Gartner first coined the term secure access service edge (SASE) in 2019. No one could have predicted how important and quickly SASE would become relevant to almost every business in order to function. With financial institutions digital transformation plans, the move to the cloud for many applications only heightened the interest and need. SASE is about delivering networking and network security controls at the edge as close to the users as possible. Security and work, wherever that is, go hand and hand as the use cases for SASE.

The benefits of SASE

Ongoing research from analysts and other think tanks show that institutions that want to make the most of their SASE deployment need to pick components from the portfolio of a single vendor to achieve these benefits.

• Enable new digital business innovation
• Bolster security
• Scale globally and increase operational resilience
• Lessen complexity and costs
• Enforce zero trust
• Better effectiveness of network and security team

Customer successes

Here are two customer success stories from Asia that show how Cisco has helped clients overcome the challenges of their security perimeters moving out.

1.  How an Asian bank modernized its network and security with SASE

The pace of change in digital banking challenged this bank's networking architecture. In addition, employees were demanding flexibility in where they work and applications that they use. This bank needed to upgrade their network and they need to transform their security capabilities. They embarked on a SASE journey to simultaneously do both.

See how working with Cisco and a telco leader this bank was able to deploy 1,500 branches and the corporate office and beyond.

2.  Why banks are relying on SASE to prepare them for the hybrid work era

A client, a leading Asian bank, was burdened by legacy infrastructure, and they realized that SASE could help them move quickly to their desired, future-forward state. They were looking for a significant transformation. They worked with us to upgrade and modernize their data centers. However, the real differentiator was their move to SD-WAN and the deployment of a robust suite of cloud security solutions.

Their move to SASE was a game-changer and helped them switch gears and compete with the best in the field incredibly quickly. Read how their extensive network of branches, a vast pool of professionals, and a great deal of sensitive data to protect were all enhanced with this move.

Learn more about SASE enabled architecture