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  • What are the benefits of ZTNA & SD-WAN:

    By Kirsten Savage on July 12, 2022

      What are the benefits of ZTNA & SD-WAN: According to our partners Fortinet, Using SD-WAN to improve WAN efficiency does not have to compromise security. The business outcomes deliver several key benefits including: Better application experience Instant ROI benefits Automation for a simple connectivity Consistent security at all edges FortinetSecure SD-WAN solution protects an...

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      What are the benefits of ZTNA & SD-WAN:

      According to our partners Fortinet, Using SD-WAN to improve WAN efficiency does not have to compromise security. The business outcomes deliver several key benefits including:

      • Better application experience
      • Instant ROI benefits
      • Automation for a simple connectivity
      • Consistent security at all edges

      FortinetSecure SD-WAN solution protects an organization’s critical data and applications from a full range of threats, including intrusion prevention, web filtering, and more. IT teams can manage their networks easier than ever but with improved connectivity, increased cost savings, and greater security1

      The right SD‑WAN solution is critical to get the benefits of digital acceleration without putting security or app performance at risk, or affecting end-user productivity. SD-WAN can address:

      • Security
      • Application performance
      • Cloud on-ramp
      • Operations

      The best strategies for address a complex network environment are consolidation and integration. An SD-WAN can be part of a next-generation firewall (NGFW). Deploying a common next-generation firewall (NGFW) platform as the backbone of a unified security strategy enables end-to-end visibility, ease of management and control, and consistent enforcement across the network

      Organizations still use a traditional architecture to bond offices to the data centre for application access. However, with the implementation of Hybrid working and applications scattered across multi-cloud/SaaS, this legacy network design is an obstacle for digital acceleration and creates user experience challenges. Organizations that want to have better user productivity and secure network edges need to invest in a modern network architecture.

       

      How SD-WAN with built-in ZTNA works

      A remote employee opens a cloud-based application from their device. A ZTNA client installed on that device automatically creates a secure connection to an SD-WAN device with an integrated ZTNA access proxy. The SD-WAN solution then creates a secure and optimized connection to the requested application. It provides continuous monitoring to ensure application performance and identify malicious content or unusual user or device behavior. And all of this happens automatically and seamlessly. The user does not have to initiate anything.

      This process uses every element of this third generation of SD-WAN to ensures three things. First, it uses ZTNA to ensure that users can only access those applications to which they are explicitly entitled. Second, ZTNA and the built-in security work together to ensure that every connection is secured end-to-end. And third, SD-WAN constantly monitors connections to ensure that they are being optimized, so the user has the best possible user experience.

      This integrated approach enables organizations to provide consistent quality of experience for users even as they move from one work environment to the next. And because it extends WAN connectivity and security to every remote worker, it increases an organization’s security posture effectiveness. And perhaps just as importantly, it allows organizations to eliminate device sprawl by integrating an entire portfolio of enterprise-grade security, advanced routing, optimized connectivity, and application acceleration tools into a single platform. And when those elements all run on the same operating system, it has the added advantage of providing single-plane-of-glass insight into the entire system, end-to-end. Organizations can create, distribute, orchestrate, and enforce one policy consistently across all edges, including off- and on-network users, to protect the entire digital attack surface.

      Security is Essential

      As organizations continue to adapt their networks to meet new needs, office space may not be essential anymore, but security is. It needs to follow data and applications from end-to-end, regardless of how rapidly the underlying network changes or adapts. Doing so is critical to enable flexible, anywhere, anytime, secure remote access.

      Because networks are so dynamic and resources have to be protected along the entire data path, security and networking need to function as a unified system. Security and the associated visibility and control required can’t be extended unless you can simplify management and centralize orchestration. But when you have several dozen different security solutions from different vendors deployed in different parts of your network, visibility and control is almost impossible.

      Today, organizations need a suite of advanced security and networking functions that extend to every user, device, or application with centralized orchestration and threat intelligence collection and correlation to enable coordinated responses to malicious attacks across the entire distributed network.

       

      We at Ward solutions understand the difficulties in employing an organic model that allows for scalability. Your SOC and NOC team are more than likely at maximum capacity when it comes to dealing with ransomware attacks. Our experts provide a 24 x7 model with OPEX opportunities that allow teams within the organisation feel relaxed knowing our team is there to help.

      Ward Solutions is a full service, full security lifecycle provider. If you don’t have the right manpower, tools and expertise then consider partnering with a Security consultancy and managed cloud security service provider with the knowledge and skills to help supply or augment your CISO, Security engineering and security operations resources. Talk to us today to see how we can help.

      “Fortinet Cloud Security empowers organizations to achieve digital acceleration by securing every application journey on any cloud. Delivering consistent policies and centralized management and visibility, along with security automation across all clouds and hybrid clouds, organizations can securely build, deploy, and run applications while reducing deployment complexity and increasing effective security and response. With tight integrations across cloud platforms, flexible consumption models, and wide range deployment choices across hardware and virtual appliances, and SaaS, Fortinet Cloud Security supports all cloud use cases, no matter where the customer is in their application journey and how those journeys evolve. 2022 Fortinet. All Rights Reserved.”

       

      1: https://www.hcltech.com/blogs/realigning-network-and-security-cloud-migration-making-business-case-cloud-mindset

      2: Fortinet

       

       

       

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