Nitel deepened its work with Fortinet, adding the security vendor’s SD-WAN technology to Nitel’s Secure SD-WAN managed platform in a move to bolster its overall network-as-a-service (NaaS) business that is targeted at small- and mid-sized enterprises.
Nitel’s NaaS platform allows users to customize their connectivity options, but through a managed portal to help guide those decisions. It can also provide proactive network monitoring and management to support performance and security needs and Nitel provides a support team through its Managed Services Center (MSC).
Mike Frane, chief product officer at Nitel, explained that the move to add Fortinet’s SD-WAN was based on customer demand, and that Fortinet’s platform was a good fit for “highly distributed enterprises” like retail.
“As we’ve been watching Fortinet, the continued development of their SD-WAN capabilities has really made the platform fit for purpose for both network and obviously security with those customers,” Frane said.
Nitel also has a history with Fortinet, having offered its managed firewall service on-premises and in the cloud for nearly 10 years. “So we have a lot of familiarity with the platform, and we’re really excited to be able to expand the capabilities with the SD-WAN product,” Frane said.
Frane explained that Fortinet brings a “security first” approach to SD-WAN, which is unique for Nitel.
“You look at someone like Cisco, who had a networking arm and a security arm and brought them together. You look at someone like VeloCloud, who was native SD-WAN and is integrating security into it. Fortinet is really security first, or security forward and then has integrated SD-WAN into it,” Frane said, noting this message “really resonates with a lot of our highly security conscious customers. So for those customers who are looking at a high powered premises security capability as well as the SD-WAN, Fortinet is a great choice.”
Nitel does offer support for other platforms, like the recent expansion of its work with Cisco’s Secure SD-WAN managed service and work with VeloCloud, Frane said the Fortinet work is more focused.
“We have others that we support, but the way I like to say it is we want to be intentionally great at a handful. We can’t be great at all of them. So we’ve really sharpened the focus of which platforms were introducing, and in many cases reintroducing, as part of the portfolio,” Frane said.
Nitel continues to bolster SD-WAN, NaaS
The addition also takes advantage of Nitel’s recent purchase of privately held WAN Dynamics. That deal combines WAN Dynamics’ SD-WAN and network security systems into Nitel’s managed network offerings.
Frane explained that WAN Dynamics had been supporting Fortinet security and SD-WAN capabilities through its profession services and as a cloud-based next-generation firewall (NGFX).
“We’re really able to leverage their extensive and deep knowledge in deploying, supporting and automating the Fortinet platform that will really help us differentiate the Nitel offering,” Frane said.
Nitel earlier this year also added a satellite connectivity option that allows customers to add more performance to their SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) deployments in remote locations or even rely more exclusively on just that satellite connection.
That bolstering should help better position Nitel to compete in the growing NaaS space.
Analysys Mason recently predicted enterprise spending on multicloud networking products like SD-WAN and NaaS will grow to $13 billion per year by 2028.
Frane noted that the managed network-as-a-service (NaaS) market has indeed over the past several years with customers moving from a do-it-yourself model to a managed offering.
“They’ve realized and understood after several years of running their own network that they have mandates to be intentionally great at other things, like selling tacos or taking care of patients or teaching students,” Frane said. “With the co-management and the extreme visibility that we give them, moving to a managed service provider like Nitel has become an easier decision and more palatable all throughout their networking and security teams.”
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