Windstream Enterprise has deployed a single-vendor secure access service edge (SASE) and security service edge (SSE) technology with the goal of protecting data, resources and employees of U.S.-based companies wherever they operate around the globe.
Cato Networks is providing the cloud-native platform, which consists of the vendor’s dedicated private backbone and more than 80 points of presence (POPs).
Windstream Enterprise customers will manage the SASE/SSE infrastructure through the WE Connect portal, which enables monitoring, configuration, analysis and automation of 10 elements of the network.
These elements are the software-defined wide area network; firewall as a service; secure web gateway; zero trust network access; cloud access security broker; data loss prevention; next-gen anti-malware; intrusion prevention system; managed detection and response; and remote browser interface.
“The complexity of varying rules and regulations that apply from country to country, like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other local laws, are diminished since our SASE and SSE solutions provide universal security that works across borders,” Windstream Enterprise Chief Revenue Officer Mike Flannery said in a press release. “This gives customers a unified network security framework to drive operational efficiencies by removing multiple threat entry points and streamlining management and performance across the same network.”
Windstream Enterprise is the first North American-based managed service provider to offer the service, the company said.
SASE and SSE are becoming more popular as organizations grapple with security challenges created by far more decentralized SD-WAN topologies.
In March, the Dell’Oro Group said that it expected sales of SASE-related networking and security components to exceed $60 billion between last year and 2027. The unified approach — which fits the description of what Windstream Enterprise is deploying from Cato Networks — is expected to grow more quickly than the disaggregated approach in which the elements of the platform are less integrated.
