Simplifying the SASE experience with Juniper Networks

With networks becoming more distributed and complex, and IT resourcing either remaining flat or declining, networking and security teams have to do more without actually having more.

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) has gained a lot of traction in the market because it promises that edge networking and security will converge. This combination, in turn, promises to offer more scalability while easing manageability. In short, with SASE, IT and security teams cando more with less.

This is great as an end game, but how do security teams get there? Do they rip out technology they recently deployed? Do they start over in building out Zero Trust principles?

If you talk to ten different vendors, you will get ten different opinions on the right way to build a SASE architecture, many of which do not address any of these challenges. Some are 100 percent security-centric, while others deliver robust networking capabilities but lack an integrated security offering, placing the burden of integration onto the customer. Some are difficult to use because they require separate management tools for SD-WAN and Security Service Edge (SSE) or different tools for on-premises deployments versus cloud-delivered deployments. And some vendors take an “all-or-nothing” approach to SASE that requires customers to discard existing networking and security investments from multiple best-of-breed vendors and replace them with a homogenous solution. This not only adds significant costs to onboarding – but also neglects to address how organisations grow into a full-stack SASE offering.

New Juniper secure edge CASB and DLP capabilities

In June 2022, Juniper Networks announced the addition of Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) into Juniper Secure Edge, our cloud-delivered security offering. Secure Edge now provides full-stack SSE capabilities, including Firewall-as-a-Service (FwaaS) and Secure Web Gateway (SWG) in a single software stack, managed by Security Director Cloud. Secure Edge helps protect web and application access and provides users with consistent security policies wherever they are – at home, in the office or on the road.

When combined with Secure Edge, Juniper’s unique SD-WAN solution driven by Mist AI™, customers get a secure and operationally efficient way to adopt a SASE architecture. Customers can connect their SASE architecture at the edge to their Zero Trust data centre architecture under the same UI and single-policy framework, eliminating breaks in visibility and gaps in security posture while delivering on the promise of Juniper’s Connected Security strategy.

By offering a full-stack SASE solution, Juniper continues to build on its vision to deliver a seamless SASE experience powered by AI and create a converged networking and security architecture where security is extended to every point of connection, creating a truly threat-aware network.

Juniper meets organisations where they are on their SASE journey and helps them leverage their existing investments as they transition to a SASE architecture at a pace that is best for their business. This is why Juniper is addressing customer challenges head-on with a SASE offering that puts the customer experience first:

Full breadth of security and networking capabilities

Juniper provides full-stack SSE capabilities in a single software stack, all managed by the same UI with the single-policy framework. All of these cloud-delivered security services are the same services delivered by Juniper’s physical, virtualised and containerised firewalls with the same security effectiveness that has been rated as the best in the industry for the past three years across all security deployments.

Extend Zero Trust to the cloud

Customers don’t have to start from scratch to extend their existing Zero Trust network to a cloud-delivered SASE model. Juniper’s experience-first networking mantra isn’t just a saying. With our security management portal, Security Director Cloud, customers can manage hybrid architectures with unbroken visibility from the edge to the data centre. This also means they can more easily migrate to a SASE architecture with their existing investments and transition at a pace that is best for their business.

AI-driven insight and actions

Juniper SD-WAN, driven by Mist AI, combines unique Session Smart technology with industry-leading AIOps. Juniper SD-WAN ensures the best performance with no tunnel overhead (and costs), while Session Smart technology provides AI-driven insights for proactive anomaly detection, self-driving automation and predictive troubleshooting. In a nutshell, the network can surface and mitigate issues before users realize there’s a problem.

Leadership isn’t always easy

Others have criticised Juniper for being “late to market”, which always makes me laugh because we at Juniper know that end-user experience matters. Being first to market with a solution that requires different policies and management for on-prem vs. cloud deployments only complicates customers’ lives, and only benefits the vendor. In contrast, Juniper is delivering a full SASE solution that builds from the past, leads to the future, and simplifies customers’ experience along the way.

Customers who want to adopt a SASE architecture want to solve real problems, which is why Juniper decided to start with one of the biggest challenges IT and security teams face: managing and operationalising the networking and security stack.

A seamless management experience allows customers to connect and secure their campus, branch locations, remote users and access to enterprise applications. It also means extending Zero Trust principles from the edge into the data centre—any application, any user, any device, anywhere, including IoT. Juniper enables the best end-user experiences in all of these scenarios with cost-effective connectivity, automated troubleshooting and unprecedented insight that comes from AIOps. This is why we believe all of the technology solutions in Juniper’s SASE offering address IT and security challenges, above and beyond customer expectations—this is experience-first networking.

By offering a full-stack SASE solution built on experience-first principles, Juniper continues to build on its vision to deliver a seamless SASE experience powered by AI and create a converged networking and security architecture where security is extended to every point of connection, creating a truly threat-aware network.

With Juniper, end users no longer have to settle for overly complex solutions due to siloed management tools and/or incomplete features, nor do they have to put up with operationally costly solutions.

Nomios and Juniper Networks partnership

Since the start of Nomios in 2004, we've been a dedicated Juniper Networks partner. In 2022 Juniper introduced a new top partner level: Elite Plus. As their most dedicated partner in Europe, we immediately qualified for this status. Juniper underpins our unique expertise in networking, routing and the security landscape, and our deep understanding of the Juniper Networks portfolio with this new partner status.