Cato Networks today launched a framework for IT services partners that promises to make it simple to integrate its secure access service edge (SASE) service with third-party services.

Frank Rauch, global channel chief at Cato Networks, said many organizations already rely on a range of IT services providers for network connectivity. The Cato MSASE Partner Platform will make it simpler for IT service providers to integrate a multi-tenant SASE service into their portfolios in a way that makes it possible to centralize the management of networking and security services, he added.

In comparison, other providers of SASE platforms are trying to sell a service directly to organizations in a way that results in organizations having to engage two separate vendors for networking and security services, noted Rauch.

IT service providers could, of course, opt to resell a SASE service provided by another vendor. However, the Cato MSASE Partner Platform provides a means to use application programming interfaces (APIs) to integrate a third-party managed SASE service, said Rauch. That approach ultimately ensures higher margins for the IT services provider without unduly increasing total cost for customers, he added.

Making a Case for Managed SASE Service

For several years, Cato Networks has been making a case for managed SASE service based on more than 90 global points of presence (PoPs). It’s unclear how quickly organizations are transitioning to a managed SASE service in place of existing virtual private networks (VPNs) to provide secure remote access to applications. However, as organizations continue to unify the management of networking and security reliance on SASE platforms has increased.

Each organization will, naturally, need to decide for themselves to what degree to rely on a managed service that can be treated as an operational expense versus implementing a SASE platform themselves that would require capital investment. Historically, Cato Networks has provided organizations with the option of outsourcing the management of the SASE platform entirely or co-managing it alongside its engineers.

Ultimately, every minute security teams spend on operations is that much less time that might have been allocated to discovering and mitigating cybersecurity threats. As more responsibility for managing security operations is shifted to either an external or internal IT team, organizations should be able to provide understaffed cybersecurity teams with more time to remediate vulnerabilities. That’s especially critical at a time when threats are increasing in both volume and sophistication thanks to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). Even with more workers returning to the office, the percentage of workers remotely accessing sensitive applications has never been higher.

Hopefully, increased collaboration will even the cybersecurity odds that, today, are stacked against most organizations. Despite whatever friction exists between cybersecurity and IT operations teams, the most important thing for those teams to remember is that adversaries today have many more resources than almost every organization they are targeting. The only way to effectively combat those threats is to leverage the internal and external expertise as efficiently as possible.