Netskope, Zscaler, Palo Alto Networks Lead Gartner’s SSE Magic Quadrant For 2023

SSE Magic Quadrant

For the countless organizations looking to enable hybrid and distributed workforces in 2023, providing secure access to corporate applications, data and other resources remains a top priority. Capabilities that are now widely seen as essential include zero trust network access (ZTNA) as a more-secure alternative to VPNs; cloud access security broker (CASB) for protecting the use of cloud-based applications; and secure web gateway (SWG) for protecting web usage. Increasingly, these capabilities are coming as a single package, as part of a unified security service edge (SSE) platform.

[Related: Palo Alto Networks Joins ‘Leaders’ In Gartner’s New SSE Magic Quadrant]

At research firm Gartner, analysts coined the term SASE (secure access service edge) in 2019 to denote a platform that offers both the security and networking elements needed for enabling modern remote access to applications and data. Gartner analysts then introduced SSE as a category in 2021, on the idea that the security components involved in SASE deserve a category of their own that’s distinct from the networking elements such as SD-WAN.

Gartner’s inaugural SSE Magic Quadrant was released in 2022. This week, the research firm debuted the 2023 edition of the SSE Magic Quadrant vendor ranking. The new Gartner Magic Quadrant for SSE recognizes 10 cybersecurity vendors, with Netskope, Zscaler and Palo Alto Networks named “leaders” in SSE in the report. Other major vendors recognized by Gartner included Cloudflare, Cisco and Skyhigh Security (formerly the SSE business of McAfee Enterprise). The Gartner Magic Quadrant rankings are a highly influential and closely watched indicator of how key players compare in numerous segments of the tech industry.

Gartner defines the “core capabilities” of a cloud-based SSE platform as including SWG, CASB and ZTNA, ultimately providing a modern way to secure user and endpoint traffic across hybrid and distributed teams. SSE platforms are “primarily cloud-delivered,” according to the research firm. SSE offerings can include numerous other capabilities, as well — such as remote browser isolation, cloud security posture management, SaaS security posture management and advanced data protection functionality, Gartner said in its report.

There were just a few major changes in the 2023 SSE Magic Quadrant, as compared to last year’s ranking. Cybersecurity giant Palo Alto Networks had appeared in the “challengers” quadrant in Gartner’s 2022 SSE Magic Quadrant, suggesting that the company’s “completeness of vision” was not as robust as that of several of the leaders, and that its “ability to execute” ranked behind that of Zscaler, according to the 2022 ranking. But for the 2023 SSE Magic Quadrant, Palo Alto Networks moved into the coveted “leaders” quadrant after extending the capabilities for its Prisma Access platform in 2022, according to Gartner. Meanwhile, Cloudflare appeared in the SSE Magic Quadrant ranking for the first time as part of the 2023 report.

Gartner said it assessed the SSE vendors based on capabilities that were available as of Aug. 30, 2022.

What follows are key details on the 10 vendors who appeared in Gartner’s SSE Magic Quadrant for 2023.