Lumen Technologies has announced new security enhancements for its secure access service edge (SASE) product in a move it said will make the offering more flexible and simplified for customers.
The new features added to Lumen SASE Solutions include security service edge (SSE) and cloud-hosted gateways as the company looks to provide greater insight and control over access to cloud applications.
The firm said the changes are a response to customers requiring simplified segregation of private data center and cloud assets, access to expanded SaaS and security services, as well as simplified adoption of a cloud-first model.
"Lumen is laser-focused on what our customers want and need, and our latest SASE updates are a perfect example of this," said Darren Wolner, Lumen senior director of SASE product management.
"There has been a rapid adoption of cloud-based services as more organizations implement hybrid work, but security is paramount to any cloud-based experience. This means savvy organizations soon realized a whole new set of challenges and requirements. We quickly enhanced the product to fit their needs."
Lumen’s SASE solutions now include SSE, a collection of integrated, cloud-centric security capabilities – including cloud-hosted gateways – that provide safe access to websites. The addition includes the access and sharing of sensitive data and user permission management for SaaS applications provided by SD-WAN and security partners.
The firm says new cloud-hosted gateways will also enable organizations to adopt what it calls “grow as they go” network and security management features without the need for on-prem equipment.
The aim is for Lumen-hosted gateways to help customers migrate off shared gateways and onto a dedicated node providing enhanced security and reliability, as well as leverage centralized security services and dedicated cloud hosting with predictable pricing. Customers will also benefit from secure remote access to their data and cloud applications from almost anywhere, Lumen says.
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Additionally, US-based customers can now deploy premise-based SASE services to locations in Canada and across the EMEA region.
Pete Finalle, research manager at IDC, said a customer outcomes-based approach can help tackle the networking and security complexities of the new, hybrid perimeter, which has “collided” with multi-cloud resources.
"Lumen is uniquely positioned to provide real business outcomes through a full-featured, cloud delivered, network security stack which benefits directly from their presence in network and cloud infrastructure,” he said.
“Through their digital customer experience and managed approach to solving the complex security-plus-networking dilemma, Lumen is also able to mitigate the deployment and management complexities that often stifle the adoption of SASE."
