Fortinet & Masergy: The security-driven approach to SD-WAN

Digital transformation is the key initiative for distributed enterprises across different sectors from retail, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and many others. One of the primary transitions is more applications moving to the cloud, and one of the promises of SD-WAN is the ability to deliver an unparalleled application experience for users connecting to their critical business tools. While digital transformation is great for business growth, the traditional WAN architecture becomes an obstacle. It’s these WAN architecture challenges that are leading rapid SD-WAN adoption. In the 2019 Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge infrastructure, Gartner calls out this prediction:

Over the last few years, 60+ vendors have emerged to capture a slice of the fast-growing SD-WAN market, and this makes the vendor selection process even more difficult for IT leaders. We believe Gartner’s WAN Edge Magic Quadrant helps organizations make more informed decisions when selecting an SD-WAN solution that solves WAN architecture challenges while also enabling enterprise-grade routing and advanced security.

Of the 19 vendors reviewed in the 2019 Gartner WAN Edge Infrastructure Magic Quadrant, Gartner placed Fortinet highest in ability to execute within the Challenger’s quadrant.

Why is Fortinet’s market position important for the Masergy community?

Fortinet and Masergy are strategic partners, and together we have built a differentiated and fully managed SD-WAN offering, helping organizations truly transform the WAN edge with a security-driven approach that encompasses advanced technologies and end-to-end security services. Masergy is in a unique position to deliver security services and software-defined network services built on Fortinet’s secure SD-WAN solution. This way enterprises can benefit from global application performance, a centralized management console, logging, and 24/7 threat detection and response that helps simplify security operations.

Masergy selected Fortinet as a preferred SD-WAN partner due to our expertise in security and our mutual recognition and commitment to the fact that networking and security need to be inextricably tied. Both Masergy and Fortinet strongly believe in enabling all WAN-edge outcomes for customers, and our security-driven networking approach to tightly integrate best-of-breed SD-WAN and security is resonating well with IT leaders.

Innovation for a security-driven approach to SD-WAN

As networks continue to undergo rapid transformation, Fortinet is committed to solving emerging and often unarticulated needs of the enterprise with our strong commitment to lead through innovation. These are:

Best-of-Breed SD-WAN & Security: Fortinet is committed to driving a consistent security posture from the WAN edge to both data centers and multi-cloud environments by natively integrating security functions, including NGFW, IPS, anti-virus, anti-malware, web filtering, SSL inspection (including TLS 1.3), and sandboxing. Fortinet also provides an integrated CASB service to protect SaaS applications and traffic and to prevent problems related to Shadow IT. Our patented innovation of a purpose-built SD-WAN ASIC enables faster Application Steering, Multi-Path Intelligence, and WAN Path Remediation with forward error correction (FEC) to overcome adverse WAN conditions.

Simplified Operations: Zero-touch deployment, a key feature of Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, simplifies operations by enabling faster branch roll outs and reducing deployment from weeks to minutes. Its unified console for both network and security operations, with role-based access controls for the separation of duties is foundational for faster adoption and segmented usage across different functional teams.

Optimized Cloud Connectivity: Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN solution enhances the application experience through faster cloud on-ramp connectivity to multi-cloud environments and prioritizing business-critical applications. Fortinet’s Secure SD-WAN solution is available in hardware, virtual form factor, and is also available via all major public cloud marketplace offerings.

When IT leaders pair Fortinet Secure SD-WAN with Masergy’s Managed Security Services and software-defined network, they receive a security-driven approach to SD-WAN that is unique and unparalleled in the marketplace today.

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¹ Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure, Jonathan Forest, Mike Toussaint, Neil Rickard, 26 November 2019

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