by providing network and network security services from a cloud-delivered architecture — and its adoption is gaining pace. In fact, industry expert Gartner anticipates that 30% of enterprises will have transitioned to a SASE model by 2024¹.

This is because a SASE approach provides consistent security services and access to all types of cloud applications delivered through a common framework. By removing multiple point products and adopting a single cloud-delivered SASE solution, organisations can reduce complexity while saving significant technical, human and financial resources.

The SASE model also brings many broader business benefits:

Flexibility
With a cloud-based infrastructure, businesses can easily implement and deliver security services such as threat prevention, web filtering, sandboxing, DNS security, credential theft prevention, data loss prevention and next-generation firewall policies.

Cost efficiencies
Instead of buying and managing multiple point products, utilising a single platform can dramatically reduce both capex and operational costs as well as save on IT resources.

Reduced complexity
By consolidating multiple point security products and standardising across user bases, a more simple security posture can be achieved to include monitoring and reporting on usage through intuitive single pane of glass platforms.

Increased performance
With a cloud infrastructure, businesses can quickly and easily connect to wherever resources are located. Access to apps, the internet and corporate data is available globally.

Zero Trust
A Zero Trust approach to the cloud removes trust assumptions when users, devices and applications connect. A SASE solution provides complete session protection, regardless of whether a user is connected to the corporate network or not.

Threat prevention
With full content inspection integrated into a SASE solution, businesses can benefit from more security and visibility into their networks.

Data protection
Implementing data protection policies within a SASE framework helps prevent unauthorised access and abuse of sensitive data.

Embracing the SASE model

It’s clear that traditional network architectures were not designed for today’s evolving digital ecosystems. With the widespread adoption of hybrid working and the cloud, now is the time to think about protecting your business better by updating your security posture.

At Bistech, we tailor solutions to your infrastructure, your users and your desktop strategy, delivering secure, reliable and easy access to business-critical applications while keeping you safe against modern threats. To discuss your security needs, call our expert team today on 03330 11 22 55.

¹ Gartner, ‘2021 Hype Cycles: Innovating Delivery Through Trust, Growth and Change’