Interface Launches Managed SASE for Multi-Location Restaurants and Other Businesses

Interface Security Systems, a leading managed service provider delivering business security, managed network, UCaaS and business intelligence solutions to distributed enterprises, today announced that it will offer Managed SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) services to tackle complex security challenges faced by multi-location restaurants and other enterprises.

The rapid adoption of cloud-based software applications and the shift to work from home or anywhere have created complex security challenges. Securing multi-location restaurants and other enterprises using solutions suitable for the traditional hub and spoke network model with traffic backhauled through the data center is no longer tenable. With Interface’s Managed SASE, enterprises no longer have to rely on point solutions and building complex integrations to maintain a mature security posture.

“Interface has years of experience deploying secure, managed network solutions. SASE represents a natural evolution for our solution set and our customers,” said Steve Womer, VP of Customer and Solutions Engineering at Interface. “The important thing security and IT professionals should consider when evaluating SASE is what problem they’re trying to solve for. There is a lot of marketing hype to sift through, and many of the point solutions have big gaps to fill. Interoperability should be top of mind.”

Interface’s managed SASE solution will be built using Fortinet’s security-driven networking innovations, which converge networking and security across every network edge to ensure consistent threat protection, better user experience, and high performance.  The choice to partner with Fortinet on the managed SASE solution addresses some of the key challenges faced by consumer-facing multi-location enterprises as they pivot their business operations to meet changing customer expectations.

Speaking about the collaboration with Interface, Courtney Radke, CISO, National Retail, Fortinet, says, “Many retailers have complex network operations and need to deliver enterprise-class protection and consistent user experiences at any edge. Interface understands that tightly integrating both security and networking functionality is key to achieving this and, together with Fortinet, offers a compelling managed SASE solution for retail chains.”

Restaurants and other businesses benefit from a comprehensive network security platform in today’s cloud-first world. Interface’s solution addresses SD-WAN, FWaaS (FireWall as a Service), ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access), and SWG (Secure Web Gateway) using a single platform designed to scale the network without compromising security. While many SASE solutions on the market only address one or two of the aspects of SASE like ZTNA (Zero Trust Network Access) or FWaaS, Interface implements SD-WAN, ZTNA, FWaaS, and SWG, as well as the network infrastructure and provides expert engineering resources needed to support it.

“What differentiates Interface’s SASE offering from other solutions is that it addresses both Cloud and WAN edge security as well as LAN security,” says Womer. “Embracing cloud security while abandoning branch network security is risky, especially when a branch has a blend of trusted and untrusted security zones. Third-party vendor applications are a big threat vector and they’re a hop away from many companies’ most sensitive applications like POS and CRM.”

“We feel that our solution takes a very practical and modular approach to solving business challenges and is very cost-effective. Interface designs, implements and supports the solution using in-house resources with real-world experience deploying secure networks for some of the nation’s largest brands,” said Brian Garavuso, CTO for Interface.