There’s a new acronym in town: SSE, which stands for Security Service Edge. If this looks mighty similar to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), it’s because they are closely related.

Two words will reshape the industry over the next several years. Modern workplace. This term means many things to different audiences. To some this is an emphasis on using platforms like Microsoft Teams, or Zoom for collaboration at work. To others this is around securely connecting employees to private applications, and across hybrid work environments, or even ensuring their business ecosystem has access to data.

Security Service Edge (SSE) describes the evolving security stack crucial to a Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) journey, with core platform requirements that include CASB, SWG, and ZTNA capabilities. SASE is an architecture—really, a long-term journey that will change how we all think about security and networking. But SSE, as part of SASE, is a set of cloud-delivered security services you can acquire and make the most of today.

In recent blogs, we’ve explored the role of Security Service Edge (SSE) technologies as part of a SASE architecture, and the key differences between SSE and SASE. But so far, we’ve focused more on overall functionality than on its realization and what SSE means from a cloud design and implementation perspective. In this post, we shift gears to put a spotlight on networking and infrastructure as it relates to security clouds.

As we all learn how to practically apply the emerging technology of Secure Service Edge (SSE), here is a significant SSE use case—perhaps the most significant, at least in our immediate future. Looking ahead to 2022, many businesses will no doubt have return-to-office plans at the front of their minds. But coming back to the office brings its own unexpected risks that security leaders need to be ready for.

The SASE journey requires reliable partners with truly integrated platform capabilities, not vendors wielding smoke-and-mirrors-style marketing proclaiming “SASE” in giant headlines. But clarity is critical, and both SASE and the more-recently-coined security service edge (SSE) terminology, can be a little confusing.