How can SASE overcome cloud migration challenges?
Migrating applications to the cloud requires scale and performance. Planning for migration raises common challenges around cost, risk, business continuity and having the skills to manage the increased complexity of cloud networking and security. If an organisation has limited visibility into their network and infrastructure it’s almost impossible to smoothly migrate workloads.
Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a term coined by Gartner in 2019. In August 2019, Gartner published a new research report titled ‘The Future of Network Security is in the Cloud’. In the report, Gartner outlined the ‘increased demand for a consolidation of networking and security-as-a-service capabilities into a cloud-delivered Secure Access Service Edge (SASE, pronounced “Sassy”). This new SASE offering was positioned as a ‘digital business enabler’ that will bring speed and agility to digital transformation projects. At a high level, SASE is a framework that consolidates a range of network and cloud security solutions in a unified platform.
SASE is perfectly positioned to overcome the cost, risk and security obstacles associated with migration projects. There are 5 key areas where it can help:
Security
Default cloud offerings may not be robust or comprehensive enough to protect your network traffic. The ‘perimeter’ is wider and more blurred than we often perceive it to be, and without a zero-trust or even semi-trusted network, the scope for exploitation is high. You need a complete picture of your ecosystem for effective cloud migration.
A SASE solution allows you to securely connect to multiple cloud providers and migrate workloads easily. You can be assured that you’re protected with ubiquitous security enforcement across your entire estate as you adopt cloud technology and migrate to the cloud to transform the business.
Cost and complexity
IDC recently released a survey report which stated that 80% of organisations will be speeding up migration to cloud-centric infrastructure. Many of those businesses will find using multiple technologies across multiple suppliers difficult to manage.
By utilising a single SASE solution which caters to all networking and security needs, you can reduce the number of vendor agreements which need to be managed and enable the consolidation of technology, bringing cost and complexity reduction benefits. SASE solutions provide a highly flexible platform to start small and scale your cloud adoption, migration and transformation plans. By having all of the options available when it comes to infrastructure and transformation, cost becomes something which can truly be managed.
Speed and skills
43% of organisations say that a lack of skills is a persistent barrier to migrating to the cloud. Projects can drain resources and can divert from other critical IT activities. The complexity of cloud migration can stop many organisations in their tracks. A fully managed SASE solution provides control and flexibility with IT teams freed to work on added value projects, knowing that their network foundation is fully secure and monitored.
As an agnostic, cloud-native solution, SASE allows multiple cloud connections to be deployed at a rapid pace. This also ensures better protection for your business against lock-in vendor contracts and escalating costs.
Risk and redundancy
Being able to use the best proposition for business needs, be that public cloud, private cloud or on-premise, from one or many vendors – or even a myriad of choices within all of these – using a SASE solution to manage networking and security, gives you the full choice of cloud migration, at a risk profile that suits your business.
When it comes to redundancy, the recommendation would be to have multiple ingress and egress traffic running through a unified, secure SASE platform to the cloud environment which the workload is being migrated to.
Business disruption
A SASE solution provides full visibility and understanding of your network architecture, sizing and latency before migrating workloads to the cloud and mitigates against the risk of unexpected or unplanned downtime.
A hybrid cloud strategy approach mitigates downtime risk and a secure SASE solution ensures that your users and customers receive uninterrupted services and continue to be happy during your migration and transformation deployments.
Take the first step – successfully
It goes without saying that before embarking on your journey to the cloud, clearly establish what you want to accomplish. Due to data sensitivity or performance issues, some workloads are better suited to private or hybrid cloud environments – make sure you fully understand your requirements before choosing the right solution. How you migrate to the cloud, be it in entirety or using a phased approach, will partially depend on the complexity and architecture of your applications and the sensitivity of your data.
With SASE, businesses can now select the technologies they require in a timescale and budget that meets requirements. As the needs of the business evolve and as new disruptive technologies emerge, there is no longer any reason to be locked-in or delay your transformation projects.
