VMware Debuts Cloud Web Security on SASE Platform

VMware on Thursday rolled out its new Cloud Web Security delivered from its secure access service edge (SASE) platform.

VMware says the cloud-hosted service better protects users and infrastructure accessing SaaS and internet applications. It extends the advantages of VMware SD-WAN and VMware Secure Access to connect users working from anywhere to applications in the cloud with security enforcement from the user to the application.

VMware SASE combines SD-WAN with cloud-delivered security. It aims to deliver flexibility, agility and protection to enterprises of all sizes.

‘Massive Opportunity’ for VMware Partners

Sanjay Uppal is VMware’s senior vice president and general manager of service provider and edge.

VMware’s Sanjay Uppal

“Recent increases in the hybrid work from home/work from anywhere trends have caused enterprises to face a pressing need to extend consistent networking and security access everywhere, not just at the corporate campus,” he said. “Applications are being modernized and moved to the cloud. VMware channel partners have also had to evolve to keep up with these changes and help customers with the transition. They play a critical role in making digital transformation work for customers.”

These trends are creating a “massive opportunity” for partners, Uppal said. They can provide solutions and access to applications and services in or out of the office.

“Additionally, in the next several years, we expect to see exciting advancement around innovations such as mass-scale IoT connectivity, autonomous vehicles, telehealth and many others,” he said. “There’s a common theme here. All these disruptions converge at the enterprise edge. They will all require a digital foundation with modern network infrastructure to be successful.”

Partners can meet these new business needs of their customers, Uppal said. That creates a “huge opportunity” for them.

VMware will be able to add things like native edge services, edge developer services, vertical market applications and any number of services developed from the edge platform.

VMware SASE ‘Highly Differentiated’

“[Our] SASE is a highly differentiated platform in a crowded space that offers new opportunities today with the ability to grow service offerings in the future,” Uppal said.

With VMware SASE, partners can benefit from recurring revenue and upsell opportunities to SASE, he said. They also get fast time-to-market for new services.

Mike Frane is Windstream Enterprise‘s vice president of product development.

“The VMWare Cloud Web Security solution delivered through the VMware SASE platform is a critical part of Windstream Enterprise’s … SD-WAN offering because of its ability to easily scale to support additional services in the future,” he said.