The digital era is characterized by two major trends: a surge in Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and various enterprises’ widespread adoption of cloud services. Fundamentally, these trends demand a fundamental shift in how organizations approach security.
A recent study published in the Wall Street Journal revealed a 13% increase in the global average cost of data breaches since 2020. In 2022, it reached a hefty average of $4.35 million. This highlights the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, which have doubled in recent years, constantly testing an organization’s defenses.
These factors contribute to the following challenges faced by organizations in the digital era:
To navigate this complexity, organizations need a comprehensive security solution. This solution should provide three key functionalities: secure and reliable user access, robust cloud application protection, and agile security management. Unified SASE stands out as an answer to these challenges, as it offers a cloud-based, integrated security framework that adapts to the changing needs of businesses.
Unified SASE offers a more streamlined solution by combining SD-WAN with comprehensive network security functions like secure web gateways (SWG), cloud access security brokers (CASB), firewalls as a service (FWaaS), and zero trust network access (ZTNA). This integrated approach is designed to meet the evolving security needs of today’s digital businesses, especially those with hybrid workforces and cloud-based applications.
Think of it this way: Instead of a bulky security setup at each branch office, SASE provides a thin WAN edge with the full suite of security features delivered as a convenient cloud service. This approach unlocks a multitude of benefits to enhance your organization’s operations, such as:
HPE Aruba Networking understands the challenges businesses face in today’s digital world. To address these concerns, they have partnered with leading cloud security providers to offer a comprehensive SASE solution. This solution seamlessly combines HPE Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN technology with their cloud-based SSE platform. By embracing a zero-trust approach, HPE Aruba Networking empowers organizations to secure users and applications everywhere. This unified and powerful solution allows businesses to confidently pursue digital transformation with a robust and secure access strategy.
HPE offers a unified approach to SASE built on three key components:
This cloud-based platform provides robust and unified network security through zero-trust access. This minimizes potential attack points and shields your network from modern threats. Administrators benefit from enhanced control and visibility into your IT infrastructure, allowing them to prevent data leaks and unauthorized software usage.
Furthermore, intelligent global routing and centralized management ensure a smooth user experience when accessing applications and data. This translates to increased productivity and effortless scalability to keep pace with your growing business.
The EdgeConnect SD-WAN platform is designed for cloud-first enterprises, providing a secure foundation for zero trust and SASE. It combines a first-class SD-WAN with a next-generation firewall, ensuring both advanced security and an unmatched quality of experience. Whether your applications reside in the cloud or on-premises, EdgeConnect delivers reliable connectivity and protection.
Its key features include:
EdgeConnect SD-WAN Platform combines robust security, performance optimization, and cloud integration to empower modern enterprises.
HPE Aruba Networking offers sophisticated AI-powered client identification and profiling through Client Insights, a feature built directly into HPE Aruba Networking Central. This eliminates the need for additional physical collectors or VM-based agents typically required by competitor solutions.
Client Insights delivers highly accurate AI/ML profiling, reaching around 99% accuracy. This enhanced visibility empowers customers to experience immediate IT efficiency gains. Automated policy enforcement based on these insights further streamlines network management. Additionally, Client Insights’ always-on AI/ML behavioral monitoring provides superior protection against security breaches.
Client Insights within HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor and ClearPass offer a cost-effective and user-friendly solution for comprehensive network visibility, automated policy enforcement, and enhanced security through AI-powered client identification and profiling.
Additionally, HPE Aruba Networking Central offers the following components as well for organizations:
As HPE Aruba Networking’s built-in cloud-based NAC solution within HPE Aruba Networking Central, Cloud Auth assigns roles to users and devices for secure network access. This ensures only authorized users and devices can connect, with clearly defined access privileges. Cloud Auth integrates with common identity stores (like Google Workspace and Azure AD) for seamless user and device identification and authentication. It also simplifies management with time-saving workflows for policy configuration and user onboarding with Multi Pre-Shared Keys (MPSK).
HPE Aruba Networking Central NetConductor automates tasks like configuration and policy enforcement across geographically dispersed networks, simplifying management of wired, wireless, and WAN infrastructure. This streamlines setup, optimizes performance, and enforces granular access controls – the foundation of secure network architectures.
The digital landscape has fostered exponential business growth through widespread cloud adoption. While moving to the cloud creates new security challenges, SASE offers a comprehensive solution to consolidating critical network and security functionalities into a single, cloud-based platform. This streamlined approach simplifies security management while ensuring reliable data protection across all locations within your organization.
WEI’s cloud security specialists can guide you through securing your cloud environment. We combine our expertise with personalized security assessments and custom-built SASE solutions, featuring advanced technologies like HPE Aruba Networking. This empowers your business to confidently navigate your digital transformation while protecting your critical assets. Contact us today to get started.
Next steps: The acceleration of migrating applications to the cloud in addition to leveraging cheaper and flexible internet alternatives such as 5G/LTE connections drove the need for SD-WAN technology. Greater visibility and better security tools are needed to ensure the zero-trust network environment that companies desire. Additionally, hybrid networks have evolved far beyond the basic composition of a public cloud and on-prem environment. Today’s SD-WAN solutions must accommodate multiple clouds in a dynamic fashion.
WEI’s free tech brief identifies the three main components of Aruba Network's powerful EdgeConnect Enterprise platform:
Click here to access your free copy of the tech brief, SD-WAN: 3 Components To Efficiently Connect Users To Applications.