With its potential VMware acquisition, Broadcom has the opportunity to meld Symantec's security portfolio with VMware’s SD-WAN capabilities.

By integrating Symantec, VMware SD-WAN and some of Carbon Black’s security capabilities, Broadcom could enter the single-vendor secure access service edge (SASE) market and boost its overall SASE market share and revenue, if executed well.

Broadcom’s current Symantec SASE and security services edge (SSE) portfolio includes components such as secure web gateway (SWG), data loss prevention (DLP), cloud access security brokers (Cloud Access Security Broker), zero-trust network access (ZTNA), SSL inspection and web isolation.

The company claims it builds a partner ecosystem for SD-WAN by integrating with “industry-leading SD-WAN products and network services that are tested to ensure technologies interoperate with Symantec web security solutions. ”

“Broadcom could choose VMware (SD-WAN) and combine it with Symantec to go after the single-vendor opportunity,” Mauricio Sanchez, senior research director for Enterprise networking and security market at Dell’Oro, told SDxCentral.

On the SSE and security front, Broadcom needs to do more consolidation if the deal is successfully completed. “There’s significant overlap between Symantec and [VMware] Carbon Black that will need to be reconciled,” Sanchez added. “While the VMware (SD-WAN) team did dip their toes and added some SSE capabilities, Symantec brings a stronger, more mature technology portfolio.”

Broadcom-VMware deal doubts may cloud the single-SASE integration

There are a lot of questions and speculations surrounding the deal, so the SASE integration might not work as hoped.

The pending deal is expected to close by the end of its current fiscal year, which is at the end of October. Broadcom claims it plans to invest $2 billion per year into VMware should the deal close.

That free-cash-flow push could result in Broadcom unloading some of VMware’s businesses, with several analysts pointing toward its Carbon Black security business as vulnerable.

On the other hand, analysts have been warning about this issue since the $69 billion deal was announced.

“For acquired companies, a Broadcom acquisition sparks fear of price hikes, diminished support and stunted innovation,” Forrester Senior Analyst Tracy Woo wrote in a report.

Woo cited Broadcom’s past acquisition “playbook” as a cautious path forward should the deal be completed. She specifically noted Broadcom’s $18.9 billion purchase of CA Technologies in late 2018, and its subsequent acquisition of Symantec for $10.7 billion in 2019.

The question remains: Will Broadcom's Symantec be combined with VMware’s SD-WAN capabilities to create a single-vendor SASE solution?

Broadcom ranks No. 4 in SASE revenue

According to Dell’Oro Group’s SASE and SD-WAN Quarterly Report for 2Q 2023, Broadcom (Symantec) was ranked as the No. 4 overall SASE vendor in revenue share. The top five companies make up nearly 60% of the market, with Cisco (17.3%) and Zscaler (17%) closely battling for the top spot. Symantec’s slide to an 8% venue share was followed by Fortinet with 6%, according to Sanchez.

The analysis firm’s report also showed there was a 38% year-over-year revenue growth for the SASE market in the second quarter and the quarterly revenue jumped over $2 billion to set a new quarter record.

VMware’s strong single-vendor SASE position

VMware was one of the eight vendors that made Gartner’s first-ever Magic Quadrant for single-vendor SASE. The analysis firm identified VMware as a Niche Player.

Gartner noted in the report that VMware SASE offers strong SD-WAN functionality and cost-effective pricing in this market, but it lags behind in security functionality, including Software-as-a-Service control or visibility and data security.

The firm also named VMware as one of the market leaders in its 2022 SD-WAN Magic Quadrant report, along with Cisco, Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) Aruba and Versa Networks

Meanwhile, Forrester also put VMware SASE into the strong performer category in its zero-trust edge solution Wave report for the third quarter of 2023.

The firm noted that, unlike other vendors in the report which mostly originated in the networking or security space, VMware came in from the virtual Server market, which gives it a unique advantage.

“Its acquisition of Ananda Networks, Nyansa and VeloCloud gave VMware a strategic position to solve connectivity issues that span mobile workers, remote offices and virtual areas inside of cloud platforms,” the report wrote.

However, Forrester analysts caution about its complex vision and lack of a single management system as barriers to becoming a unified SASE solution.

Single-vendor SASE market potential

Neither Broadcom nor VMware was listed in the top 5 single-vendor SASE vendors (vendors that offer both SD-WAN and SSE) in Dell'Oro's latest report. The top vendors were Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Netskope and Versa Networks.

The report also found that single-vendor SASE revenue increased nearly 70% year over year and represented over half the SASE market.

In the Magic Quadrant report, Gartner analysts also forecast a more than 50% jump in the number of vendors expected by 2025, compared to mid-2023, with five to 10 new vendors entering the market over the next 18 months.