A secure access service edge (SASE) forecast from Dell’Oro Group calls for sales of networking and security components to exceed more than $60 billion between 2022 and 2027. But some offerings will be more successful than others, the researchers said.
SASE has been an area of great interest to service providers in recent years. The term refers to offerings that combine security with software-defined networking.
Dell’Oro Group has identified two different approaches to SASE, including unified and disaggregated. According to the researchers, unified SASE is a superior approach and will grow more quickly.
The firm defines unified SASE as “networking and security services integrated in a single, tightly integrated product platform with all SASE components coming from the same vendor.” According to Dell’Oro Group, this approach is superior to more loosely connected platforms because it involves “less operational burden, no inter-vendor disputes, tighter integration between components, and clearer service level agreements.”
Unified SASE will grow three times faster than disaggregated SASE between last year and 2027, the researchers said. The five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) will be 36% for unified SASE and 12% for disaggregated SASE.
The firm also looked at scenarios in which one vendor provides software-defined wide-area networks (SD-WAN) and security service edge (SSE) and those in which multiple vendors are involved. For 2022, single vendor unified SASE revenue outpaced multi-vendor SASE 41% to 29%.
SASE market growth was fueled in large part by the move to the cloud and the dispersion of work forces due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Last year the category grew 34%, according to Dell’Oro Group.
Dell’Oro Group’s “SASE and SD-WAN Quarterly Report” found that Versa Networks is the unified SASE market share leader for the second consecutive year.
“SASE is a service-centric, cloud-based technology solution that provides network connectivity and enforces security between users, devices, and applications,” Dell’Oro Group Director Mauricio Sanchez said in a press release about the SASE forecast. “A growing number of enterprises are embracing a Unified SASE approach which delivers these capabilities as a unified, tightly integrated service that increases network scalability, agility, and security.”
