In what represents the third major expansion of the secure access service edge (SASE) platform in 2024 alone, Cato Networks has added digital experience monitoring (DEM) to its core SASE Cloud Platform.
Explaining the reason for the latest introduction – following the recent additions of extended detection and response (XDR) and endpoint protection, detection and response (EPP/EDR) – Cato said it believes a true SASE platform must evolve beyond secure connectivity without compromising on the so-called “elegance and simplicity” that defines SASE. As a result, it regards the added DEM capability as embodying that change, tapping the insight and usability of the company’s core SASE Cloud Platform to transform global user experiences.
Yet Cato warned that there are key limitations in existing DEM solutions. It noted that as businesses navigate the complexities of hybrid work and cloud migration, delivering superior user experiences becomes paramount. Moreover, it said existing tools remain inadequate, addressing user experiences for internet-based applications but not private applications; inaccurate, lacking the insight of real user data; and difficult to deploy, requiring complex IT integrations.
“Enterprises continue to have a mix of application traffic, some bound for the WAN [wide area network], others for the internet. As we look across the Cato SASE Cloud Platform, more than half (57%) of all traffic last quarter [Q3, 2024] was destined for the WAN, not the internet,” explained Eyal Webber-Zvik, vice-president of product marketing and strategic alliances at Cato Networks. “An enterprise DEM solution must be able to monitor and fix user experience issues across both WAN and internet applications.”
Shamus McGillicuddy, vice-president of research at industry analyst and consulting firm Enterprise Management Associates, added: “We see DEM as a crucial component of the future SASE landscape, but only with the right platform. User experience is a primary currency for evaluating IT effectiveness, and building DEM on the right SASE platform will help ensure great user experiences. But to deliver on that mission, the SASE platform must provide visibility into all applications, offer ways to fix user experience problems with those applications, and have the necessary real user traffic insights for accurate analysis.”
As a solution to these issues, Cato claimed DEM will bring rich, contextual insight, end-to-end, for all user experiences, with the easy deployment and aforementioned “elegance” of use that “defines the Cato experience”. The company said the addition of DEM means IT teams now have one solution for troubleshooting and planning optimal user experiences for all applications.
In addition, Cato assured that the new DEM capability will ensure optimal user experiences, even during critical projects like cloud migration, global expansion and hybrid work. As the underlying network connecting users to applications in private datacentres, the cloud and the internet, the Cato SASE Cloud Platform can overcome network performance problems that otherwise undermine user experiences.
By being able to see underlying traffic, the DEM unit can combine real user and synthetic data for more comprehensive, accurate and contextual application insights. Cato assured that IT teams can realise instant time-to-value by activating DEM through a toggle and tapping the historical, already captured, application usage data.
As part of its core SASE platform, Cato is confident that the DEM functionality can offer “exceptional visibility”, allowing IT teams to pinpoint network problems impacting the user experience. With hop-by-hop visibility across the Wi-Fi network, the network edge and the WAN, the DEM package can provide end-to-end visibility across all user experiences. By continuously monitoring network and device conditions, Cato said DEM allows IT teams to anticipate and mitigate issues before they affect the user experience, ensuring smoother operations and higher productivity.
By using AI-powered engines, it is also said to be able to reduce the operational overhead normally incurred when troubleshooting user experience issues. By analysing data relationships and surfacing DEM recommendations within Cato XDR, IT operations can prioritise, investigate and remediate user experience problems without switching to other tools.
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