Spain-based telecommunications giant Telefónica expanded its managed security portfolio through a new security services edge (SSE) platform offered in collaboration with Zscaler.

For those that aren’t familiar, the Gartner-coined product category encompasses platforms and vendors offering the cloud security, but not the edge networking or SD-WAN part of a secure access service edge (SASE) architecture. Gartner defines SSE as including “access control, threat protection, data security, security monitoring, and acceptable-use control enforced by network-based and API-based integrations.”

Zscaler, Netskope, and what used to be McAfee Enterprise are the market leaders in the SSE space, according to Garter’s latest Magic Quadrant report.

Beyond flashy marketing, the collaboration is otherwise a typical service provider partnership. Zscaler provides cloud-based security services via its 150 points of presence, while Telefónica Tech — the telco’s managed security service arm — manages the product and provides support to end customers.

“Incorporating Zscaler’s Zero Trust Exchange platform in our new Security Edge service permits Telefónica Tech to reinforce its leading position as MSSP bringing tangible value for our customers in their digital journey,” Alberto Sempere, director of cybersecurity products and technology at Telefónica Tech, said in a statement.

The service combines “Our recognized in-house security expertise and Zscaler’s leading technology,” he added.

Telefónica Tech claims the new offering enables it to address changing workforce dynamics post pandemic, including the pivot to remote and hybrid work models, as well as the mass migration to cloud and Software-as-a-Service applications.

While Zscaler was quick to throw its weight behind the SASE branding in the product categories early days, the company never offered a comprehensive portfolio.

Zscaler could claim zero-trust network access (ZTNA), secure web gateway (SWG), Cloud Access Security Broker, and even cloud-firewall capabilities, but it — like many early “SASE” vendors relied on third party integrations with SD-WAN vendors like VMware and Versa for WAN.

In fact, in a 2020 interview with SDxCentral, CEO Jay Chaudhry said there was no reason for the company to provide SD-WAN. “We believe that the notion that SASE means networking and security coming together is a misinterpretation of it,” the exec said at the time.

With the introduction SSE by Gartner early last year, the company almost immediately found itself leading the pack among a bevy of other vendors preferring to address the cloud-security end of the problem rather than offer a full-on SASE architecture.

Zscaler is Telefónica’s latest addition to is managed security services portfolio. The company late last year launched its first managed SASE offering in collaboration with long-time security partner Fortinet. The platform aimed to address the shift to hybrid and cloud-centric work models, which were accelerated by the pandemic.

Dubbed flexWAN by Fortinet, the service combines the security vendor’s SD-WAN and SASE security capabilities into a single managed service to ensure consistent security regardless of whether users are logging in from the branch, from their home, or remotely.