VMware’s Craig Connors discusses the evolution of Secure Service Edge (SSE), on one side and SASE on the other, with SD-WAN as the foundation. As workers stay remote, applications on distributed devices move from centralized locations to the edge, and the world goes cloud native, how do we securely connect users and devices running many applications in many different locations? What is the destination for SASE? Craig highlights opportunities for service providers as networking vendors branch into security and security vendors venture into networking.

In this Executives at the Edge episode, host Pascal Menezes explores these topics and more with Craig Connors of VMware: 

• The rapid evolution of SASE; rethinking the way we approach networking and security. 
• How SD-WAN and SSE are two fundamental pieces of the SASE puzzle and zero trust network access brings them together. 
• Why security vendors are coming to the networking side while networking vendors are branching into security. 
• How the shift helps service providers and creates new opportunities that hyperscale growth. 
• What is the final destination in this ever-expanding market? 

About Our Guest

Craig Connors, Vice President, and General Manager for the SASE Business,
VMware

Craig Connors is currently VP, and GM for the SASE Business at VMware. Prior to being named GM, Craig served as VP and CTO for VMware’s Service Provider and Edge Business Unit. Previously, Craig served as the CTO for SD-WAN and SASE at VMware. Prior to being named CTO, Craig served as the Chief Architect for VMware SD-WAN, both before and after VMware’s acquisition of VeloCloud. He came to VeloCloud from Cisco Systems, where he worked in the Corporate Development Technology Group’s Advanced Development Team. Prior to Cisco, Craig spent time as a Principal Engineer and Software Development Manager for Talari Networks. His programming work prior to Talari Networks was centered in the online gaming space which is what led him to networking. Craig is a veteran of the United States Army and holds a BS in Computer Science from North Carolina State University.

Executives at the Edge podcast is brought to you by MEF, an industry association of 200 service, technology, and cloud providers who together accelerate enterprise digital transformation.

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