SASE is a developing market that combines network connectivity and security functions with subscriber policies.
With MEF’s work to achieve a consensus to standardise SASE services well underway it is reportedly ‘gaining momentum against a backdrop of accelerated change at the network edge’.
“MEF has a proven track record of standardising abstract constructs, attributes, and architectures for network services such as SD-WAN, carrier ethernet, optical transport and IP,” said Nan Chen (pictured), president, MEF.
“By achieving consensus on what a converged networking and security framework and associated SASE services should look like, MEF can empower technology and service providers to focus on providing a core set of common capabilities and then building their own innovative, differentiated offerings beyond those core features.”
In support of this, MEF has just published a MEF SASE Services Framework whitepaper that outlines a framework to standardise SASE services based on existing SD-WAN, security, automation as week as other standardisation work.
In addition, the industry body has also launched the SASE Services Definition project that will use this standardisation work, which includes: SD-WAN Service Attributes & Service Framework; Application Security for SD-WAN Services; Zero Trust Framework and Service Attributes; Universal SD-WAN Edge; Performance Monitoring and Service Readiness Testing for SD-WAN Services; MEF Services Model: Information Model for SD-WAN Services; LSO Legato Service Specification - SD-WAN; Intent Based Orchestration; and Policy Driven Orchestration.
“The SASE concept adjusts for a fundamental change in how enterprise users access business systems and the associated increased demand for lower-latency edge compute capabilities closer to the user,” added Pascal Menezes, CTO at MEF.
“The well-defined and static network edge of the past is being replaced by more users working outside corporate walls and accessing business systems beyond corporate data centres. SASE shifts the focus from site-centric to user-centric security. The user can be anything (human, IoT, etc.) and anywhere, and security and network functions can be distributed away from the enterprise data centre to maximise the availability of high performance edges (e.g. PoPs) and security clouds.”
Numerous telcos have been engaged with MEF’s SASE-related work, Fortinet, VMware, Juniper, Nuage Networks from Nokia, Versa Networks, Cisco, Ciena, CMC Networks, and Datavision contributed to the MEF SASE Service Framework whitepaper.
In addition, employees from the likes of; AT&T, Bell Canada, CenturyLink, Fujitsu Network Communications, Silver Peak, to name a few, have contributed to the related SD-WAN, security, and SD-WAN service automation work.
