A Gartner prediction reveals that up to 40% of organizations will incorporate the SASE model into their company structure by 2024. Key fascinating aspects of this architecture are that it saves costs while offering enhanced security and is flexible to run.
Secure Access Service Edge, better known as SASE, is a cloud-based network and security infrastructure that integrates different solutions into one, connecting users, devices, and endpoints to services and applications from multiple locations around the globe in a well-secured approach.
What is SASE?
Secure Access Service Edge, better known as SASE, is a cloud-based architecture that merges different network and cloud security technologies in a single delivery system, connecting systems, users, and endpoints to services and applications around the globe securely and reliably. These features are provided as cloud solutions and can be managed centrally to meet the demands of today’s dynamic operations.
SASE Benefits
Some of the SASE Benefits reasons to consider the SASE framework include that:
1. The SASE Architecture Doesn’t Care About Where Applications Are Situated
Applications can live anywhere – in a private or public cloud environment – or as a SaaS offering. In addition, SASE’s dispersed framework nature makes it easy to implement security functions close to the end-user while simplifying application interactions.
2. SASE Prevents Threats And Reduces Risks
SASE enables segmentation, resource and application masking, and isolation with data planes and dispersed control. The SASE architecture contributes extensive security at diverse points within the user access chain. SASE also supports inline encryption and decryption. It retains evaluation and risk profiling based on the accessing device, potential user, and location. The SASE fabric has built-in security features guaranteeing secured and verified connections.
3. SASE Adoption is a Cost Effective and Less Complex Approach To Network Security
SASE eliminates backhauled traffic flows, improves data center assemblage, reduces transport costs, defines communication network processes, and reduces client-to-cloud latency.
The widely embraced architecture helps to ease pressure on IT professionals and complexities. The Software as a Service aspect of the SASE model helps to generate speedy technological advancements and enlargement at a reduced cost. It also offers straightforward models that can be easily acquired, managed, and operated, including its per-user pricing. It also provides client security across different operating systems (OS) – Linux, Windows, Linux, and BYOD.
4. SASE Enables Affordable WAN Rates
The route SASE component works like Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN). Therefore, you should look forward to lowering or erasing the prerequisite for increased MPLS cost and leased circuits to suit the VPN access over the public internet, reducing WAN expenditures.
As a procedure to boost WAN efficiency, WAN optimization technologies can be leveraged. Utilizing cloud connectivity to cloud-based, SaaS vendors, executing SASE may additionally optimize traffic flows – extremely dependable and redundant connections. It may bolster application functionalities.
5. SASE Model Defines Policy Operations
Despite where they are located, essential security policy control facilitates remote workers’ security and network, making the network perimeter the endpoint’s location even when it is on a network that is situated out of the organization’s personnel authority.
6. SASE Enhances and Optimizes Performance
SASE reduces latency on a network by removing backhaul traffic flows. In addition, applying security measures to a single-pass parallel processing technique enhances and optimizes the overall user experience and boosts performance.
SASE’s Cloud-native approach is also flexible and scalable. During high demands and network pressure, the SASE model rises to the challenge of delays and traffic fluctuations.
Understanding and Measuring the ROI Metrics of SASE
With new technology that may be acquired for organizations, IT teams must be able to carry out intensive findings and build a business case. This also means they must model how new technology will affect their business bottom line and pinpoint the Returns on Investment (ROI).
Regarding security, ROI is usually measured by referring to risk control. When it comes to.SASE, the risk is a critical factor that drives adoption. However, SASE ROI components have more complexity.
SASE ROI could rise in certain situations, especially when teams reach equipment refreshes. To understand the ROI of SASE, teams need to first break it down into building blocks that can be figured out and then develop a workable model to represent their company. And since there is no single process for figuring out the SASE ROI, it has to be assessed case by case.
So, while there might be differences in the variety of the SASE building blocks, you can often consider these metrics to measure the ROI of SASE transformation.
1. Intensified Security Situation and Lowered Risks
Regarding risk reduction and boosted security framework, the SASE ZTNA model comes into play. SASE reduces risks when the remote workforce stops connecting to enterprise network assets over insecure and uncertain network connections.
Enterprise further ensures a solid security structure by ensuring that users are secured every time they use the network. The situation is also shifted left as the patching and maintaining underlying technology becomes part of the shared duty model of the SASE provider.
This approach is to help teams recognize the key SASE ROI metric connected to their own company and then find two more supporting ROI items.
2. Efficiency in Functionality
SASE offers one pane of glass for a diverse range of network and security services and tools. This feature gears up the efficiency in operations to help the current workforce improve demand and the company’s overall growth. In addition, the onboarding SASE process and utilization with the Zero Trust framework can be quicker than a traditional VPN.
3. Scalable Feature
Achieving a solid connectivity procedure for a remote workforce will need figuring out capacity that can be fulfilled through the elasticity of the SASE service provider and its fundamental private or public cloud infrastructure. An efficient model that offers the elasticity needed for organizational growth is the pay-per-user business model.
4. Cost-Effectiveness
The pay-per-user business model is affordable and can be related to a model in which teams develop, operate, and scale independently. Therefore, a considerable number of SASE vendors prefer to go for the pay-per-user model, which is similar to the dynamic environment many new companies confront due to the COVID pandemic.
5. Optimizing Costs
Most cost optimization originates from Software, appliances, and other additional technologies. While the SASE implementation process typically doesn’t require acquiring new technology, it includes annual subscription fees, costs, efforts, and licensing.
6. Agility and Rapidity
Quicker routing and connectivity impact transfer speeds and the total efficiency primarily for SaaS services such as Salesforce, etc.
Creating the ROI model
It is worth acknowledging the distinction and uniqueness between companies. In essence, the SASE ROI model will not also be the same. The usual method is to recognize the key ROI metric related to the specific company and then find extra supporting ROI items, at least two.
After these teams have been identified, they should assess and develop a model that provides three and five years of Return On Investment (ROI). This task is a straightforward one that can also offer teams the needed results to determine whether SASE will benefit their company or not.
