Netskope acquires Infiot, delivers integrated SASE platform

Netskope has announced it has acquired Infiot, a pioneer in enabling secure, reliable access with zero trust security, network and application optimisation, and AI-driven operations.

As Netskope Borderless WAN, the addition of Infiots revolutionary technology will enable Netskope customers to apply uniform security and quality of experience (QoE) policies to the widest range of hybrid work needs, from employees at home or on-the-go, to branch offices, ad-hoc point-of-sale systems, and multi-cloud environments. For customers, all of these capabilities are delivered in a single architecture, using one policy framework, and one console, which dramatically simplifies operations, preserves network performance, and ensures SASE success.

Businesses and governments are rapidly adopting SASE to safeguard data wherever it moves, support digital transformation efforts, and realise better efficiency and return-on-investment from their technology. Netskope is a widely acknowledged leader in SSE, which describes the security services needed for a successful SASE architecture.

According to Gartner, by 2024, 80% of SD-WAN deployments will incorporate SSE requirements, up from less than 25% in 2022. By 2025, 80% of enterprises will adopt a strategy to unify web, cloud services, and private application access from a single vendors SSE platform.

Despite SASEs popularity, however, confusing vendor messaging often accompanies piecemeal product sets that are spuriously marketed as SASE. Most of these products are not natively integrated, nor able to simplify technology environments, and lack critical network and infrastructure transformation capabilities, all of which risk higher levels of security incidents, network downtime, and poor ROI.

Netskope Borderless WAN combines with Netskope Intelligent SSE in a fully converged SASE platform, uniquely addressing these challenges.

Founded in 2018 by veterans of the SD-WAN market, Infiot was one of only four vendors recognised in Gartner's 2021 Cool VendorsTM in Cloud Networking report, was twice named to The Futuriom Top 40, and has been successfully deployed by customers in healthcare, retail, education, energy, manufacturing, telecommunications, and other industries.

Infiot technology leverages a cloud-based, zero-touch deployment and provisioning model with multiple physical and virtual appliance form factors. The solution includes built-in routing, a transport-agnostic approach that supports both wired and wireless networking, app-aware QoE enforcement combined with policy-based traffic steering, and other integrated network security functions critical for deployment at the edge. For customers, all of this capability is delivered in a single architecture, using one policy framework, and one console, which dramatically simplifies operations for thinly-stretched networking and infrastructure teams.

As the foundation of the new Netskope Borderless WAN solution, Infiot technology will allow customers to embrace modern, cloud-first networking by leveraging Netskope SASE Gateways, creating secure, optimised connections between any enterprise location, including site-to-site, or the cloud. Netskope SASE Gateways also enable end-to-end optimisation for improved app performance, provide increased network resilience through real-time link monitoring and dynamic path selection, and offer identity and per-app access policies to apply zero trust principles to the network.

Netskope Borderless WAN critical use cases include:

• Easy access to industry-leading Netskope Intelligent SSE services powered by world-class Netskope NewEdge infrastructure
• All-in-one intelligent access, routing, wireless WAN, network security, app assurance, and edge compute as an effective way to modernise, simplify and implement SASE architecture
• The ability to offload MPLS and eliminate costs by sending more traffic direct-to-net, eliminate backhauling and leverage fixed/mobile connectivity options (such as 4G/5G)
• Better guaranteed WAN connectivity to ensure end-to-end performance, from the last mile to the cloud or legacy data center
• Simplified operational overhead associated with running custom third-party applications

"Today, leaders across IT, security, and networking and the worlds best-known analyst firms agree that the explosion of data and devices, along with the numerous ways that people connect, communicate, and collaborate, make the transformation of both networking and security a critical imperative for businesses and governments," says Sanjay Beri, Netskope CEO.

"We are very excited to introduce Borderless WAN, and to welcome Infiot to our growing team," he says.

"It is in this transformation where Netskope is uniquely positioned to help customers with a fully converged SASE platform."

"Today, many-to-many secure optimised connectivity is required to address any user, device, and location, in combination with a zero trust approach that integrates seamlessly with Security Service Edge," adds Parag Thakore, Infiot CEO.

" Netskope Intelligent SSE is the industry's leading SSE, and the combination of Infiot and Netskope will deliver on the promise of SASE like no other technology vendor can."

In addition to offering Borderless WAN capabilities, Netskope integrates with key SD-WAN partners, ensuring customers benefit from Netskope Intelligent SSE in mixed environments while maintaining flexibility and choice in vendor partners.

Financial terms of the acquisition are undisclosed. Parag Thakore and the Infiot product team now comprise Netskope's Borderless WAN group, and Infiot's sales team has joined Netskope's sales organisation.