We are excited to announce that VMware is placed as a Strong Performer in the new report The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust Edge Solutions, Q3 2023. The report identifies the “most significant” providers of Zero Trust Edge solutions, assessing their market positions and strengths.
VMware SASE™ scored a 5 on a scale from zero to five in the criteria of monitoring, visibility and observability, additional security capabilities, automation, network reach and function, reporting and diagnostics, and third-party device integrations.
Under the category of strategy, VMware scored a 5 in the roadmap, partner ecosystem, and supporting services and offerings criteria.
“Zero Trust edge (ZTE) architecture merges and delivers networking and security functions as a service. ZTE is disruptive and high stakes, as it centralizes multiple networking and security capabilities into a single solution delivered as a service with a single interface and data lake. With one vendor delivering all of this capability, selecting a ZTE solutions provider is a high-risk, high-reward decision.”
The Forrester Wave™: Zero Trust Edge Solutions, Q3 2023
VMware SASE portfolio for single- or dual-vendor security
Organizations are moving towards decentralized networks, greater capabilities at the edge, and cloud-first strategies. The combination of SASE and zero trust offers a forward-thinking approach to security that is robust and adapts to evolving threats.
As recognized by Forrester, at VMware we offer a complete SASE stack solution that is widely recognized for its capability to provide cloud-delivered networking and integrated AIOps. This end-to-end solution, born in the cloud, ensures your organization enjoys not just an advanced networking structure but also an unsurpassed level of security by adhering to the principles of zero trust.
We recognize that different organizations have distinct security requirements and will migrate to a single-vendor SASE architecture in phases. VMware also allows customers to choose their security implementation. Organizations can opt to use VMware SD-WAN™ for networking applications and rely on VMware’s Security Service Edge (SSE) partners for security enforcement.
This is made possible by VMware’s strategic partnerships with leading cloud security providers. The dual-vendor methodology strengthens the security structure, offering sustainable, uncompromised security. Customers benefit from a sustained and rich user experience, providing enhanced productivity and user satisfaction.
The dual-vendor solution removes the complexities of deployment and ongoing operations and provides an easy route to enable the digital transformation of your organization. With the combination of VMware SD-WAN and SSE solutions, you get the choice and flexibility needed to transform your infrastructure and accelerate SASE adoption.
VMware SASE components
VMware SASE is a portfolio of solutions delivered by VMware and its partners from more than 200 VMware Edge PoPs worldwide. Its solutions have the highest security credentials, including SOC2 Type 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001, 27017, and 27018 certifications, PCI DSS, and FedRAMP High Authorization.
VMware SD-WAN and VMware SASE are critical components of the software-defined edge—a distributed digital infrastructure for running workloads across dispersed locations, placed close to endpoints producing or consuming data. When both applications and enterprise employees can be located anywhere, solutions for the traditional WAN become obsolete. VMware has the expertise to define security and networking in software, with strong zero-trust capabilities. Freed from hardware constraints, enterprises can gain the agility they need to compete.
VMware SASE solutions include:
VMware SD-WAN, the connectivity solution for the software-defined edge, has the number one SD-WAN market share. Its security features include VMware SD-WAN Enhanced Firewall Service, which combines the power of VMware NSX Advanced Threat Protection with VMware SD-WAN Edge platforms. Customers will be able to confidently eliminate legacy firewalls at the branch without sacrificing security and benefiting from simplified network and security operations, all while taking advantage of VMware Contexa threat intelligence.
VMware SD-Access™ is a simple yet secure remote access solution that empowers you to connect to your corporate applications or resources from virtually anywhere. It uses end-to-end encryption, ensuring that your data remains secure while in transit. This encryption and decryption process stays within VMware SD-Access or its connector, adding an extra layer of protection. The solution also embraces zero-trust principles for contextual access, allowing application access based on user identity, location, time of day, and end device posture.
Providing visibility and control into SaaS applications, VMware Cloud Web Security™ protects users and infrastructure against internal and external threats while accessing web applications. It detects and responds to threats in support of SaaS or web applications automatically, and recommends solutions to rapidly solve problems.
VMware Secure Access™ is a remote access solution based on a zero-trust network access (ZTNA) framework. The cloud-hosted solution offers multiple benefits over traditional VPN solutions, enabling consistent, optimal and secure cloud application access. It gathers extensive information on security posture based on identity, device, application, and user to continuously evaluate access decisions. VMware Secure Access offers easy integration with VMware Workspace ONE, a unified endpoint management solution, to enable customers to implement a comprehensive zero trust strategy.
VMware Edge Network Intelligence™ is the AIOps engine for the SASE portfolio. It uses machine learning to automatically detect end-user devices and baseline user experience, monitor for deviation, alert and assist operations, and to proactively remediate and self-heal the network. VMware Edge Network Intelligence gathers data related to user experience from different vantage points like wireless LAN, wired LAN, SD-WAN, network services, and applications to provide deeper and wider insights on user performance, isolate faults, and pinpoint issues.
With the emergence of decentralized networks, cloud-first strategies and rising threats, it is paramount that organizations find a way to secure their data and infrastructure. SASE increases scalability and adds a layer of zero trust security, providing organizations with the know-how to protect their data and infrastructure from various cyberattacks.
