Direct internet access and applications in the cloud have allowed SME’s to manage costs and be agile and responsive. But they have also brought about security challenges, which, with limited IT resources are difficult to keep on top of.
The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to provision remote workers quickly, but it has also brought into sharp focus the risks associated with unmanaged devices and vulnerability of company data to zero-day exploits and phishing attacks.
If you have branch offices, external sites or retail outlets, how do you, as a small team maintain control and visibility of these sites, their security and performance?
These are among the issues that can be addressed by combining network and security-as-a-service through a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), which provides easy management of both networking and security for today’s cloud-based infrastructure.
Our Introduction to SASE article covered the reasons for the widespread move to SASE that we are beginning to see. SMEs, in particular, should consider SASE to help with:
and, last, but certainly not least for time-constrained IT teams:
Thoughts of designing a new networking and security infrastructure can seem daunting but implementing SASE can be managed if you look at it as a phased approach, starting with existing challenges that you need to address. Don’t do it all at once, for example:
With home and mobile working continuing to be on the cards in the future, this is one area which stands out as a starting point for many SMEs.
In practical terms, in addition to all the benefits we have covered in our article series, it is worth considering how SASE enables companies to solve basic important issues with remote working –
An SME can get access to enterprise-class security and networking solutions through SASE and deploy them in a staged approach.
You can deploy services faster and more cost-effectively and have a framework on which to expand with additional security services in the future.
To find out more about how SASE can help, take a look at our other articles in this series. And, if you need some help, why not contact our experts in networking and security for just an hour’s whiteboarding session, to understand your requirements and determine your next steps.
Have a question? Ask our technical specialists