12 questions to ask a SASE provider

SASE [Secure Access Service Edge] has been the talk of the industry ever since Gartner outlined the model in 2019.

The SASE model clearly and precisely defines the features as well as how managed services are delivered and managed.

Yet many players claim to offer SASE with platforms that are not SASE at all, or only very partially.

One might think this is a debate for purists, and that what really matters is the value these platforms bring to clients.

True. And that is precisely why a platform that does not follow the SASE model will not deliver all of the following benefits:

• Cost rationalisation: by eliminating all local transport and security building blocks in favour of a service delivered 100% from the Cloud ☁
• Performance: by combining SD-WAN and acceleration functions that guarantee end-to-end performance
• Simpler operations: through unified management and analysis of network and security events, reducing operational complexity
• Asset security: by enforcing the access policy for internal applications, the Cloud and the Internet, and by inspecting all traffic, even encrypted traffic

To help bring clarity to discussions with SASE providers, we recommend these 12 questions 👇:

• What does a successful SASE deployment look like?
• Which use cases does your SASE platform cover?
• Is your platform Cloud ☁ native, or is it the result of moving hardware or software features to the Cloud ☁?
• How does your platform handle end-to-end traffic transport, depending on the use case, and with what performance commitments?
• How does your platform deliver, or integrate with, third-party analysis, orchestration and advanced security 🔓 tools?
• Does your platform rely on technology partnerships?
• How does your platform protect against threats, and can it analyse encrypted traffic?
• How do you manage your Cloud infrastructure ☁ end to end?
• How many PoPs do you operate, and how do you make sure they deliver consistent performance?
• How does your platform implement the ZTNA [Zero Trust Network Access] model? Do you rely on a third-party ecosystem?
• Can your platform connect every type of access point, and how: sites, mobile users, IoT components?
• Does your platform provide a management portal? Which management, orchestration and analysis services does it offer?

@Christophe Lopez Castel @Bertrand Delassaux @Adrien Porcheron, @Joseph Fernando, @Sylvain Chareyre @Julien LARCY @Laurent Hullot-Wilm

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*Source: https://blog.lumen.com