SASE vs SD-WAN: How to Choose the Right Solution for Your Business

There’s no question that modern business IT is cloud-based if not cloud-native. However, if a business has been around for longer than ten years, then it’s highly likely that business uses legacy network architectures that use protocols such as MPLS. These legacy networks are just not designed to handle the dynamic and distributed nature of cloud workloads. They also introduce high costs, complexity, and latency that can affect the user experience and productivity.

What is SD-WAN?

To address these challenges, many businesses have turned to software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solutions, which offer greater flexibility, visibility, and performance for cloud-based traffic. Businesses adopt SD-WAN solutions cite its centralized network management with detailed usage analytics and the ability to dynamically route traffic over multiple transport links, such as broadband, 5G, and even MPLS, that can be dynamically tuned to the organization’s application requirements and network conditions. This inherent intelligence to path selection in SD-WAN also empowers IT administrators to reduce network outages by configuring multiple network links for redundancy and failover.

SD-WAN Advantages and Disadvantages

However, SD-WAN solutions alone are not enough to ensure the security and compliance of cloud-based traffic. While some SD-WAN solutions include built-in firewalls and VPNs, these are not enough to effectively protect data and users from cyber threats. Sometimes, a CIO is forced to deploy separate security-related appliances or software agents alongside SD-WAN, which adds complexity, cost, and points of failure to the network. Moreover, these security services may not be able to keep up with the evolving threat landscape and the increasing demand for bandwidth and scalability.

What is SASE?

Many recognized the security gaps with SD-WAN, and in 2019, Gartner proposed the secure access service edge (SASE) network architecture to fill those gaps. SASE is a network architecture that combines SD-WAN with four additional cloud-native security services:

1. Cloud access security broker (CASB): A service that enforces security policies for cloud applications and data, such as encryption, data loss prevention, and malware protection.
2. Zero trust network access (ZTNA): A service that provides secure and granular access to internal applications and resources that reduces the attack surface based on the identity and context of both the user and device.
3. Secure web gateway (SWG): A service that filters and blocks malicious web traffic and enforces web usage policies, such as URL filtering, SSL inspection, and content analysis.
4. Firewall as a service (FWaaS): A service that provides firewall capabilities in the cloud, such as stateful packet inspection, intrusion prevention, and application control.

The convergence of these multiple cloud-based security components with SD-WAN resulted in SASE, a single, integrated solution. SASE delivers both network and security functions from the cloud so they can be accessed by any device, anywhere, and anytime. SASE enables company security policies to follow a user even outside of the office. Because it feels like everyone is talking about artificial intelligence (AI) now, most companies providing SASE solutions tout the integration of AI (or machine learning) that dynamically adapts network traffic flows based on cybersecurity threats, user needs, etc.

Let’s compare SASE and SD-WAN while highlighting the key business and technical decision points that CIOs should use when choosing one over the other.

SASE vs SD-WAN: Key Decision Points

When evaluating SASE and SD-WAN solutions, CIOs should consider the following factors:

• Security – How well must your proposed solution protect both data and users from cyber threats, such as malware, ransomware, phishing, denial-of-service (DoS), and data breaches? How does the solution comply with the regulatory and industry standards applicable to your organization’s operations, such as GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, etc.? How does the solution handle encryption, authentication, authorization, and auditing of the network traffic? Are security controls important for remote user traffic?
• Performance – How well does the solution optimize the network performance for cloud-based applications and services your employees use daily? This applies to not just software as a service (SaaS) apps such as Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Zoom, but also the custom apps and data you have hosted in infrastructure as a service (IaaS) such as AWS and Microsoft Azure. Depending on a variety of cloud-based factors, which option can be configured to reduce latency, jitter, packet loss, and network congestion to provide your employees with the best user experience?
• Cost – How much does the solution cost in terms of capital expenditure (CAPEX) and operational expenditure (OPEX) for your organization? This is a major consideration if your current network uses multiple vendors’ hardware and software. So, the end goal of any SD-WAN or SASE solution should be to reduce your CAPEX (physical hardware) and OPEX (software licenses and maintenance) costs of your network infrastructure. Also, be sure to ask how does the solution enable the efficient use of the network bandwidth and resources?
• Complexity – How easy is it to deploy, manage, and troubleshoot the solution? Nobody wants to add complexity to their IT stack, so whichever option you choose should simplify your organization’s network architecture—with a best case scenario of eliminating multiple existing network and security appliances and agents. The solution should also provide a unified and consistent user experience across different devices, locations, and networks.
• Flexibility – How well does the solution adapt to the changing business and user needs, such as new applications, services, devices, and locations? A good example of this is supporting hybrid and multi-cloud environments, as well as devices at the network edge and an increasing number of IoT and other cloud-native devices used by businesses.

SASE vs SD-WAN Technology Comparison

Three of the top technology providers that offer both SD-WAN and SASE solutions are Barracuda, Cisco, and Fortinet. Here is a high-level comparison of all three provider’s various SD-WAN and SASE features:

Vendor	SD-WAN Features	SASE Features
Cisco	Cisco offers two separate SD-WAN options: Catalyst for enterprise users and Meraki for everyone else. Both options feature application-aware routing, quality of service, WAN optimization, and network analytics, all designed to enhance your network’s performance and reliability.	Cisco SASE is built on their enterprise Catalyst platform. All four standard SASE security features are delivered using the cloud-native Cisco Umbrella platform along with a robust set of network traffic and security analytics.
Fortinet	Fortinet Secure SD-WAN uses Fortinet’s FortiGate next-generation hardware firewalls and FortiManager software to provide secure and efficient connectivity to cloud applications and services. It offers features such as application-aware routing, quality of service, WAN optimization, and network analytics.	FortiSASE is a SASE solution that integrates Fortinet Secure SD-WAN with Fortinet’s cloud-native CASB, FWaaS, ZTNA, and SWG along with deep per-user analytics.
Barracuda	Barracuda Secure SD-WAN is a cloud-native solution built on Microsoft Azure’s global network for delivering fast and secure access to cloud applications and services. This unique setup was jointly developed by Barracuda and Microsoft.	Barracuda SecureEdge is a SASE solution that integrates a cloud-native firewall, zero-trust network access, and a secure web gateway into their Secure SD-WAN but does not include a native cloud access security broker.

Blue Mantis deploys custom-built SD-WAN and SASE solutions

SASE and SD-WAN are two network architectures that aim to improve the security and performance of network traffic. However, SASE offers a more comprehensive and integrated solution that delivers both network and security functions as a cloud service, while SD-WAN requires additional security services that may increase the cost and complexity of the network. Therefore, CIOs should consider the security, performance, cost, complexity, and flexibility of the solutions when choosing between SASE and SD-WAN. If securing remote user traffic or extending corporate security policies to remote users are a priority, SASE is the clear choice.

At Blue Mantis, we have the expertise and experience to help you select and implement the best SASE or SD-WAN solution for your business. Connect with us today to find out how we can help you achieve your network goals.