Secure Access Service Edge, 2023 Competitive environment The SASE market is still in its nascent stage of development, and vendors from different backgrounds are taking different approaches to offering solutions. Both network and security vendors have been expanding and strengthening their SASE offerings in the last 3 years. Some companies advertise as SASE vendors, yet they lack either the in-house networking or comprehensive security capabilities needed to deliver a converged SASE architecture with extensive PoP coverage across regions. In the next 3 years, Frost & Sullivan expects to see more companies enter the market to provide full-fledged SASE offerings, after either acquiring other companies or developing products in-house. Today, however, only a handful of vendors provide a comprehensive single SASE offering with in-house networking and security capabilities. The vendors included on this Frost Radar are excelling in growth and/or innovation, selected for their performance related to factors such as end-user focus, geographic presence, and solution portfolio. Frost & Sullivan expects companies meet the following criteria to be recognized as SASE vendors: Provide a SASE platform that includes in-house SD-WAN, ZTNA, and FWaaS/SWG. (The partnership model is excluded.) Have a distributed global PoP system (running in public clouds or private data centers) to support the SASE platform. Frost & Sullivan independently plotted nine companies in this Frost Radar analysis that meet its SASE vendor inclusion criteria. The vendors are Barracuda Networks, Cato Networks, Cisco, Forcepoint, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Sangfor, Versa Networks, and VMware. Palo Alto Networks, Cato Networks, and Versa Networks have emerged as the leaders on both the Growth and Innovation Indexes, primarily for their robust and consistent revenue growth during the past 3 years and innovation capabilities in strengthening their SASE offerings. Among them, Palo Alto Networks achieved tremendous double-digit growth in 2022 to solidify its position as the largest player in the global SASE market, supported by its well-established brand name in the security industry and strong go-to-market execution across regions. The company has a robust partner ecosystem, and it continues to expand its partnerships with global managed security service providers (MSSPs) to deliver smooth deployment, integration, and ongoing managed SASE services for customers. Palo Alto Networks has demonstrated its strong commitment to innovation by seamlessly integrating Prisma SD-WAN, Prisma Access, and Autonomous Digital Experience Management (ADEM) to deliver Prisma SASE. While Palo Alto Networks remains a strong player with a comprehensive SD-WAN and security services offering, the company lacks a private backbone for SD-WAN connections, but offers two management consoles, the new Strata Cloud Manager platform (Cloud Managed) and Prisma Access for Networks (Panorama Managed), which may create a more complex setup or configuration. Cato Networks is one of the fastest-growing players and achieved strong double-digit growth in 2022. It stands out on the Growth Index for its strong growth momentum during the past 3 years, surpassing larger competitors such as Cisco, Versa Networks, and VMware. The company has a strong customer base in the small and medium business segments, and it continues to expand its market reach to larger organizations, positioning its SASE offering to experience robust growth. Cato Networks demonstrates innovation leadership through its cloud-first and converged SASE platform, supported by a global private backbone and extensive SASE PoP coverage across regions. Its cloud-native platform sets it apart from other competitors who rely on the rearchitecting or service-chaining approach to SASE. Versa Networks experienced strong double-digit growth in 2022, enabling the company to maintain its leadership position as the second-largest player in the market by revenue. The strong growth of its SASE business across regions is fueled by its channel-first strategy that is supported by an extensive channel partner ecosystem, including value-added resellers (VARs), service providers, telecommunication operators, and systems integrators (SIs). However, the company’s revenue base for the Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America (LATAM) regions, especially LATAM, remains relatively small, mainly due to limited PoP coverage in the region. In terms of innovation, Versa Networks continues to strengthen its SASE platform capabilities by © 2023 Frost & Sullivan. All rights reserved. This document contains highly confidential information and is the sole property of Frost & Sullivan. No part of it may be circulated, quoted, copied, or otherwise reproduced without the written approval of Frost & Sullivan.