Tech leaders are focusing on building long-term capabilities that will elevate their industry. This includes leveraging emerging technologies that address key challenges, like generative AI. Traditional firewalls require multiple appliances that are costly to manage and maintain. NGFWaaS eliminates this burden with a cloud-native solution that converges networking and security functions with unified application awareness.
Enhanced Security
NGFWs like Versa Networks offer security capabilities that include deep application visibility to control traffic flows at the network edge. This includes inspecting SSL/TLS connections to ensure data is not compromised. Additionally, NGFWs often offer advanced technologies not available in previous firewall solutions, such as antivirus and malware protection, that automatically update to combat new threats. Additionally, NGFWs can be integrated with threat intelligence platforms to better defend against known attacks. In addition, many NGFWs provide enhanced security through machine learning methods to recognize novel or zero-day attacks. Lastly, NGFWs offer flexibility and deployment options, including physical and virtual form factors to meet specific performance needs and deployment scenarios. However, implementing an NGFW requires a complex integration infrastructure that can take time to manage and maintain.
Additionally, the NGFW must be compatible with various external software and networks. FWaaS solves these issues by offering a single unified platform that combines all networking and security functions into a scalable and secure service. It also allows organizations to securely connect users to applications and resources at the edge without requiring security appliances to be installed and managed in each location. This approach suits the modern business environment’s increasingly distributed workforce and dynamic application landscape. It also allows centralized management of all firewall and security capabilities through a single console.
Scalability and Flexibility
After a tumultuous 2022 that saw many technologies lose momentum and investment, the first half of 2023 has seen a resurgence of enthusiasm for technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society. Generative AI deserves much credit, but other trends can have similarly transformative effects. One of those is scalability, the ability to increase or decrease resources as demand for a service changes. The flexibility to scale up and down is essential for companies that want to ensure their apps are available during traffic spikes and downtime and can handle unpredictable demand fluctuations. Traditional approaches to networking and security, such as deploying a firewall at the data center or corporate headquarters, made sense when applications ran in these locations. However, as more and more applications moved to the cloud and workers began connecting from branch offices and remote workspaces, those approaches needed to be revised. NGFWaaS is designed to solve this problem, offering businesses the ability to secure data at the logical edge of the network rather than at a specific location or hardware appliance. This allows organizations to reduce costs and improve performance, scalability, and security with a single solution that works across the entire enterprise. In addition, NGFWaaS enables enterprises to leverage inline deep learning capabilities that move beyond signature-based detection and analyze data more like human analysts do, stopping unknown zero-day attacks before they cause damage.
Reduced Complexity
For example, NGFWs must typically interface with network and security technologies like logging tools, CASB, SWG, and NAC. They also have a lifecycle that must be managed, upgraded, patched, and replaced when the hardware hits EOL. This is a time-consuming and expensive process that requires skilled resources. The resurgence in technology investment and talent is excellent news for the industry, but work must be done. A significant talent crunch remains for many of the trend categories, especially those requiring specialized skills in areas with an undersupply of workers. This challenges trends that need to scale quickly, such as industrializing machine learning and cloud computing.
Increased Efficiency
In addition to increased security and scalability, FWaaS provides more efficient traffic routing. For example, if an organization has branch locations, they need to be able to connect securely to the corporate network. Traditionally, technology backhauls traffic to an NGFW at the corporate data center. This can be costly and time-consuming. However, with FWaaS, this is no longer the case. Instead, security architectures can be replicated across the cloud, ensuring that the same security controls protect every location. This improved efficiency can also be applied to other business functions, such as boosting sales or customer service. For instance, if an organization uses a digital identity management system, it can ensure that only valid users can access its apps or services. This can protect against cyberattacks and improve customer satisfaction by eliminating the need to verify identities manually. As 2023 continues, we should see a resurgence of enthusiasm for technology’s potential to catalyze progress in business and society. Generative AI is leading the way in this respect, but many other technologies have the same potential to help solve challenging global problems. The challenge is that these trends often require skills for which the talent supply is low, and they can have long investment time horizons. This technology is more sensitive to short-term budget dynamics than, for example, accelerating climate or mobility technologies that can scale more quickly with lower marginal investment.