Orange Business Services and Fortinet seal SASE partnership

Attempting to address the increased demands of enterprises in the current working environment where hybrid work has become a fixture, Orange Business Services (OBS) has extended its partnership with Fortinet to deliver what they call a disruptive approach to secure access service edge (SASE).

Explaining the rationale for the collaboration, the companies pointed out that digital acceleration, the move to work from anywhere and the adoption of cloud connectivity have altered how network infrastructures and security need to be constructed.

They noted that SASE converges networking and security in the cloud, supporting dynamic, secure internet access as part of a work-from-anywhere strategy to connect everyone and everything using cloud-based applications. SASE will extend security capabilities, they added, allowing all types of enterprises to take advantage of zero-trust network access and firewall-as-a-service, for example, regardless of location. 

By working together, the companies said they could create a secure, seamless and scalable cloud-native network, delivering improved user experience. They believe this will be achieved by integrating Fortinet’s security-driven networking technologies into the Orange telco cloud infrastructure, reinforcing security and networking convergence while optimising performance regardless of the user’s location.

Stressing the differentiated nature of their offer, OBS and Fortinet claimed that unlike other SASE service delivery offers on the market, their “seamless” approach – with built-in integration and automation – ensures real-time service updates and an unparalleled user experience.

In the next chapter in their partnership, which has already yielded Flexible SD-WAN based on Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, they believe they can provide the foundation for cloud-native transformations at scale for improved business agility and resilience, resulting in a fully controlled, end-to-end, globally available SASE solution that bridges the gap between the user and the application. It delivers a secure and managed service from the Orange telco cloud infrastructure, boosted by cyber security expertise and capabilities with Orange Cyberdefense.

“Digital acceleration and the shift to support work from anywhere is driving the hybrid convergence of networking and security to enable zero trust across all edges,” said John Maddison, executive vice-president of products and chief marketing officer at Fortinet.

“Expanding upon our long-standing relationship with Orange, we’re pleased to further integrate our security-driven networking technology into the Orange infrastructure to enable a converged networking and security solution, unmatched in terms of visibility, management capabilities, resilience and user experience,” he added.

“This innovative partnership is a continuation of our cloud-focused network evolution,” said Anne-Marie Thiollet, executive vice-president of global solutions at Orange Business Services. “By integrating Fortinet security-driven networking technologies into the Orange telco cloud infrastructure, we enable our customers to easily adopt a cloud-native environment that is increasingly critical for businesses globally.

“At [OBS], we facilitate the deployment and take-up of technologies that drive innovation and business growth for our customers in a fast and secure way.”