Versa Partner Sales Leader On Sovereign SASE In A Time Of Increasing Data Privacy, Security Concerns

Two months after the launch of its Sovereign SASE model, Versa’s vice president of North America partner sales, Hemen Mehta, shares how the concept is appealing to new kinds of customers and opening new doors for channel partners as compliance and data regulations hang over many organizations.

Sovereign SASE has emerged as a framework that lets organizations maintain control over their sensitive data while meeting data regulation and security restrictions. SASE specialist Versa Networks in February launched its own Sovereign SASE model, a concept that is appealing to new kinds of customers and opening doors that were previously closed to channel partners, according to Hemen Mehta, Versa’s vice president of North America partner sales.

Versa Sovereign SASE is a deployment model for VersaOne, a universal, AI-powered SASE platform that combines a range of security and connectivity products in a single place. The deployment model has been built to meet security, operational control, privacy and data residency requirements for large enterprises, government organizations and service providers that can’t use solutions based on public cloud or multitenant environments. According to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company, Versa Sovereign SASE gives customers full control over their data, infrastructure and operations because it’s based on-premises or in private cloud environments, while also allowing these businesses to benefit from Versa’s networking and security capabilities—not to mention the customizable, value-added services that partners can offer in combination with Sovereign SASE.

Sovereign SASE demand is being driven by regulatory data compliance requirements and interest is growing from enterprises and service providers looking for more control over their environments. For the channel, this means bringing SASE to new kinds of customers and introducing new solutions and services wrapped around Sovereign SASE. Mehta spoke with CRN about the new SASE deployment option and the opportunity for partners.

Here are excerpts from the conversation.

What market factors are driving demand higher for Sovereign SASE?

Unified SASE is the term that’s been out there for some time now, but the [need for] Sovereign SASE came into play and was driven by demand for integrated networking and security services and data sovereignty requirements. The way I look at it, what’s driving demand for Sovereign SASE is all around privacy and compliance, and that’s sort of the foundation. And then when you integrate the privacy, visibility and put AI controls around it, everything that has to do with localized data control management, maintaining full visibility over that sensitive data and critical operations, that end-to-end visibility for users and applications is what’s driving some of the demand for Sovereign SASE. From a Versa perspective, whether it’s Sovereign SASE, private SASE or SASE as a Service, we have been in the playing field for quite some time now, and Sovereign SASE, from our point of view, is all about how it’s deployed.

What kinds of customers is Sovereign SASE appealing to?

My business unit that I’m responsible for is the channel, where the majority of these are large, Tier 1 service providers and Tier 2 and 3 providers, which fall in the category of managed service providers. The typical customer profile, from Versa’s perspective, is that we are seeing a lot more traction [with] Tier 1, 2 and 3 service providers, and specifically for those service providers that are looking to deploy on their own infrastructure, that want to maintain or own the network and [have] some customization of the services and branding. They want better data flow control. That’s where we are seeing, in the near term, the largest traction in our base of customers. And when I say Tier 2, and 3, that includes the smaller MSPs that are looking to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack.

How is Versa’s Sovereign SASE offering helping the company differentiate from SASE competitors?

If I look at my BU [business unit] and you ask the question: ‘How does Versa differentiate between so many different players that are out there that are offering networking and security?’ There are many companies, but one of the assets that we have is everything that Versa has built. Nothing bolted on, everything is in-house, all built in. However, when I look at my customer base in North America and compare it with any other competitor of Versa, I don’t think anybody can even come close. … I don’t think there is competition of ours that actually has penetrated the market with this idea of Sovereign SASE, so if you talk about differentiation, Versa definitely differentiates compared to the big guys that are out there.

What were MSPs doing before Sovereign SASE to satisfy customer security and regulatory requirements for customers?

We’ve always had all the different flavors of the ways we deploy SASE, so the end customers of these service providers and partners looked at it as more in the line of SASE as a service, which again, doesn’t really differentiate [partners] from the other competitors of theirs. So typically, they would just be offering SASE as a service, and that could be from their own infrastructure, from their own cloud, or it could be delivered in Versa-hosted, Versa-managed cloud, SASE as a service. But with the new Sovereign SASE model, it does allow these SPs to offer their own brand, and it allows them to build their own kind of customization of their own services. It basically allows them to white-label options as well. So, pre-Sovereign SASE, they did what everybody else did. Now, if I’m a Verizon, how do I differentiate from another service provider that offers the same thing—SASE as a service—that’s where the Sovereign SASE is coming in besides all of the other compliance and regulatory requirements.

What’s the main takeaway partners should have regarding the Sovereign SASE opportunity?

The message that the partners should take away from the market dynamics is if they are looking to differentiate from their competition, [they should] offer private, customer-hosted infrastructure within their environment, and with data privacy, making sure that all of the security controls are air-gapped within that ecosystem. I think that is something that really differentiates these MSPs from the rest of the pack, and it’s something that Versa is very uniquely positioned to offer. I think we’re the very first ones to offer true Sovereign SASE.