Fortinet Shifts Focus to Security Operations, SASE Amid Secure Networking Slowdown
MESA – Jeff Berman
Facing a slowdown in the secure networking market, Fortinet is realigning its marketing and sales efforts towards the more rapidly expanding areas of security operations and Secure Access Service Edge (SASE).
CEO Ken Xie highlighted this strategy shift in an earnings call, noting the importance of maintaining innovation in secure networking, a field where Fortinet is established.
Despite anticipating modest near-term growth, Fortinet sees secure networking as crucial to their platform strategy.
Ken Xie emphasized Fortinet’s continued innovation with its operating system, FortiOS, and its superior performance thanks to Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC), which contributes to their market share gains.
While secure networking is expected to recover to double-digit growth eventually, Fortinet has been active in the growth segments of SecOps—a market projected to expand to $78 billion by 2027—and SASE, expected to reach $36 billion by the same year.
Fortinet’s SASE service, supported by Google Cloud’s global network, stands out for its capability to operate all functions either in the cloud or on appliance with a unified OS, including a comprehensive networking and security stack.
This unique offering is believed to give Fortinet a significant competitive edge in the market.
In terms of financial performance, Fortinet reported a 16.1% increase in Q3 revenue from the previous year to $1.33 billion and an increase in GAAP net income to $322.9 million, with service revenue seeing a significant jump.
Total billings also increased, further underscoring Fortinet’s strong market position.
Link: https://www.mesaonline.org/2023/11/06/fortinet-shifts-focus-to-security-operations-sase-amid-secure-networking-slowdown/