How MSPs Can Facilitate Your SASE Rollout

Legacy network approaches and technologies no longer provide the levels of security and access control that digital organizations require. These orgs need immediate, uninterrupted access for their users—wherever they may be. With the rising number of remote users and software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, data moving from the data center to cloud services, and more traffic going to public cloud services and branch offices than back to the data center, the need for a new approach for network security rose.

SASE brings together wide area networking, or WAN, and network security services like CASB, FWaaS, Zero Trust, and Secure Web GW into a single, cloud-delivered service model that reduces network and security complexity, while increasing organizational agility. SASE consistently secures all apps used by your hybrid workforce, regardless of where they are.

The legacy approach is often difficult to scale, has gaps in security (caused by point products having different capabilities), and poor user experience. The SASE model offers benefits such as cost saving, flexibility, simplicity, increased performance and more. MSPs (Managed Service Providers) are likely to embrace this converged security model over a legacy approach.

Companies may need some help in making the switch to the converged SASE model for various reasons. This is where MSPs can help. If an organization lacks the in-house experience, time or scale to make the switch, they can rely on MSPs to do the heavy lifting for them. MSPs have the experience and can help the customer throughout the entire journey—from the initial drawing board to operation.

Choosing the right MSP might not be an easy task. MSPs generally offer different service models, usually meaning if you want the MSP to take full control or not (or every possible scenario in between).

Ask yourself the question if the network and security services provided by the MSP meets all of my required business needs?

Does the MSP have the required expertise? Doing a ROI exercise will clarify if it's worth the investment or if it makes no sense financially. How will SLA be measured? ? SLAs are crucial! They set correct expectations and clarify accountability. Does the MSP offer an integrated product solution or does it offer a patched up solution comprised of a variety of offerings? If the latter, this will typically add unnecessary complexity.

A managed service can speed up the roll-out of your SASE model solution while reducing the burden of your IT department, but it certainly is not a cut-and-dry choice for anyone. For additional information visit Palo Alto Networks Prisma SASE.

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