Cato Networks Reports Near 100% Revenue Growth for Second Consecutive Year as Large Enterprises Embrace SASE

Hybrid work, network and security spend optimization fuels enterprise interest in global SASE platforms that deliver best-in-class security and performance anywhere.  

Tel Aviv, Israel – February 22, 2022 — Cato Networks, the provider of the world’s first SASE platform, reported today its 2021 business results, growing revenue by 96% YoY, increasing headcount by 66%, and a doubling in valuation to $2.5 billion with an added $200 million investment. Over 1,100 enterprises with more than 17,000 branches and cloud instances and 300,000 remote users rely on Cato SASE Cloud every day.

“The Cato SASE Cloud empowers enterprise IT to be leaner, more responsive,” says Shlomo Kramer, CEO and co-founder of Cato Networks. “It’s why larger enterprises transition their global infrastructure to the Cato platform as they undergo digital transformation and adapt to a hybrid work model.”

In a new Total Economic Impact (TEI) study, Forrester Research found that Cato delivers 246% ROI in under six months. Along with performance improvements, increased security posture, and reduced operational and maintenance costs, the study found IT teams experienced higher employee morale, which is particularly critical when retaining employees during the Great Resignation.

“Interviewees said that team members reported that the activities that they were able to move to with Cato were more rewarding,” noted the study. “What I have heard from my team is, ‘I love that the problems I’m solving on a day-to-day basis are on a completely different order than what I used to have to deal with before.’ They think about complex traffic problems and application troubleshooting and performance.”

Large Enterprises Embrace Cato’s Global SASE Platform

During 2021, large deals grew by 150% as enterprises across industries replaced their global MPLS and SD-WAN networks with the Cato SASE Cloud. Cato shipped 75% more Cato Sockets edge SD-WAN devices YoY and sold 77% more remote user licenses YoY, reflecting the general shift to work-from-anywhere. Significant wins during 2021 included a:

• European transportation services company that replaced a global MPLS network that connected 547 sites with Cato SASE Cloud and protected them using Cato security services.
• Leading private club operator that suffered from availability issues at 182 clubs, each connected with a firewall appliance and SD-WAN appliance. With Cato, the company eliminated its appliance footprint and addressed all connectivity and security requirements.
• Major healthcare company in the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 with 7250 employees across 20 countries. With Cato, the company replaced its Checkpoint firewalls, Zscaler remote access, and MPLS connection into China.
• Global aviation services company with 66,000 personnel replaced its MPLS network and Cisco Meraki appliances, connecting and securing 385 locations.
• Global diversified industrial company with over 10,000 employees across 120 locations needed to reduce its network spend and rationalize incompatible architectures acquired from multiple mergers. With Cato, the company connected its sites, mobile users, and cloud workloads, replacing a global MPLS network, Riverbed WAN optimizers, and local firewall appliances.
• Pioneering media company needed to simplify branch office deployments while supporting application migration to the cloud. The company connected its remote users, cloud resources, and 53 locations with Cato, realizing a 30% improvement in network performance.

Cato Channel Expands with Strategic Partnerships, Sees Strong Demand for Hybrid Work

The Cato channel reported strong results in 2021 with deal registrations increasing overall by 92% YoY. The number of contributing partners grew by 41% YoY with new partners joining the Cato ecosystem as Cato expanded its partner program to address MSP requirements. New strategic partnership included Cato’s first telco relationship in KDDI and more recently MSP and last-mile provider, Expereo.

The channel also benefitted from Cato’s seamless support for hybrid work. Deal registrations involving work-from-anywhere outpaced those without work-from-anywhere by more than 2:1, increasing by 219% YoY, and upsell opportunities from the channel grew by 230%. To support the rapid growth in channel-led business, Cato grew its channel management team by 200% last year.

Cato Expands Global Private Backbone to Record Setting 73 PoPs

Last year, Cato expanded its industry-leading Cato global private backbone, adding 13 points of presence (PoPs) across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. Today, Cato’s global private backbone spans 73 PoPs worldwide serving Cato’s security and networking services in more than 150 countries.

“With hybrid work, IT leaders must think about security and networking together if they’re to deliver secure optimized access to their users,” says Gur Shatz, Co-Founder, President, and COO of Cato Networks. “This requires a solution with more than just many PoPs or datacenters that only address security convergence but ignore the WAN. The PoPs must be able to run the resource-intensive security processing for Internet and WAN traffic and be interconnected by a global optimized backbone if IT is to deliver best-in-class access control, threat protection, and application experience to all resources anywhere from everywhere.”

Cato’s Graduates 2116th SASE Expert

Industry recognition of Cato’s SASE leadership was further reflected in the growth of the first and largest SASE certification program, the Cato SASE Expert. Initially, launched in 2020, Cato expanded the Cato SASE certification in 2021 with a more advanced certification level. To date, Cato has seen more than 5,500 submissions to participate in the SASE Certification, graduating 2116th SASE Experts.

To learn more about Cato, visit us at https://www.catonetworks.com

About Cato Networks

Cato provides the world’s first SASE platform, converging SD-WAN and network security into a global, cloud-native service. Cato optimizes and secures application access for all users and locations. Using Cato, customers easily migrate from MPLS to SD-WAN, optimize connectivity to on-premises and cloud applications, enable secure branch Internet access everywhere, and seamlessly integrate cloud datacenters and remote users into the network with a zero-trust architecture. With Cato, the network, and your business, are ready for whatever’s next. CatoNetworks.com @CatoNetworks.