Comcast Business is leveraging Fortinet’s cybersecurity expertise to provide enhanced secure access service edge (SASE) products for enterprises, the companies announced this week.
Clients will be able to choose from Comcast Business’ SASE or security service edge (SSE) solutions, both of which will be delivered through Comcast’s Business Secure Gateway devices. These gateways, hosted across numerous U.S. cities at Equinix data centers, tout multi-gig connectivity of up to 10 Gbps.
Comcast’s SASE and SSE portfolio includes features such as Firewall as a Service (FWaaS), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) and more. The newly formed partnership lets enterprises take advantage of Equinix’s cloud connection services coupled with Fortinet’s network security technology.
“By expanding our relationship with Fortinet, we are offering our clients more choice and the flexibility to choose a solution that works for them – while providing some of the latest security solutions to help keep them ready for the day – today and tomorrow,” stated Amit Verma, CTO of enterprise solutions at Comcast Business.
SASE adoption for enterprises is on the rise, as companies place more importance on secure software for their employees. A recent survey from Comcast’s Masergy and Fortinet found nearly all respondents (98%) – out of 200 IT enterprise leaders – said they think the convergence of security and networking functions is either “critical” or “very important.”
SASE revenue nearly topped $1.5 billion in Q1 2022, per a June Dell’Oro report. That figure included $800 million from SSE offerings.
Mauricio Sanchez, Dell’Oro’s research director for Network Security, SASE and SD-WAN, previously told Fierce Telecom Secure Web Gateway (SWG) accounted for the largest portion of SSE revenue, with FWaaS and ZTNA also sporting sizable breakout figures.
The SASE market is showing no signs of slowing down. Revenue is expected to surpass $13 billion by 2026, according to Dell’Oro’s newly published five-year forecast. Moreover, the firm predicts revenue for SSE – namely SWG and Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) software – to double that of software-defined networking (SD-WAN).
Though SASE and SSE sound similar, SSE places emphasis on security capabilities while SASE is geared more toward network connectivity and infrastructure. So, vendors are looking for ways to expand their managed enterprise offerings.
Juniper Networks, for instance, recently integrated CASB and DLP capabilities to its SSE portfolio. These enhancements allow businesses to manage all their security services in one place, leveraging both Juniper’s cloud and on-premises infrastructure.