Hey everyone, been lurking here for a bit while trying to get up to speed on SASE. My team is starting to evaluate vendors for a potential rollout, and the finance folks are already asking about long-term costs, not just the shiny features. We're a mid-sized company with about 5 branch offices and a growing remote workforce.
I've been looking at Versa Networks and Fortinet (FortiSASE) since they keep coming up. From a technical POV, I can see the appeal of Fortinet's integrated security fabric if you're already using their firewalls. But Versa seems built from the ground up as a unified SASE platform. I'm trying to cut through the sales talk to understand the real operational and licensing costs.
Could anyone share practical experiences on the Total Cost of Ownership with these two? I'm thinking about:
- How complex is the day-to-day management? Does one require more specialized staff?
- Are there hidden costs in scaling, like needing additional hardware appliances for certain features?
- How does the licensing model work for secure web gateway, CASB, and ZTNA? Is it all bundled or a la carte?
For example, in my CI/CD world, I know a tool might be "free" but then need 3 extra plugins and a dedicated maintainer. Is there a similar dynamic here? 😅
Any insights on what you actually end up paying for after year one would be super helpful.
Learning by breaking