Networking giant Cisco released a series of new features to its SD-WAN platform this week, claiming improved Application performance, visibility, and security.

The updates, which launch with the 17.8 SD-WAN release, provide wider Software-as-a-Service routing support, enhanced Application and network telemetry, and support for a broader range of security services edge (SSE) vendors.

Cisco Expands SaaS Cloud OnRamp

First up, Cisco announced a bevy of enhancements to its Cloud OnRamp for SaaS applications.

Customers can now extend their SD-WAN fabrics to any SaaS or network-based Application recognition apps. This means customers are no longer limited to a select few business applications, and can define policy for any Application whether its Github, Slack, or Workday the company added.

“This update enables customers to experience fast, reliable, and secure connectivity to SaaS apps and gain visibility into network metrics,” explained Raakhee Mistry, senior director of cloud marketing at Cisco, in a recent blog post.

Cisco Opens SD-WAN to More SSE Vendors

In addition to Application on ramps, the release also includes updates to the company’s Secure Internet Gateway product.

Customers can now apply layer-7 Application health checks for traffic traversing cloud security services that aren’t Cisco Umbrella or Zscaler.

“Cisco SD-WAN supports customers that have multi-vender strategies,” Mistry wrote, adding that this makes it easier for customer to transition to a single vendor SASE architecture down the road.

The update also includes tools for preventing what Cisco calls “blackholing” where traffic is sent into the void if the cloud security vendor’s platform experiences an outage.

The capability allows customers to define policies to reroute traffic through the corporate security perimeter in the event of an outage.

Cisco Amps SD-WAN With Stronger Analytics

Cisco also revamped its vAnalytics platform to provide customers with enhanced visibility and allow them to correlate industry Application benchmarks with networking and operation insights.

“These enhancements allow customers to transform network operations from reactive to a highly proactive model by providing great insights into their underlying SD-WAN fabric and cloud connectivity,” Mistry wrote.

Improvements include application-level telemetry for expedited issue identification and resolution; correlative telemetry for operational monitoring; and enhanced data visualization within vAnalytics.