Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a network architecture that integrates SD-WAN and security into a single, centrally managed cloud service, promising simplified WAN deployment, increased security and better performance.
According to Gartner, the benefits of SASE are transformative as it accelerates deployment time for new users, locations, applications and devices, as well as reducing the attack surface and remediation time by up to 95%.
SASE adoption has been on the rise with the pandemic. Gartner predicts in its latest SASE roadmap that by 2025, 80% of enterprises will adopt a SASE or SSE architecture, up from 20% in 2021. (Secure Services Edge, or SSE, is a security-centric subset of SASE, which is basically SASE without SD-WAN.)
This is tremendous growth, especially considering Gartner only coined the term SASE in 2019. So is it too early to expect networking professionals to become certified in this technology? Or is now the right time?
Cato’s SASE, SSE and Business Certifications
An early player in the SASE certification market is SASE provider Cato Networks, which launched Level 1 of the SASE Expert certification in November 2020, followed by Level 2 in September 2021.
In 2022, Cato adds a new security-focused SASE certification to its SASE certification lineup. The SSE Expert certification was launched in July, and the SASE Advanced Security certification is also online.
Cato is also adding two business-focused SASE certifications in 2022. The courses are SASE Deployment and Management and SASE Business Impact and Strategy.
“People want to understand what SSE and SASE are, cut through all the noise, and understand the value that both can bring to their enterprise IT,” said Eyal Webber-Zvik, vice president of product marketing at Cato.
While other networking certifications like CCNA are more about how to operate the technology, Cato’s SASE and SSE certifications are a high-level overview. “Our certification is more about what SASE and SSE are, what they mean, and what they mean to different IT teams,” Webber-Zvik said. “You’ll see presentations, whiteboards, readings, and at the end of each section there’s a quiz. When you complete all the routines and pass all the tests, you’re certified.”
Much of the material covered is not specific to Cato, he said. However, the certification does use Cato’s SASE and SSE implementations in its examples.
Take one-way processing as an example. According to Gartner, this is a key feature of SASE and means that networking and security are integrated. “We interpret it based on Gartner’s definition,” Webber-Zvik said. “We also provide an example of a Cato implementation and use it to illustrate what single-pass processing looks like outside of Gartner theory and in real life.”
Cato’s certification training and exams are free, but that could change, he said.
The SASE Expert Level 1 certification has twelve parts and takes approximately one day to complete. SASE Expert Level 2 has five stages, takes about half a day, and requires applicants to complete Level 1 first.
CATO’s SASE deployment and management and business impact and strategy certifications each take approximately half a day to complete. On the security side, Cato’s Advanced Security and SSE Expert certifications each take about half a day to complete.
Training and testing are conducted on the Credly platform. “It integrates with LinkedIn, so it’s automatically shared to your LinkedIn profile,” Webber-Zvik said.
As of mid-December 2022, more than 2,500 people have earned Level 1 certification, representing multiple levels of professional experience and job categories, said Dave Greenfield, Cato’s director of technical evangelism.
“Level 2 certification has been awarded to 950 individuals and SSE Specialist certification has been awarded to 545 individuals,” Greenfield said. “As for Cato’s advanced SASE courses, SASE Business Impact and Strategy has earned 75 certifications, SASE Deployment and Management has earned 73 certifications, and SASE Advanced Security certification has earned 109 certifications.”
The Cato SASE certificate offers some additional benefits to some companies. “Channel partners with certified staff receive greater margins and some trade registration advantages, more accounts to practice and demo on, and more,” Greenfield said.
SASE certificates available in Netskope, Versa, and Palo Alto
Liz Miller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research in Monte Vista, Calif., said other companies have jumped on the SASE certification bandwagon and more will follow.
“Vendors are consolidating and single-vendor offerings are accelerating, which will also accelerate the focus on certification and put these SASE certifications in a greater spotlight,” she said.
Cato’s certification is unique because it has more than one level, Miller said. “But almost anyone offering a converged platform will start offering similar training and certification badges and kudos,” she said.
Versa network
Another company that offers SASE certification is Versa Networks. It offers free Versa SASE Essentials courses and has a channel partner program to certify companies on its SASE platform.
“Required program training, certification and support activities focus on the design and deployment of SASE,” said John Atchison, director of global channel marketing for Versa. “Upon completion of the third-party proctored exam, Versa ACE Partners will be certified and receive the SASE Professional Badge.”
The way the system works, he said, is that individual professionals take courses and certification exams. “Once a company completes the requirements, they gain status – like Titan Specialized – and receive a professional badge,” he said.
New for 2022, Versa announces two SASE sales enablement courses for its ACE partners
network window
SASE vendor Netskope jumped into the arena in June 2021, launching a SASE certification course.
The course is aimed at network infrastructure and cybersecurity practitioners and is designed to be vendor-neutral, according to the company. The course is worth $1,000 but is currently free; it is interactive, instructor-led, and conducted virtually.
After the course, students take the certification exam, and those who pass will receive the SASE Accredited Architect certificate.
The course covers basic technical and architectural concepts of SASE, covers the important component technologies and models that together make up the SASE model, and includes practical examples, case studies, and use cases that illustrate how SASE can be implemented in a real-world environment. The course consists of two four-hour sessions and takes two days to complete. The exam is 45 minutes long and can be attempted twice.
Netskope currently offers four classes per month. Registration is available online, but seating is limited so classes can fill up. Participants are not required to complete any prerequisites before taking the course.
Palo Alto
Palo Alto Networks joined the ranks in October 2020 with its own SASE course, Prisma Access SASE Security: Design and Operations.
This course is a four-day instructor-led course that provides students with hands-on experience configuring, managing, and troubleshooting Prisma Access SASE.
Courses are offered virtually or in-person and are offered through Palo Alto-authorized global training partners and typically cost approximately $4,000.
Palo Alto said participants will receive a certificate of completion after taking the course, and the SASE course can supplement other recommended courses for those preparing for the Palo Alto Networks Certified Cybersecurity Engineer exam.
According to Palo Alto, the primary audience for SASE training is security administrators, security operations professionals, security analysts, network engineers and security engineers.
Palo Alto said participants must complete the Firewall 10.0 Essentials: Configuration and Management course and the Panorama 10.0: Managing Firewalls at Scale course as prerequisites before taking the SASE course, or have equivalent experience. Participants must also have experience with networking concepts, including routing, switching, and IP addressing.
Do you need a SASE certificate?
Constellation’s Miller said SASE certification is valuable when combined with knowledge of the SASE framework and the ability to help initiate migration plans. “But does everyone need to run out to get this? Probably not yet.”
SASE is an important framework—one that can’t be built in a day or a week, Miller said. “It is a security framework that integrates security and network connectivity into a single cloud platform. This is at the core of the rapid transformation that is durable and secure not just today but as edge and cloud continue their expansion trajectory of.”
Companies will need individuals who are well-versed in the what and why of converged cloud platforms. “That’s where certification might come in handy,” she said. “Individuals who invest that time will also extract the knowledge and insights needed not only to implement the framework, but also to troubleshoot and specify needs within a specific scenario or enterprise.”
Rik Turner, senior principal analyst for emerging technologies at Omdia, said the new SASE certification is far less complex than Cisco’s CCNA certification. But Turner said these certifications are still valuable, even if they are vendor-specific.
“The SASE market is growing, so any certification held by a networking professional will have greater value in the future, and its importance will only increase as the market continues to expand,” he said.
These certifications will show that you are familiar with at least one vendor’s SASE product, and there should be a certain level of commonality between them, Turner said.
“I guess it’s a bit like, in previous eras, someone would come to a job interview with a Cisco qualification, and if you were a Foundry or Extreme store, that might be of some use,” he said. “Or people familiar with HP-UX might be interested in the Solaris store.”
There is currently no independent organization offering SASE certification, but this may change as the technology matures.
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