Masergy Strengthens Its SD-WAN Secure Solution with Deeper SASE Capabilities

DALLAS — November 16, 2020 — Masergy, the software-defined network and cloud platform for the digital enterprise, announced that it is strengthening its SD-WAN Secure solution to offer Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) capabilities. Masergy is taking a best-of-breed approach to SASE, combining security technologies from leaders in their respective Gartner, Inc. Magic Quadrants to deliver a converged network and security solution.

The need for corporations to deliver a secure and agile IT environment continues to grow each year, and yet those benefits can only be realized if the network and security work in concert. SASE brings IT functions together into one cloud-based service from a single provider, giving businesses the cost and agility advantages of rapid deployment, minimized hardware management, simplified software upgrades, and on-demand control.

Masergy has integrated multiple market-leading security capabilities with its SD-WAN service to deliver a converged, high-performance network and security solution. With a wide portfolio of best-of-breed technologies from leaders in their respective markets, the company is bolstering interoperability across key components and expanding its global infrastructure to meet the needs of the enterprise.

SASE enhancements and differentiators include:

Cloud Firewalls Expanding to All Global POPs: Fortinet is recognized as a Leader in Gartner,Inc.’s November 2020 Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls¹ report. Fortinet’s FortiGate Next-Generation Firewalls integrate NGFW and SD-WAN capabilities on a single platform and are deployed in all of Masergy’s SD-network points of presence (POPs) as well as integrated into its SD-WAN and security policies. This not only allows for consistent security policies across all SD-WAN devices and security alert metrics all within one portal, but the expanded global infrastructure also enables fully managed firewall services across the globe.

Cloud firewalls have the distinct advantage of fast deployment and agility, but clients with larger offices may still prefer on-premise firewall appliances when performance, user experience, and total cost of ownership are key goals. For this reason, Masergy provides hybrid options with the ability to put firewalls in the cloud and at the network edge. While the SASE market is still rapidly evolving, this flexibility is unique and purposely designed to serve the enterprise.

CASB from Industry Leader Forcepoint: Deepening its partnership with Forcepoint—named a Leader in Gartner,Inc.’s October 2020 Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB)² report—Masergy has tightly integrated the Forcepoint CASB solution into its software-defined network and cloud platform.

Since most SaaS applications do not have integrated security controls, using a proven CASB technology that comprehensively secures all cloud applications is increasingly important in today’s work-from-anywhere business landscape. Masergy’s SASE approach is unique because it brings together best-of-breed technologies from leaders in their respective markets into a single service from one provider. CASB is embedded into the SD-network fabric, and the turnkey services are managed 24/7 by Masergy security analysts in global security operations centers strategically located in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Best-in-Class Secure Web Gateway from Fortinet: Giving clients the advantage of more SASE capabilities from trusted brands, Masergy has standardized its cloud platform around Fortinet’s best-in-class secure web gateway (SWG) solution. Fortinet is named a Leader in Gartner Inc.’s September 2020 Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure³ report. Fortinet firewalls protect network traffic at a packet level, and the FortiGate SWG protects IP traffic at an application level—both in the cloud and on-premise.

In addition to SWG, cloud-based application control and content filters include granular per-app and per-user visibility with Masergy’s Identity-Based WAN Analytics. And as a managed security services provider, Masergy also offers a full complement of cybersecurity solutions—from threat monitoring and endpoint detection and response, all the way up to full 24/7 management.

High-Performance SD-WAN Built on 20 Years of Experience: Centralized management features make SD-networks the standard operating system used to converge SASE technologies, and Masergy began pioneering SD-networking platforms 20 years ago. SASE services also depend on cloud infrastructure and performance, so it is only logical that network stability is crucial for success. With the industry’s most competitive service level agreements, Masergy’s network and cloud platform consistently deliver less than 1 millisecond of jitter.

Zero Trust Network Access: Masergy continues to build out Zero Trust Network Access capabilities with a near-term roadmap that includes single sign on (SSO), authentication, and authorization based on user, device, and location, which enforces highly granular access controls on a need-to-have basis.

Additionally, the company is integrating its AIOps solution so that it seamlessly interoperates across its SASE capabilities. Masergy AIOps acts as a virtual network engineer, automatically evaluating the network and making recommendations to optimize performance. Masergy aims to deliver AI-driven SASE solutions and autonomous networking.

“A recent IDG study found that 91% of companies are interested in SASE solutions, and Masergy began innovating on SASE concepts long before it became the buzz term it is today,” said Terry Traina, CTO, Masergy. “Security has always been intrinsic to our network service, and that is now helping us deliver on and exceed SASE’s core capabilities.”

“At this early stage in the market, each company is doing SASE differently, and the converged tech stack is a marque moment,” said Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst, ZK Research. “Right now, IT leaders are trying to make a judgement call on whether they can trust one SASE provider with their own homegrown technologies to span five disparate industries, giving them a world-class experience across all arenas. As an innovative pioneer, Masergy is compelling because it demonstrates how one cloud platform and one portal can converge a constellation of technologies from many big-name brands all in one service that minimizes daisy chains.”

1. Gartner Magic Quadrant for Network Firewalls by Rajpreet Kaur, Adam Hils, Jeremy D’Hoinne. November 9, 2020.
2. Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud Access Security Brokers by Craig Lawson, Steve Riley. October 28, 2020.
3. Gartner Magic Quadrant for WAN Edge Infrastructure by Jonathan Forest, Andrew Lerner, Naresh Singh. September 23, 2020.

Gartner Disclaimer
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Masergy

Recognized as a pioneer in software-defined networking, Masergy is a leading secure cloud networking platform for global enterprise businesses. Masergy leverages artificial intelligence to enable superior application performance, offering managed SD-WAN, Security, UCaaS, and CCaaS solutions. Masergy was acquired by Comcast Business in October 2021 – combining the power and scale of Comcast’s network with Masergy’s industry-leading SLAs and exceptional customer experience to redefine what’s possible for future-thinking businesses. Learn more and follow us on our Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

# # #

Media Contact

Matt Helmke, Corporate Communications
Comcast Corporation
215-286-8666
[email protected]