NTT today announced a partnership with Palo Alto Networks to launch a managed secure access service edge (SASE) product designed to help customers better manage their network and security infrastructure.

The Japanese telecommunication company claims the Managed Prisma SASE service will customers to improve cloud application performance and security management by integrating networking functionality with cloud security features, as “a full network-as-a-service (NaaS).”

“With the enhancement of NTT´s Managed Campus Networks solution through the addition of Palo Alto Networks´ Prisma SASE, NTT will be able to provide a fully managed end-to-end network with cloud security features – such as zero trust and identity-based security,” NTT SVP Aishwarya Singh told SDxCentral. “This will enable us to integrate our clients´ key applications and multiple cloud environments through a single platform while securing access for all traffic.”

Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma SASE platform includes its SD-WAN, secure web gateway, cloud access security broker, cloud-based firewalls, and zero-trust network access (ZTNA) services.

The NTT partnership underpins the security giant’s single-vendor SASE approach, said Palo Alto Networks SVP Anand Oswal.

Palo Alto Networks also partnered with other carriers for managed SASE. For example, in 2021 AT&T announced a single-vendor, managed SASE services beginning with Fortinet and later added Palo Alto Networks and Cisco. The service can offer “a single point of contact for the network as well as for cybersecurity,” Theresa Lanowitz, head of cybersecurity evangelism at AT&T Business, told SDxCentral in an earlier interview.

Singh claims NTT has a unique value proposition for its service, as it offers a single pane of glass and a global presence across all geographies for this SASE solution.

She added the managed service is based on businesses' needs and requirements as it offers consumption-based NaaS and “full lifecycle services across design, deployment, and management with entry points matching unique client journeys and needs.”

Amid the economic downturn and increased cyberthreats, more companies are consolidating their security tools and turning to security and networking vendors for managed services.

Singh pointed out NTT’s new managed SASE service targets organizations that look for “tight coupling between their network and security fabric with a fully managed solution, provided as-a-service.”

“With the accelerated adoption of multi-cloud environments, hybrid working models, and increasingly complex and geographically spread footprints, our clients see the need for a one-stop shop,” she said, adding the managed SASE service can address challenges they are facing such as talent and skills gap and capex budget pressure.

NTT highlighted the platform’s AIOps and automation capabilities can help improve operational efficiency and performance while securing the distributed workforce. Palo Alto Networks also claims artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and ZTNA 2.0 are at the forefront of its SASE plans.

“We saw organizations ramping up their investments in cloud-delivered security and SD-WAN solutions to secure users, applications, and critical data, irrespective of their locations,” Palo Alto Networks SVP Kumar Ramachandran told SDxCentral in an earlier interview, adding that that AI and ML will “fundamentally transform the security and operational model.”

Singh also touted the partnership as “a critical step” in the evolution of NTT’s managed services and the company plans to continue enhancing its platform with AIOps, automation, and security capabilities.