Aryaka Networks launched a new managed VPN targeted at the growing remote workforce market that is built on SD-WAN and secure access service edge (SASE) principles.

The Aryaka SmartSecure Private Access platform uses a global point of presence (PoP)-based service architecture that includes WAN optimization to act as what the vendor said is a “cloud-first WAN.” This allows an organization’s IT team to manage sites or users on a consistent basis from the Aryaka PoP, including the allocation of subscribed bandwidth to sites. This provides for a more consistent experience regardless of device location.

The platform also uses Aryaka’s L2 Core Network that provides for that consistent connection to cloud and on-premises applications compared to best-effort options. The vendor also claims that the fully managed aspect allows for easier deployment and a lower total cost of ownership.

The platform’s VPN component comes from NCP engineering that is integrated into Aryaka’s global PoP-based architecture. It also supports all major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

In a blog post tied to the news, Aryaka CMO Shashi Kiran explained that platform clients “terminate on the PoPs and leverage the service intelligence in the Aryaka global [PoPs], giving them the ability to connect from ‘anywhere,’ but also able to leverage the built-in WAN optimization in the PoPs that provide highly predictable application performance.”

Kiran also explained that the platform’s flexibility is important as organizations ride out the current fluctuations in working environments tied to the COVID-19 pandemic. The vendor notes that the split between employees working in an office environment or remotely has swung from and 80%/20% split respectively in 2019, to the opposite of that this year.

The cloud-first mantra echoes recent comments from Aryaka’s CEO Matt Carter.

“We believe where enterprises are going is a cloud-first world, and that’s going to require a lot of rearchitecting of networks for companies,” Carter told SDxCentral in a recent interview. “We’re gonna live in a binary world. People are gonna work from home, and people are going to be at offices, and so you have to be able to provide a solution that is accommodating for that sort of new world order.”

According to Carter, these changes haven’t just affected the way people work, but they’ve also accelerated the adoption of SASE platforms.

“We thought it would take a few years before SASE would become more mainstream,” he said. “We think that it is fast-tracked because of the pandemic, and we’re seeing more and more customers looking for this kind of combination of SD-WAN and security.”

The new offering will also run alongside Aryaka’s managed firewall offerings that use platforms from vendors like Check Point Software and Palo Alto Networks. Aryaka announced the Check Point Software deal in July.

“We have a build, buy, and partner strategy in almost everything that we do,” Kiran recently told SDxCentral. “Right now, with regards to security, most of our customers really prefer best of breed brand-name firewalls, and so we’ve partnered with some of the best in the industry.”

Aryaka was recently tapped with the “strong performers” tag by Forrester Research as part of its Q4 2020 SD-WAN Services report. This placed it alongside rivals Tata Communications, Colt Technology Services, Lumen (formerly CenturyLink), Verizon Business, and AT&T Business. Vodafone and Orange Business Services topped the list.

Gartner dropped Aryaka from its most recent 2020 Magic Quadrant WAN Edge Infrastructure report, having previously been listed as a market “visionary.” However, Aryaka’s Kiran explained in a blog post that the vendor asked to be removed from the ranking because it felt it did not conform to its way of comparing services.