Are you happy with your current SSE or SASE Solution?

Imagine having an "easy button" that could instantly solve all your tech headaches, especially when you're hit with that dreaded buyer's remorse after investing time and money into a solution that ends up causing more frustration than it's worth. At WWT, we help organizations chart the best course of action for their current SSE or SASE deployment, offering guidance on whether to stay with their existing vendor or explore a solution that truly fits their business needs.

Here are a few of the pain points we've been helping clients navigate:

• Poor design: Early adopters of SSE or SASE may have planned and designed their architecture only to quickly outgrow it or discover configuration issues.
• Performance issues: As businesses scale and demands increase, user experience might be impacted. This can also include IT support teams administering the vendor solution having a poor experience.
• Feature gaps: Organizations may realize that the current vendor lacks some critical capabilities, such as legacy application support, cloud application integration, more advanced threat protection or enhanced security features that are crucial for their evolving business needs.
• Cost concerns: Over time, the initial promise of a cost-effective solution may fade. Some organizations may find that their existing SASE or SSE solution becomes too expensive as they add more users or scale.
• Customer support & service issues: Inconsistent support or a lack of responsive customer service can drive businesses to seek more reliable and customer-centric alternatives.

To migrate or not to migrate, that is the question…

Even Shakespeare himself reflected on the struggle of making tough decisions, acknowledging how the back-and-forth can be both time consuming and cumbersome. That's why the idea of switching vendors might seem like the easiest route, but in reality, it's often a far more intricate and challenging process than it appears at first glance.

Here are a few key factors to keep in mind:

• Security policy & configuration migration
  A primary concern in any SASE or SSE migration is ensuring that the security policies and configurations set up in the current system are accurately replicated in the new solution. This includes everything from firewall settings to secure web gateway policies and data loss prevention measures. Since this can be more of a manual process, human error in certain configurations can result in massive security gaps, leaving the organization vulnerable to threats or poor user experience.
• Integration with existing tooling
  SASE and SSE solutions are often integrated deeply into an organization's existing infrastructure. This can include SD-WAN, EDRs and cloud-based applications. Migrating to a new vendor can disrupt these integrations and require a significant reconfiguration, which could impact performance.
• User experience & downtime risks
  User experience is central to SASE and SSE, especially when remote workforces are heavily reliant on secure and seamless access to services. Any disruption during the migration could lead to connectivity issues, downtime, or a degraded user experience. Ensuring minimal disruption requires careful planning and execution.
• Vendor-specific features & customization
  Each SASE and SSE vendor brings its own unique set of features, customization options, and architecture requirements. You may run into feature parity issues where one vendor might not have an equivalent feature in the new solution, potentially forcing organizations to rethink certain strategies.

The importance of planning

Whether you choose to stay with your current SASE or SSE vendor or take the plunge with a new one, it's crucial to approach the decision with thoughtful planning.

Here are some key steps to consider as you navigate the planning process:

• Evaluate needs & perform a thorough assessment
  WWT can help your decision making with an SSE and SASE Market Scan in conjunction with an Assessment. During the Market Scan, we'll dive into what features and criteria matter most to your organization and match them with our wide range of SSE and SASE OEM capabilities. From there, we'll evaluate your current deployment across performance, security, and functionality, while identifying any gaps in your solution. With the insights gathered from the Market Scan and vendor assessment, you'll have a clear picture of where your environment may be lacking. From there, you'll be better equipped to decide whether to leverage WWT Services to redesign your existing SSE or SASE deployment or explore a new solution that aligns perfectly with your business needs.
• Develop a step-by-step plan
  Whether you're migrating to a new vendor or fine tuning your current SASE or SSE deployment, WWT is here to help. We'll work with your organization to craft a detailed plan that outlines the steps, timelines, and responsibilities. Be sure to include milestones for testing, validation, and optimization so the solution performs exactly as you expect.
• Validation testing
  Validation testing is like a backstage pass for your tech change, it helps ensure everything runs smoothly before the big show. By testing early, you catch any surprises, avoid costly mistakes, and make sure your solution performs as promised. WWT's Advanced Technology Center (ATC) is here to help, whether you're testing a new vendor solution or enhancing your current deployment. This way, you can minimize the risk of disrupting your users and keep things running smoothly and validate this was the right decision.

Conclusion

If your organization is re-considering its SASE and SSE solution choice, migrating to a new vendor may seem like it offers the potential for improved performance, better features, and cost savings. However, the process is far from simple and requires careful planning and execution. This is why it is crucial to evaluate and assess your environment and WWT is here to help you on that journey. To start this conversation, schedule a briefing with one of our experts to jump-start this conversation.