AT&T teams with Cisco on new SASE offering

AT&T added some depth to its managed secure access service edge (SASE) portfolio, working with Cisco to provide a fresh option designed to meet the needs of multi-cloud and hybrid work environments.

The operator billed AT&T SASE with Cisco as a converged network and security management solution which offers centralized visibility and access control as well as the ability to optimize the network on a site-by-site basis. It is now available through AT&T Business.

“The shift to remote work has accelerated the need for SASE solutions so that users and devices are secure anywhere they work,” Shailaja Shankar, SVP and GM for Cisco’s Security Business Group, said in a statement. “The AT&T SASE with Cisco offer will provide customers with an innovative way to gain seamless, secure access to any application, from any location in a way that is straightforward to procure, easy to set up and simple to use and manage through a single cloud dashboard.”

RELATED: AT&T will use Fortinet for its managed SASE

AT&T launched its first SASE offering earlier this year, teaming with Fortinet on the rollout of a managed security service in March. However, the deal with Fortinet wasn’t exclusive.

In a statement addressing its partnership with Cisco, AT&T Cybersecurity VP Rupesh Chokshi said “it’s important to provide customers with a choice of managed SASE solutions to meet their unique needs.”

Futuriom Principal Analyst Scott Raynovich recently noted demand for integrated networking and cybersecurity technologies is on the rise, meaning that soon “a large part of the world will want SASE in the managed service portfolio.” He added the SASE market is “potentially huge” and identified Cisco as one of more than a dozen key players in the space.

In September, Dell’Oro Group predicted the SASE market will achieve double-digit billion-dollar revenue by 2025.