How SASE reduces networking and security costs

As employees evolve into distributed, hybrid workforces and IT organizations move their applications, data, and workloads into the cloud and edge devices, CIOs are feeling squeezed. They struggle with rising complexity and operational costs as they manage a patchwork of networking and security systems accumulated over time — the byproduct of adopting point solutions for individual needs. In addition, the costs of transport, software licenses, and support across all communications and data are moving in one direction: up. Global enterprise networking spending is expected to grow from $125 billion in 2025 to $194 billion in 2030, according to MarketsandMarkets.

But why do costs keep shooting up? What happened to cloud economies of scale?

The vision for cloud computing is spot on — the cloud is where your apps and data live. But the emerging challenge is the complexity and cost of securing and managing your multicloud “on-ramps” to and from your users, branches, data centers, partners, and internet-of-things devices. Today’s IT systems are a complex patchwork of networking and security point solutions, from VPNs, firewalls, secure web gateways, and cloud access security brokers to SD-WAN gateways, routers, switches, and wireless access points. Each tool and system requires staff hours to manage, integrate, troubleshoot, and patch, as well as proprietary licensing and support fees, maintenance windows, hardware refreshes, and other expenses that drain IT coffers, with no end in sight.

There is a better path. A universal secure access service edge (SASE) platform fully integrates networking and security, greatly simplifying management and enabling measurable cost savings:

• Operational and life cycle cost savings – By integrating networking and security into a single platform, day-to-day operations are dramatically simplified. IT teams only need to deal with one policy engine; teams manage fewer rules, avoid conflicts, reduce the need for contractors, and significantly cut training needs. This convergence also cuts down on life cycle tasks like patching, upgrades, and on-site installs by minimizing physical appliances. The result: easier operations and a 20-40% reduction in operational and life cycle management costs.

• Consolidation efficiencies – Instead of paying separate networking and security vendors’ licensing, subscription, support, and maintenance fees for everything from zero trust network access to advanced threat protection, unified SASE offers all capabilities as a single licensed service, improving integration, visibility, and efficiency. According to research by Futuriom, this leads to significant savings, including lower CapEx and OpEx costs, fewer renewals and hardware refreshes, and less time spent managing vendors, contracts, and licenses. Typical cost savings range from 15% to 25%.

• Savings from moving equipment to the cloud – Moving on-premises firewalls, routers, and VPN concentrators from data centers to the cloud eliminates the cost of refreshing expensive hardware, as well as managing licensing and support contracts. Businesses typically save 20% to 40% on management costs and a 25%-30% reduction in energy costs.

• Savings on communications and data transport – A unified SASE solution includes SD-WAN, which delivers high performance at a fraction of the cost of multiprotocol label switching and includes integrated encryption, making management simpler. One company that made the switch saves $1.5 million annually across 165 locations, according to Versa.

These are just some of the ways a fully integrated SASE platform reduces the total cost of ownership for networking and security operations. Over time, as companies continue to layer in separate hardware and software, SASE adopters will increase their competitive edge, keeping their already-lower costs stable as they expand with new technology.

To learn more about cost savings with a unified SASE platform, visit us here.