Evaluating SASE/SSE architectures and find Netskope's approach compelling but need to evaluate the field beyond the usual duopoly. The requirement is for a cloud-native, API-forward platform with strong CASB and DLP lineage.
Menlo Security and Axis Security (now part of Palo Alto) are substantive alternatives. Menlo's isolation core is architecturally distinct, particularly for securing unmanaged devices. Their SWG and CASB integration is API-centric. Axis, now Prisma SASE, offered a pure agentless, service-connection model which addressed specific compliance use cases for third-party access.
For a technical comparison, consider the data plane architecture. Netskope's "forward proxy" model is common, but inspect how these alternatives handle traffic steering without pervasive client issues.
```
# Example of a typical PAC file bypass for a SaaS app - a key differentiator
if (shExpMatch(host, "*.salesforce.com")) {
return "DIRECT";
}
```
A critical evaluation point is the efficacy of their respective DLP engines and the granularity of their IAM integrations, especially for zero-trust workload access. Look beyond marketing claims at the actual logging schema and API rate limits for SOAR integration.