What it is
SASE delivers WAN services and security functions as one cloud-based architecture. Instead of hauling traffic back to the datacentre, identity- and context-based access replaces the classic VPN. The services run across a global network of points of presence.
It includes SD-WAN, Cloud Web Security, Secure Access and Edge Network Intelligence, managed from one console, and can be run as a managed service or yourself.
The problem it solves
Work is distributed and applications live in the cloud. A model that forces every request through the company network creates a bottleneck exactly where it costs most: bandwidth runs short, connections drop, and application performance is better in the office than at home even though both are using the same SaaS application.
What to watch
SASE replaces the VPN organisationally as well as technically. Where decisions used to be made at the perimeter, they now get made per user, per device and per application, and somebody has to write those policies. That is where the effort sits, not in the setup.
