Upstart Alkira Launches ZTNA As Part of Single Cloud Networking Platform
Network infrastructure-as-a-service specialist Alkira is introducing a ZTNA offering for its all-in-one cloud-based networking platform that will help unlock new business for channel partners, the company tells CRN.
Alkira ZTNA supports complicated, multi-cloud environments from a single portal and tightly ties together networking and security operations. The service can also integrate with third-party security vendors, such as Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet, said William Collins, director of technical evangelism for Alkira.
“Our customers are using these different vendors in their environments for specific use cases that we can instantiate and integrate with pretty seamlessly within our platform with very little friction, if any friction, and make it a lot easier from an operational perspective on our customers," Collins said.
[Related: The 10 Hottest Networking Startup Companies Of 2024 (So Far)]
The San Jose, Calif.-based startup emerged from stealth mode in 2020 with its consumption-based Cloud Services Exchange (CSX), a unified, on-demand offering that lets cloud architects and network engineers build and deploy a multi-cloud network in minutes.
Alkira ZTNA's backbone is made up of Alkira Cloud Exchange Points (CXPs), or distributed points of presence that provide secure access and efficient traffic routing. Also part of the services' backbone is the Alkira SecureConnect Client, a secure remote access offering for end-users from any location. Alkira ZTNA can scale and up and down on-demand to adapt to an enterprise's changing needs without large upfront investments or hardware installations, the company said.
The offering also provides consistent security and efficiency across user-to-app, app-to-app, and user-to-internet communications, all using a network-first approach that takes advantage of existing network segmentation to boost security without sacrificing performance, Collins said.
Alkira is a 100 percent channel-focused networking company, but networking is no longer decoupled from security, said Doug Houghton, Alkira's director of channels.
"The ZTNA that we're introducing is just sort of another extension to simplify how our customers secure their workloads and transit from on-prem to cloud, app to app, user to cloud [and] user to internet and app to app," he said. "The partner benefits because he or she can go in and say: 'Hey, you've got three or four really established ZTNA players out there, but you're having to stitch these into your network and it's complex.' What we're offering is a much simpler approach, allowing the customer to address these needs, but from a single sort of orchestration platform that celebrates the convergence of security and networking."
The ZTNA offering will open the door for partners to become more sticky with their existing clients, Houghton added.
"It gives them an opportunity to go to an account that they're potentially locked out of, to go in and challenge existing competitors in there. Like: 'Hey, listen, I don't have any of your ZTNA business, but I do have a much less complex offer with similar properties to what you're consuming, and it does some really novel things and it'll make your life a lot easier from a day two operational perspective,' which I think is compelling to most of our partners," he said.
Alkira ZTNA will be generally available in Q4 2024 on its platform for all of Alkira's customers, according to the company.
Alkira in May announced that it had closed a $100 million Series C funding round of funding. The company's executives at the time reiterated the company’s 100 percent channel go-to-market strategy as customer demand grows. Since then, Alkira has grown its partner team and is building out its presence in three additional markets, including Canada, APJ, and ANZ.
"In addition to growing the team, we are ensuring that we're enabling our partners so they can go out and talk about ZTNA and our platform in general in a knowledgeable way," Houghton said.