There are now at least 20 leading companies targeting the market for secure access service edge (SASE), a technology framework representing the convergence of cloud-based networking and security technologies, according to research firm Futuriom's SASE Growth and Ecosystem Report 2022.

Despite macroeconomic stress, Futuriom reported that spending on SASE has “held up well” this year, with many enterprises retaining their cybersecurity budgets due to a massive increase in cyberthreats. The firm estimates the addressable market for SASE is now worth “tens of billions of dollars."

Futuriom research also showed public companies in the SASE space reporting 30%-60% revenue growth based on annual recurring revenue (ARR).

SASE is part of a larger movement toward consolidating tools and integrating them with cloud architectures,  Futuriom said, as the framework provides an opportunity for “integration of many security functions, to provide more secure cloud and remote access, and replace traditional virtual private networks (VPNs).”

SASE has the potential to “address and integrate dozens of other cybersecurity markets,” and the integration and consolidation of security functions – including functions such as secure web gateway (SWG), firewall-as-a-service (FaaS), and zero-trust network access (ZTNA) – through the SASE framework is expected to remain a strong trend.

“End users we have surveyed and interviewed are asking for better integration of cloud and network security tools to adapt to end-user mobility, increased cloud applications access, and diverse security threats,” Futuriom said.

“Just as SD-WAN spawned dozens of vendors (some say more than 50) chasing the new paradigm, SASE has also drawn a lot of interest,” Futuriom noted in the report.

While companies like Fortinet developed their own SD-WAN technology, the firm added “Many of the remaining, independent pioneers of the SD-WAN market simply added SASE functionality -- or were acquired by other companies that had complementary SASE portfolios.”

For example, in the last five years Cisco bought SD-WAN startup Viptela, VMware bought VeloCloud, Palo Alto Networks bought CloudGenix, and HPE bought Silver Peak – all in similar efforts to append better cloud networking capabilities to their SASE portfolios.

Futuriom added other “independent SASE companies” such as Aryaka Networks, Cato Networks, and Versa Networks have opted to developed their own SASE portfolios and “are growing fast and prospering with new security offerings.”

The firm expects vendor consolidation will continue, “with many large acquisitions taking place in SASE areas such as cloud access security broker (CASB) and ZTNA. Expect this trend to continue as larger players roll up best-of-breed security functions into their SASE portfolios.”