What is Secure Access Service Edge SASE?
Secure Access Service Edge SASE Definition: Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud-delivered architecture that converges networking and security functions into a unified service, providing identity-based secure access for users, devices, and applications regardless of location, while eliminating the complexity of managing multiple point solutions and delivering consistent protection across distributed environments.
Understanding Secure Access Service Edge SASE
Secure Access Service Edge, or SASE (pronounced "sassy"), represents a fundamental shift in how network security is delivered and consumed in our increasingly distributed digital world. Unlike traditional models where security lives in data centers, SASE flips the script by bringing security directly to where users, devices, and applications exist—at the edge of the network.
Think of SASE as the networking equivalent of what happened when we moved from buying boxed software to subscribing to cloud services. It's a shift from managing physical appliances toward consuming integrated security and networking as a seamless cloud service that follows users everywhere.
At its core, SASE combines wide-area networking capabilities (SD-WAN) with cloud-native security functions—like secure web gateways, cloud access security brokers, firewalls-as-a-service, and zero-trust network access—into a unified, cloud-delivered platform that supports branch office, remote worker and on-premises secure access use case.