Fortinet and Microsoft have announced an expanded partnership to enable Fortinet’s Firewall and Secure SD-WAN connectivity with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN. Through the integration of Fortinet’s FortiGate-VM with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN, clients are provided with additional choices for safeguarding network traffic into, across, and inside cloud installations.
Advanced security controls may now be applied to virtual WAN traffic, while Secure SD-WAN can now be extended into the Azure virtual WAN hub. As a result, enhanced security and networking capabilities in the cloud have converged, resulting in a cloud on-ramp and SD-WAN experience intended to be even more streamlined, automated, and safe. The connection would also make it easier for businesses to link Azure-based apps and workloads to the rest of their hybrid and multi-cloud installations.
“Partnering with Microsoft Azure gives our joint customers the best of both worlds combining Azure’s secure infrastructure with Fortinet’s industry-leading next-generation firewall capabilities and best-in-class Secure SD-WAN solution,” said John Maddison, EVP of Products and CMO at Fortinet. “The integration of FortiGate-VM extends the Fortinet Security Fabric into Azure Virtual WAN and enhances our ability to secure any application on any cloud and to secure the cloud on-ramp into, between, and within the cloud.”
Security for Virtual WAN Traffic
While Microsoft has long provided secure access to the Virtual WAN Hub, it has been challenging to provide the same security rules and tools across clouds and data centers inside Azure Virtual WAN. With FortiGate-VM and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN integrated with Azure Virtual WAN, enterprises can achieve their targeted digital innovation outcomes in the cloud while decreasing complexity. This connection, in particular, allows IT and security experts to simply establish networking and security in Microsoft Azure, resulting in the following advantages:
- Advanced Security for Virtual WAN Traffic – By supporting encrypted data transports, granular segmentation and application-layer protection against advanced threats, and a seamless overlay network with uniform policies across multi-clouds, FortiGate-VM allows security policies to extend to traffic within the Azure Virtual WAN hub, enabling better, more secure application experiences for users and branch offices.
- One-Click Deployment – For FortiGate-VM on Azure, Azure Virtual WAN integration allows for one-click setup and simple scaling. Customers can choose, configure, and deploy FortiGate virtual machines directly from the Azure Marketplace or the Azure Virtual WAN interface with this integration, making security part of the Virtual WAN setup process in Azure.
- Securely Interconnect Applications and Workloads Across Clouds – Azure Virtual WAN acts as a worldwide network transit backbone for branch-to-branch connection, allowing regions to easily join. Customers deploying hybrid and multi-cloud networks that include Azure can now connect applications and workloads easily and securely, extending the benefits of the Fortinet Security Fabric and Fortinet Secure SD-WAN across their entire infrastructure to enable consistent policies and centralized visibility. This would streamline security administration, provide global insight into security events and rules, while enhancing user and customer quality of experience (QoE).
Earlier this month, Fortinet and Microsoft also announced the availability of FortiGate-VM integration with Azure gateway load-balancer. This would enable clients to deliver great experiences for applications and workloads running on Microsoft Azure.
“We’re pleased to provide customers with new options for securing network traffic into, between and within cloud deployments thanks to the integration of Fortinet’s FortiGate-VM with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN,” said Erin Chapple, Corporate Vice President, Azure Core Products and Design, Microsoft
Adaptive Cloud Security Portfolio
FortiGate-VM is part of Fortinet’s Adaptive Cloud Security portfolio, which includes technologies, services, and industry-leading threat intelligence to help clients protect any application in any cloud. Security and DevOps teams can address cloud security gaps while easing security management responsibilities and enabling fast innovation release with flexible deployment choices, extensive integration, and centralized administration and visibility.
Organizations may gain consistent security posture, visibility, and enforcement through uniform security management across multi-cloud and hybrid environments by leveraging the broad, integrated, and automated nature of the Fortinet Security Fabric.
