Secure access service edge company Netskope has announced the expansion of its NewEdge network in the Middle East with four data centres now across the UAE and Saudi Arabia. With this expansion, says Netskope, the network can better serve in-region and multinational enterprise customers.
This expansion, it adds, complements the growing GCC data centre market, which is expected to reach a value of US$5.5 billion by 2028 from UD$3.44 billion in 2022, boosted by regional government initiatives such as We The UAE 2031 and Saudi Vision 2030.
NewEdge is described as the world’s largest and highest-performing security private cloud. It powers the real-time, inline security services of the Netskope SASE platform, allowing security to be deployed at the edge where and when it’s needed. The NewEdge network is extensively peered with the most commonly used web/content-delivery networks, cloud, and SaaS providers to deliver fast, optimised access to content, apps and data.
The company suggests that the addition of the NewEdge data centres will be especially helpful in promoting the adoption of a Zero Trust security model within Middle East organisations. It enables the delivery of real-time inline and out-of-band API-driven services like Cloud Firewall (FWaaS), secure web gateway (SWG), cloud access security broker (CASB), zero trust network access (ZTNA), and cloud and SaaS security posture management (CSPM/SSPM).
Citing regulatory requirements in place across the region that place strict restrictions on data protection and residency commitments, Jonathan Mepsted, Vice President – Middle East & Africa at Netskope, says: “This is why we have invested in robust infrastructure in the region as part of our distributed and dedicated service edge. Because of its ability to inspect massive amounts of data locally, with no need for complex, latency-prone backhauling or reliance on unpredictable public transport, NewEdge has been greatly welcomed by our customers and is unlocking new opportunities for us to serve KSA organizations.”