Cato Networks Introduces Hands-free Management for Global SD-WAN Service

Cato becomes the first managed SD-WAN service with self-service, co-management, and full-service management options. With this new offering, Cato augments its partners’ capabilities in regions where partners are not ready to provide a fully managed service.   

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 16, 2019 — Cato Networks, the cloud-native carrier, announced today Hands-free Management for Cato Cloud, the only secure managed SD-WAN service built with the global reach and agility of the cloud. With Cato Hands-free Management, enterprises can offload network and security configuration and change management onto Cato or its partners. The new offering is the latest addition to Cato’s global SD-WAN service recently named as a non-NSP representative vendor in Gartner’s May 2019 Market Guide for Managed SD-WAN Services*. With Hands-free management, Cato becomes the first provider to bring self-service, co-managed, and fully managed options for its global SD-WAN service.  

“Cato gives companies the agility and self-service of the cloud with the predictability and performance of a managed service. Cato Hands-free Management is a natural extension of that philosophy. Enterprises can leave behind rigid, telco services and advance to flexible global SD-WAN services where management models are customized to meet their requirements,” says Shlomo Kramer, co-founder and CEO of Cato Networks.  

The Right Management Model to Meet Customer Needs 

IT leaders have long appreciated the ease of fully managed services but have been frustrated by the responsiveness of legacy telcos to changing business needs. Cato Hands-free Management brings the ease of a fully managed services to Cato’s global SD-WAN, letting organizations move responsibility for networking and security configuration to the expert staff at Cato or its partners.  

At the same time, enterprises can retain control of their networks through the self-service and co-management models already included with Cato Cloud. With self-service, enterprises realize unsurpassed agility by configuring and troubleshooting the networks themselves, doing in seconds what otherwise required hours or days with legacy telcos. For additional assistance, co-management allows customers to rely on ongoing support from Cato or its partners without relinquishing control for overall management.  

Along with Cato Hands-free Management, Cato Managed Services include three other offerings:   

• Managed Threat Detection and Response (MDR) continuously monitors the network for compromised, malware-infected endpoints. Cato MDR uses a combination of machine learning algorithms that mine network traffic for indicators of compromise, and human verification of detected anomalies. Cato experts then guide customers on remediating compromised endpoints  
• Intelligent Last-Mile Management provides 24×7, last-mile monitoring. In case of an outage or performance degradation, Cato will work with the ISP to resolve the issue, providing all relevant information and keeping the customer informed on the progress.  

• Rapid Site Deployment provides customers with remote assistance in deploying Cato Sockets, Cato’s zero-touch, SD-WAN device.  

Regardless of the management model in use, Cato retains responsibility for the underlying Cato Cloud infrastructure, so customers do not need to upgrade, patch, or otherwise maintain Cato software or hardware. 

Cato Brings Managed SD-WAN Services into The Digital Era 

Traditionally, managed network services tied the overlay (SD-WAN or MPLS) to the underlay (last-mile and backbone services). Packaging the two together simplified troubleshooting but also limited IT agility, leaving enterprises subject to the telco’s high costs and protracted deployment times. Such an approach is incompatible with the digital business looking to be leaner and more agile, particularly as the network must increasingly connect clouds, mobile users, and branch locations situated outside of the telco’s operating area.  

Cato Cloud was uniquely designed for the needs of the digital business. Enterprises bring their last–mile access to Cato or procure last–mile services through Cato partners. They then connect to Cato’s global backbone through any local Internet access, freeing them from the lock-in of traditional telco services.  As a globally distributed cloud service, Cato seamlessly connects mobile and cloud resources, without being chained to specific geographical location or physical infrastructure.  

With Cato, organizations get the best of both worlds: the peace of mind of a managed service with the speed and agility of self-service. Cato Hands-free Management and the rest of Cato Managed Services are currently available. For more information about Cato Managed Services visit https://www.catonetworks.com/services 

About Cato Networks  

Cato, the cloud-native carrier, provides the only secure managed SD-WAN service built with the global reach, self-service, and agility of the cloud. Cato replaces MPLS and multiple networking and security point solutions with a converged WAN transformation platform built for the digital business. Using Cato, customers easily migrate from MPLS to SD-WAN, improve global connectivity to on-premises and cloud applications, enable secure branch Internet access everywhere, and securely and optimally integrate cloud datacenters and mobile users into the network. Visit www.catonetworks.com and Twitter: @CatoNetworks. 

* Gartner Market Guide for Managed SD-WAN Services, Neil Rickard, Lisa Pierce, and Ted Corbett, 15 May 2019.  Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. 

SOURCE Cato Networks 

Contact (media only):
Dave Greenfield
press@catonetworks.com