SASE Offering Is a Step Forward

Cisco recently unveiled its Cisco+ Secure Now Connect SASE platform.

Berger said the offering will make a big difference for WWT’s digital workspace unit as it crafts hybrid work solutions.

“You’ve got to allow the connectivity between the user and their applications. Whether that’s cloud, SaaS or data center, you’ve got to enable it to be a lot easier, versus backhauling directly through your typical on-prem network or your corporate network. The problem with that has always been, ‘How do you secure it now?’ And that’s where SASE kind of comes into play.”

Ogden said he is looking for the offering to become more “fully-baked,” which he sees in rival SASE providers like Silver Peak/Aruba and Palo Alto.

“It’s not a bad offering. The problem I see with it is that it’s not fully integrated. It’s three different products that they’re trying to cobble together to match what the other vendors in the market are doing,” Ogden said.