The numbers tell a mind-blowing story.
According to Gartner, 65 percent—almost two out of three—of new SD-WAN purchases by 2027 will be part of a single-vendor SASE offering, up from 20 percent in 2024.
The key driver is providing a consistent networking and security experience for hybrid workforce and cloud adoption.
Eye-popping numbers
Gartner reports that client inquiries related to AI and networking have increased by an eye-popping 163 percent. This surge occurs as zero-trust principles are being integrated across all deployment scenarios.
What does this mean for solution providers?
Solution providers need to keep their customers competitive and communicate to them the value and importance for those with SD-WAN deployments about the critical need to also embrace SASE.
Fortinet partners and their customers are in search of a unified solution. SASE delivers on this promise.
Convergence is key
SASE provides a single approach to networking and security. Fortinet pioneered this approach as it built its solutions, lineup, and channel relationships.
“According to 650 Group,1 Fortinet is now the number two deployed SASE vendor globally, highlighting the accelerating adoption of our unified SASE solution. This reflects increasing demand for unified networking and security capabilities from customers. In addition to organic growth within our loyal installed base, we’re seeing a rising number of organizations transitioning away from incumbent security service edge (SSE) vendors they adopted just a few years ago,” Nirav Shah, senior vice president of products and solutions at Fortinet, wrote in a recent post.
“We believe this shift reflects growing recognition of our unified approach to networking and security, particularly our ability to drive better security efficacy, simplified operations, and lower total cost of ownership,” Shah said.
Fortinet has a single offering that fulfills all of these objectives: FortiSASE, a SASE solution that lets solution providers empower customers as they transition to work-from-anywhere models.
Combined with its Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology, the Fortinet blueprint of convergence is now a prime pathway for solution providers as they compete for new clients or work with their existing customers to meet the new, GenAI-fueled moment.
As research continues to show the groundswell of movement toward unified SD-WAN and SASE, solution providers have a clear convergence playbook.
Learn more about how to leverage unified networking and security solutions and become a Fortinet Engage channel partner.