The SSE market is growing dramatically, but that growth will slow in the next few years. Expect continued year-over-year (YoY) growth above 25% for at least the next three years. Two mad rushes drive that growth: large enterprises pursuing secure cloud transformation to move from legacy hardware to a cloud ZTA, and medium enterprises upgrading from simple antivirus solutions to full-fledged cloud-delivered cybersecurity, typically via managed service providers (MSPs).
First-mover usual suspects (Zscaler, Netskope, and Palo Alto Networks) dominate the cloud-based SSE market, but it is splintering as traditional hardware security vendors (Fortinet, Broadcom, and Cisco) catch up. The early-mover SSE vendors poached customers from those hardware vendors, but the Fortinets and Ciscos of the world are transitioning their massive customer bases to cloud SSE offerings, which could freeze out the cloud-only players in the coming years.
Whither SSE? It’s fair to ask if SSE will remain an extant market category: The bulk of SSE sales in the past year have come as part of SASE (SSE + SD-WAN) adoption. Transformation to a SASE model gives enterprises an easier path to the cloud, letting them preserve some semblance of traditional networking, which is anathema to cloud-only vendors such as Zscaler or Skyhigh Security. For some vendors, the SSE-only play is in mid-market.
Customers are moving from point products to integrated, single-vendor SSE (or SASE) solutions. The move simplifies security administration: It’s easier/better to create business policy for a single, unified endpoint solution than for SSE products from multiple vendors.
Most SSE vendors successfully promote their services as a compelling replacement for legacy "castle-and-moat" hardware- based, network-perimeter security architectures. For the most part they are, and will remain so, but key SSE services—SWG, CASB, and ZTNA—risk becoming commoditized. There are, of course, ways to differentiate them: better-administered SWG, better-peered CASB, and better-secured ZTNA. Being able to offer all three is highly innovative relative to the status quo, but this is a market that yearns for differentiation: SSE vendors cluster in the 2023 SSE Frost Radar™. In the coming year, as the market and vendor service positioning messages mature, expect to see positions spread out.
Connectivity performance is the new black. Security remains the most important criterion for customers selecting an SSE solution, but traditional criteria (e.g., threat intel, data protection, and threat protection) are becoming commoditized, and table stakes in the SSE purchase process. In contrast, HPE Greenlake/Axis Security and Cato Networks push connectivity- performance-related differentiators such as number of points of presence (POPs), agility to deploy new POPs, and cloud networking infrastructure.
Security Service Edge - 2023
- Security Service Edge
Frost Radar™: Benchmarking Future Growth Potential 2 Major Indices, 10 Analytical Ingredients, 1 Platform
Growth Index
Growth Index (GI) is a measure of a company’s growth performance and track record, along with its ability to develop and execute a fully aligned growth strategy and vision; a robust growth pipeline system; and effective market, competitor, and end-user focused sales and marketing strategies.
- Market Share (previous 3 years)
This is a comparison of a company’s market share relative to its competitors in a given market space for the previous 3 years. - Revenue Growth (previous 3 years)
This is a look at a company’s revenue growth rate for the previous 3 years in the market/industry/category that forms the context for the given Frost Radar™. - Growth Pipeline
This is an evaluation of the strength and leverage of a company’s growth pipeline system to continuously capture, analyze, and prioritize its universe of growth opportunities. - Vision and Strategy
This is an assessment of how well a company’s growth strategy is aligned with its vision. Are the investments that a company is making in new products and markets consistent with the stated vision? - Sales and Marketing
This is a measure of the effectiveness of a company’s sales and marketing efforts in helping it drive demand and achieve its growth objectives.
Innovation Index
Innovation Index (II) is a measure of a company’s ability to develop products/ services/ solutions (with a clear understanding of disruptive Mega Trends) that are globally applicable, are able to evolve and expand to serve multiple markets and are aligned to customers’ changing needs.
- INNOVATION SCALABILITY
This determines whether an organization’s innovations are globally scalable and applicable in both developing and mature markets, and also in adjacent and non-adjacent industry verticals. - RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
This is a measure of the efficacy of a company’s R&D strategy, as determined by the size of its R&D investment and how it feeds the innovation pipeline. - PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
This is a measure of a company’s product portfolio, focusing on the relative contribution of new products to its annual revenue. - MEGATRENDS LEVERAGE
This is an assessment of a company’s proactive leverage of evolving, long-term opportunities and new business models, as the foundation of its innovation pipeline. - CUSTOMER ALIGNMENT
This evaluates the applicability of a company’s products/services/solutions to current and potential customers, as well as how its innovation strategy is influenced by evolving customer needs.
Significance of Being on the Frost Radar™
Companies plotted on the Frost RadarTM are the leaders in the industry for growth, innovation, or both. They are instrumental in advancing the industry into the future.
- GROWTH POTENTIAL
Your organization has significant future growth potential, which makes it a Company to Action. - BEST PRACTICES
Your organization is well positioned to shape Growth Pipeline™ best practices in your industry. - COMPETITIVE INTENSITY
Your organization is one of the key drivers of competitive intensity in the growth environment. - CUSTOMER VALUE
Your organization has demonstrated the ability to significantly enhance its customer value proposition. - PARTNER POTENTIAL
Your organization is top of mind for customers, investors, value chain partners, and future talent as a significant value provider.
Speak directly with our analytics experts for tailored recommendations.
Purchase includes:
- Report download
- Growth Dialog™ with our experts
Growth Dialog™
A tailored session with you where we identify the:- Strategic Imperatives
- Growth Opportunities
- Best Practices
- Companies to Action
Impacting your company's future growth potential.
| Deliverable Type | Frost Radar |
|---|---|
| Industries | Information Technology |
| No Index | No |
| Is Prebook | No |
| Keyword 1 | Cloud-Based SSE Market |
| Keyword 2 | Security Service Edge |
| Keyword 3 | Edge Security |
| Podcast | No |
| WIP Number | K80D-01-00-00-00 |
Frost Radar™: Security Service Edge, 2023
A Benchmarking System to Spark Companies to Action - Innovation that Fuels New Deal Flow and Growth Pipelines
17-May-2023
Global
Frost Radar
