Why SASE Success Starts with a Specialist Partner

Written by Dave McGrail, Head of Business Consulting, Xalient

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is quickly becoming a top priority for business leaders, particularly those with remote teams, cloud-focused plans, and growing security challenges, as they recognise the benefits of bringing networking and security into a single, flexible, cloud-based solution. In fact, the global SASE market is projected to reach $10.89 billion in 2026, up from $9.27 billion in 2025.

Yet, despite the high demand and the increasing number of companies adopting SASE, there is limited maturity, with recent research from Xalient highlighting that only 7% of enterprises have unlocked the full value of their SASE solution. Most are still struggling to integrate networking and security functions effectively. The research found that 43% of firms reported their SASE deployment was in the early tactical phase. A striking 96% of organisations face challenges in their SASE journey, including siloed teams, legacy infrastructure, and difficulty aligning deployments with business goals.

High Stakes, Low Expertise: The Risk of Going It Alone on SASE

SASE is complex, and approaches to implementation vary widely. As a result, many are taking avoidable risks by not involving a specialist partner from the start.

 

The financial stakes alone make this a critical concern. For a company with approximately 2,000 employees, the first year of a full SASE rollout can cost between £500,000 and £1 million or more, with ongoing costs reaching hundreds of thousands annually. With stakes this high, expert guidance from day one ensures solutions are designed correctly, fit the budget, and deliver results.

 

However, according to the Xalient research, only 36% of IT Network teams and 38% of IT Security teams reported working with a specialist SASE partner. Even more concerning is that 20% of IT Network and 16% of IT Security teams are attempting to self-implement, while others are turning to generalist partners or vendor professional services. These findings highlight a significant gap between the strategic importance of SASE and the deployment models organisations are relying on.

 

Why Specialist SASE Partners Turn Risk into Resilience

There are real risks in skipping specialist expertise.  SASE is more than a SaaS subscription; it brings together several complex areas. Teams that attempt to handle it themselves may overlook the challenges of integration, leading to expensive delays, security issues, or missed compliance requirements. General IT partners might do well in other areas, but they often lack the in-depth SASE knowledge required to customise solutions, select the right licences, and deliver value quickly. Mistakes here can increase risk, reduce returns, and weaken long-term stability.

Specialist partners have completed hundreds of SASE deployments and know what works and what doesn’t which can help organisations avoid costly pitfalls. Rather than trying to navigate the journey alone, businesses can lean on a specialist partner to design a tailored roadmap that delivers the outcomes they need. Beyond the technical insights and skills, they also address the people and process side of the transformation. This includes managing business change, communications, end‑user training, and operational processes, while embedding new support and troubleshooting capabilities into the right teams. This holistic approach prevents end-user friction from undermining confidence and ensures the project is seen as a success by both stakeholders and technical teams. .

Engaging a specialist SASE partner from the outset ensures a deliberate, strategic path to transformation. Instead of piecing together fragmented solutions or retrofitting security controls later, a trusted partner designs and deploys architectures aligned with business objectives and compliance requirements from day one. This alignment reduces risk, accelerates adoption, and ensures that cloud and network investments directly support the organisation’s long‑term goals.

Additionally, specialists also optimise investment. Many enterprises struggle with either over‑provisioning and spending heavily on capacity they don’t use, or under‑provisioning, leaving critical workloads exposed. A SASE partner brings the experience and insight needed to right‑size deployments, balancing cost efficiency with resilience. This means organisations can scale confidently, knowing their infrastructure is both agile and sustainable.

Speed is another advantage. Specialist partners rely on proven methodologies and repeatable frameworks that shorten deployment timelines dramatically. What might otherwise take months of trial and error can be delivered in weeks, with fewer disruptions to business operations. This accelerated deployment not only saves time but also allows enterprises to realise the benefits of modernised security and networking sooner.

Perhaps most importantly, engaging a SASE partner establishes a hardened security posture immediately. Rather than bolting on protection later, organisations gain end‑to‑end visibility, consistent policy enforcement, and integrated threat detection from the start. This proactive approach reduces vulnerabilities, strengthens compliance, and builds trust with customers and regulators alike.

No Partner, No Payoff: Get SASE Right from Day One

In essence, partnering with a specialist SASE provider transforms the journey from reactive firefighting into a proactive strategy. It ensures that deployment, investment, speed, and security are optimised at every step to deliver lasting value and resilience in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

 

Ultimately, with SASE, the choice of partner is as critical as the technology itself. Just as enterprises would not attempt to roll out an ERP or CRM system without an experienced systems integrator, they should not embark on a SASE journey without the guidance of a specialist who lives and breathes this domain.

 

Looking ahead to 2026, SASE adoption is expected to continue growing, but most enterprises are still in the early stages of climbing the maturity curve. While SASE has become the default framework for secure, cloud‑first networking, only a small elite have fully realised its potential. The next frontier is intelligent, AI‑driven SASE that dynamically adapts to business and security needs. However, SASE is too important and expensive to leave to trial and error. To maximise benefits, companies should partner with a specialist from the outset of their SASE journey, ensuing secure, reliable, and flexible connections at scale.

Dave McGrailHead of Business Consultancy at Xalient.

With over 15 years of experience in telecoms, UC, contact centre, networking and security technologies, Dave provides strategic and technical consultancy as a trusted adviser to Xalient’s customers, with a proven track record for driving secure network transformations for global enterprises to help achieve business objectives. 

Speak to an Expert

Explore the power of Xalient Solutions

Subscribe to our Newsletter!