First Vendors Achieve MEF SD-WAN Certification

MEF, the industry consortium of network, cloud, and security providers, recently announced the first batch of technology providers to have reached the SD-WAN certification milestone, the first module in its Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) certification program.

Broadcom, Fortinet, and Versa were the three technology providers that achieved SD-WAN certification, with the industry forum also confirming that Palo Alto Networks is expected to reach this certification stage soon.

The importance of this development was highlighted when the news was announced. “The first SD-WAN certifications achieved under our SASE program mark a significant milestone, empowering enterprises to confidently adopt secure and reliable access solutions as they accelerate digital transformation and migrate more applications to the cloud,” said Pascal Menezes, CTO of MEF, in a release. “This certification paves the way for enterprises to confidently pursue full SASE certification and demonstrates MEF’s commitment to validating secure, high-performing networks.” 

MEF’s SASE certification comprises three test modules: SD-WAN, Security Service Edge (SSE), and Zero Trust – each of which must be successfully accomplished to achieve SASE certification.  

What is SASE?

Related:How Certified SASE Solutions Build Trust and Resilience

SASE is a combination of the many elements that make up WAN edge services and Security Service Edge. It was coined by Gartner in 2019, and its standards were ratified by the MEF, which provided common terminology for what should be included in SASE products. This standard includes SD-WAN, VPN, security web gateway, encryption, and zero-trust network access.

Up until the pandemic, SASE was relatively unknown, but its popularity and need shot up in 2020, with millions of people forced to work from home. Now that it's clear some would rather work from home permanently, businesses are having to reassemble their network security to factor in access from all around the world. We are also moving into a world where having one secure location is becoming more obsolete.

SASE provides a lot of the tools businesses need to maintain the same or close to the same levels of security without having every computer on the network on the same intranet or even the same cloud provider. This reduces the hassle remote employees face when trying to connect to the network and can also enable administrators to have full access in all locations.

Even with the increase in need for this type of service, SASE has had a hard time selling itself due to the complexity involved. There are dozens of tools that need to be integrated, which is why the MEF and others have encouraged cloud and networking providers to offer a SASE platform in one offering rather than giving customers a list of additional services and requirements.

What is the MEF SASE certification?

The MEF certification reduces the complexity further for customers by highlighting the technology providers that have assembled a comprehensive SASE solution. MEF has partnered with CyberRatings.org, a lab dedicated to testing cybersecurity products, to test and verify the various suppliers applying for the certification.

With the certification, SASE providers will receive a full report card detailing the good and bad of their solution, along with a score. If the provider is certified, their logo will appear on the MEF certification registry, and they can use the certification as part of their promotional material.

The SD-WAN certification is the first step in the process to full certification. The MEF has said it will publish details of verified providers in the fourth quarter of this year.