How To Choose the Right SASE Solutions for Your Business.

There are a lot of SASE architectures and security solutions out there, and you need to make some real-world tradeoffs between simplicity, flexibility, and control. Cybersecurity teams often juggle fragmented cloud and on-prem policies, overlapping network security tools, and complex remote access rules for a distributed workforce. At the same time, they’re under pressure to quickly eliminate gaps in visibility and control. The right architecture can streamline access control, cut risk, and optimize your infrastructure and network performance while maintaining a consistent user experience.

Some SASE platforms include an all-in-one stack of networking and security tools, while others allow you to pick and choose from your existing toolkit or new solutions. There is no “one size fits all” SASE architecture. The best choice depends on a number of factors, such as how much control is needed, current vendor relationships, and, most importantly, the specific gaps the SASE architecture must address, including policy enforcement, latency, and compliance across cloud-based and on-prem systems. This guide will help you understand your options, explore relevant use cases, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of leading vendors, and explain how the Tufin Orchestration Suite can help you unify policy management across fragmented environments.

Types of SASE solutions and how they work

SASE configurations can be broken down into three types: single-vendor, dual-vendor, and SSE-only. With the first option, a SASE platform will consolidate a wide range of SASE services, including SD-WAN, firewall as a service (FWaaS), next-generation firewall (NGFW), secure web gateway (SWG), zero trust network access (ZTNA), cloud-access security broker (CASB), and DNS security, under one service provider.

It’s a cleaner approach for teams that want fewer integrations to manage. But if you’ve already deployed a specific SD-WAN or firewall and don’t want to start over, a dual-vendor setup gives you the flexibility to keep what’s working while layering in additional security capabilities.

Then there’s SSE-only. Zscaler is the most well-known example of this SASE model, which eschews networking in favor of security functions such as access control, data loss prevention (DLP), and cloud-delivered threat protection.

Choosing between them depends on your existing environment and goals, as well as the need for high-performance networking and security. When it comes to enabling teams to support remote access for end users without compromising on speed or opening policy gaps, for instance, architecture matters. Software-defined wide area networking, secure web gateways, strong authentication, and cloud access security brokers all play a part.

If you’re comparing the best SASE providers with SD-WAN and security coverage, it helps to see how each one handles endpoint visibility and policy enforcement at scale. The top 10 secure access service edge (SASE) solutions breaks down real differences in malware protection, SaaS access, and routing under pressure.

Comparing top SASE solutions

Most teams looking at SASE fall into two groups: those who want strong, customizable security and secure connectivity, and those who need a quick and easy deployment. Small and medium IT teams generally fit into the latter category.

If your organization runs a streamlined, up-to-date environment with very little legacy IT, you’re likely to be much more excited about a SASE solution that deploys quickly without the need to integrate a complex stack of security applications. Larger organizations with disparate multi-cloud, data center, compliance, and on-prem systems (often mid-digital transformation) will place a greater emphasis on scalable configurability and granular policy controls over an attractive user interface.

Cisco SASE is popular for organizations that already use its SD-WAN and routing products, as its architecture was created to extend those technologies seamlessly. Fortinet is popular with DevOps teams that want fine-grained control of policies on a per-region or per-regulatory-zone basis. Its sovereign SASE (SSAS) architecture enables modular and localized policy enforcement.

Palo Alto’s Prisma Access platform uses cloud-native inspection to provide proactive threat prevention, finding cyber threats earlier in the flow of traffic before reaching endpoints or applications. Zscaler focuses on SSE and secure remote access. If you need or want full architectural ownership and the ability to customize your SASE solution, a private SASE deployment could be your best option.

Access policy management is complex when different SASE vendors manage cloud access vs. remote access. For instance, if Prisma manages cloud access and Zscaler controls remote users, how can you maintain synchronized and identical policies in both areas? With the Tufin Orchestration Suite, IT teams have consolidated visibility and control to make policy changes without leaving gaps. With Prisma Access, Tufin automates the orchestration of rule changes for highly dynamic and cloud-first environments. For maintaining Zscaler access under control with internal policy and security consistency, see how Tufin can help tighten cloud security with policy alignment across Zscaler SASE.

Resources like the top 12 secure access service edge (SASE) solutions can help you line up features, but they won’t help when your VPN clashes with a CASB policy or when SaaS traffic stalls at a remote or branch office. That’s where a good plan and the right controls can help you land on a quick fix instead of an actual incident.

Addressing hybrid risk and policy control with Tufin

Achieving consistent policy enforcement between the cloud and on-prem is never easy. Some SASE platforms tackle either remote access enforcement or on-prem, but rarely both. That’s where gaps form, leading to policy drift, conflicting access controls, and opaque risk with SaaS applications, cloud services, and VPNs. Custom architectures or site/location-specific enforcement, such as with Fortinet sovereign SASE or private SASE, can make this even more challenging.

The Tufin Orchestration Suite helps untangle this by showing exactly where your rules live across your corporate network, how they interact, and where things are misaligned. If you’re juggling policies across vendors like Prisma and Zscaler or adjusting your segmentation to meet security regulations like NIS2, Tufin gives you the clarity and control to ensure your policies are secure across the stack.

Other features in the Tufin Orchestration Suite can also help remove duplication from your firewall rules, identify conflicts before deployment, and keep performance consistent including migrating your security policies from cloud-native to secure web gateway platforms.

Tufin simplifies hybrid risk by helping ensure consistent enforcement across locations, regardless of vendor mix. For more info on how teams are addressing this problem, check out SASE & SD-WAN knowledge and the ten essential benefits of a managed SASE solution.

SASE adoption requires more than a vendor checklist

The real questions on SASE adoption should be if the SASE platform supports convergence with your stack, has sufficient points of presence to meet geographic demand, and if it will stand the test of time as your network evolves. Maintaining consistent access control, security policies, and a secure network are critical as your traffic shifts between cloud-delivered and on-premises services. If you’re dealing with tools from multiple vendors or experiencing policy drift, schedule a demo to discover how Tufin helps provide visibility into everything, so that your security posture can evolve with your network infrastructure.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should IT teams look for when evaluating SASE solutions?

IT teams should look for a platform that ensures secure, consistent access while offering flexible, software-defined wide area networking  (SD-WAN) to deliver predictable application performance. Key selection criteria include consistent access policy enforcement, support for SD-WAN, and the ability to integrate in real time with existing tools across complex, hybrid environments. Consider whether the platform is available as a self-managed deployment, part of a managed services offering, or both. Teams should also evaluate how well each solution aligns with their organization’s overall SASE framework, including security, networking, and compliance goals.

Compare best-of-breed SASE providers with SD-WAN and security coverage.

How can SASE solutions help ensure regulatory compliance and data protection?

SASE solutions provide centralized policy enforcement across endpoints, cloud applications, and on-prem infrastructure to help meet compliance and data protection goals. The right SASE solutions will help organizations achieve compliance objectives while also protecting sensitive data. Features like firewall policy automation, access control, and centralized visibility are essential in regulatory-heavy environments.

See how Tufin can make security policy management simple.

Can SASE solutions integrate with existing SD-WAN or security investments?

Absolutely. Many SASE solutions are designed to extend the capabilities of existing SD-WAN, firewall, and CASB deployments. That means more control without a rip-and-replace. Instead, the deciding factor should be how well a particular SASE architecture aligns with the organization’s business needs and future plans. Integration should preserve existing security features while extending visibility and control across hybrid environments.

See how to choose your own network adventure with hybrid platforms.