Gartner Research

Critical Capabilities for Security Service Edge

Published: 21 May 2025

Summary

Baseline enforcement capability of SSE functionality has largely commoditized around features such as advanced threat defense and adaptive access controls, but capabilities such as SSPM and integrated deployment are still maturing. Security and risk management leaders should use this research as a starting point for product evaluations.

Included in Full Research

  • Broadcom
  • Cloudflare
  • Fortinet
  • iboss
  • Netskope
  • Palo Alto Networks
  • Skyhigh Security
  • Versa Networks
  • Zscaler
  • Ease of Administration
  • Threat Protection
  • Adaptive Access
  • Securing Private Applications
  • Application Discovery
  • Web Control and Visibility
  • Data Security
  • Securing SaaS Applications
  • Unified Platform
  • Enterprise Integration
  • Essential SSE
  • Advanced SSE
  • Private Application Access
  • Branch Office User Connectivity
  • Data Protection
  • SaaS Enablement

Analysts:

Thomas Lintemuth,  Charlie Winckless,  Dale Koeppen,  Charanpal Bhogal

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Critical Capabilities: A deeper look into provider offerings

How does a Critical Capabilities report work?

As a companion to the Magic Quadrant™, a Critical Capabilities report scores competing products and services against a set of meaningful differentiators. It reveals which options are the best fit in various use cases to help you focus on the vendors best suited to your needs.

A Critical Capabilities report is more than just a diagram. You also get:
Sharper focus

Narrow down the product and service criteria most important to you.

Individualized use cases

Use interactive features to customize usage scenarios based on your organization’s unique needs.

Faster decision making

Use data to speed up provider selection and accelerate the procurement process.

A Gartner Critical Capabilities report is just one of our many offerings.

We provide actionable, objective insight to help organizations make smarter, faster technology decisions to stay ahead of disruption and accelerate growth.

Pick the right provider with confidence

We use a Critical Capabilities report, the Magic Quadrant and more to ensure you select the best-fit provider to avoid the costly repercussions of a poor decision.

Align deal structures and optimize spend

We benchmark pricing against the market so you avoid unnecessary charges.

Reduce complexity and risk

We analyze contract terms and conditions to protect you against future price increases and unanticipated costs.

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