Yesterday, I shared my takeaways from day 1 of SASE Converge 2021, which was largely focused on strategic topics around SASE. On the second and final day of SASE Converge 2021, we go deeper into the technical innovations that underpin SASE and make up Palo Alto Networks’ SASE solution. Read about the five big takeaways from the day below and watch the full sessions available on-demand here.
#5: The Convergence of Networking and Security is Finally Possible, Thanks to the Cloud
In a lively, wide-ranging conversation about the evolution and future of networking, Palo Alto Networks senior vice president of products, Kumar Ramachandran, sat down with Martin Casado, general partner at Andreesen Horowitz. Martin Casado was a pioneer in the development of OpenFlow, and the founder of successful software-defined networking (SDN) startup Nicira, which was acquired by VMware.
Casado discusses challenges that he encountered earlier in his career, first at Nicira and later VMWare, when trying to combine security and networking. Back then, low-level protocol issues foiled his efforts to meaningfully converge the two. Today, he says, there is enough maturity with the technologies that enable offering networking, infrastructure, and security as standalone cloud-delivered services, that now is the time to bring them together.
Catch the full conversation, “The Past, Present, and Future of Networking: A Fireside Chat with Martin Casado,” to hear more.
#4: Don’t Fall Into a Convergence Trap with SASE
Traditional hub-and-spoke architectures with disparate network and security stacks don’t scale for hybrid work and cloud. Converging networking and security in the cloud with SASE promises to remedy these shortcomings, but not all offerings can deliver on this vision.
Most SASE solutions available today are disjointed and incomplete, requiring customers to make unacceptable trade-offs with security effectiveness or network functionality when moving to a cloud-delivered SASE model. The legacy challenges of stitching together a multi-vendor environment remain, and troubleshooting is a nightmare.
In the session “Convergence without Compromise: Introducing Prisma SASE”, Ramachandran introduces Prisma SASE, the industry’s most complete SASE solution, converging network security, SD-WAN, and Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) into a single cloud-delivered service. He describes how Prisma SASE helps customers tackle three big use cases - Hybrid Work, Cloud and Digital, and Branch Transformation - and illustrates each with customer success stories.
Watch the full session to learn more about Prisma SASE.
#3: Digital Experience Management is the Secret Sauce for SASE
With users working from anywhere and accessing any application, who is responsible for ensuring they have a consistently good experience? When the user encounters a problem, even if it’s due to a third-party outage or their child playing a bandwidth-hogging video game, the IT helpdesk will still be the one to field the calls. How will they get the insights needed to ensure their users can remain productive?
In this session, Anupam Upadhyaya, vice president of product management at Palo Alto Networks, demonstrates how ADEM from Palo Alto Networks gives organizations end-to-end visibility from a single management console. Unlike other solutions that require advanced IT specialization and separate agent management on endpoints and branches, Palo Alto Networks ADEM’s ease of use allows even the most novice of analysts to derive deep insights into application performance. By leveraging GlobalProtect™ agents for endpoint visibility and native Prisma SD-WAN integration for remote sites and branches, ADEM ensures the lightest footprint possible.
Watch the session “Why Digital Experience Management is the Secret Sauce for SASE” to see the full demo.
#2: Prisma Access 2.2 Simplifies SWG Management
As apps continue to move to the cloud and users work from anywhere, security administrators find it difficult to enforce consistent policies for their users regardless of their location. Often, Secure Web Gateways (SWG) are managed separately from other security controls, creating complexity, policy inconsistency, and ultimately leading to security gaps that put enterprises at risk.
Administrators need a platform-based approach to security, with SWG integrated as part of a SASE platform. Prisma Access 2.2 provides a natively integrated cloud SWG with a completely reimagined, user-centric workflow built from the ground up to offer very simple and easy to define web security rules. With predefined recommendations and continuous assessments based on best practices, customers get optimal security for their organization regardless of whether their users are mobile or at branch offices. Now, businesses can go beyond the traditional “allow or block” rules to enable more granular action controls to accommodate the emerging needs of their hybrid workforces.
Watch this session on-demand for more details and demos of Prisma Access 2.2.
#1: What has 4 Antennas, 5G, and Can Improve the Resilience of the Branch WAN? The ION 1200!
In this session, Rohan Grover, senior director of product management at Palo Alto Networks, shares what’s new in Prisma SD-WAN 5.6 and reveals the ION 1200, a new integrated 5G SD-WAN appliance from Palo Alto Networks.
With the ION 1200, organizations can accelerate their SASE deployment to branch offices by leveraging 5G connectivity without the hassle of installing additional 5G hardware in the branch. Organizations can use 5G as the primary WAN connectivity to enable the rapid deployment of ATMs/kiosk systems or as a secondary backup link to improve the resilience of the branch WAN.
Watch the full session, “The Future’s Looking SASE with Prisma SD-WAN 5.6” to see the big reveal and learn all the details on Prisma SASE 5.6 and the ION 1200 with integrated 5G.
Watch SASE Converge 2021 On-Demand
SASE Converge 2021 may be over, but the on-demand sessions are available to watch at your convenience. Also, the Gartner session from Day 1 on “Why SASE is Now a Strategic Imperative and How to Get Started Today” is only available for on-demand replay for a limited time. Be sure to watch it today before it’s gone!