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Fortinet (FTNT) Extends Strategic Alliance With Digital Realty

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Fortinet (FTNT - Free Report) has expanded its strategic partnership with Digital Realty (DLR - Free Report) , the largest global provider of cloud and carrier-neutral data center, colocation and interconnection solutions.

The partnership is geared toward accelerating the expansion of Fortinet Universal Secure Access Service Edge ("SASE"). This solution has already been deployed in more than 100 locations worldwide. SASE is a security framework that combines network security functions with Wide Area Networking (WAN) capabilities to support the dynamic and secure access needs of organizations.

Digital Realty's global data center platform, PlatformDIGITAL, plays a crucial role in enabling customers to secure their hybrid IT workflows across different clouds and locations. This integration allows customers to enhance their networking and security posture for business-critical applications.

The collaboration aims to provide customers with broader access to cloud-delivered security and connectivity. This is particularly important for organizations with a distributed workforce, allowing them to seamlessly integrate networking and security solutions.

Increasing SASE Adoption & Partnerships to Boost the Top Line

Fortinet is expanding its cloud network globally, aiming to enhance the reach of its Universal SASE solution. This expansion is intended to facilitate the adoption of Fortinet’s SASE solution by customers worldwide.

The alliance partnership includes integrating Fortinet's Security Fabric into Digital Realty's infrastructure. This integration enhances security across the entire perimeter of Digital Realty's network, spanning regions, such as EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The collaboration enables enterprise customers to securely connect their hybrid workforce to critical applications from any location.

Fortinet's strategy for delivering a reliable and secure SASE solution globally involves two key elements. Firstly, the company plans to continue investing in purpose-built and highly scalable Universal SASE locations. Secondly, FTNT aims to scale its cloud network through partnerships with trusted entities, such as Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google Cloud and Digital Realty.

The company recognizes the importance of an open fabric ecosystem. Fabric-Ready technology partnerships, such as the one with Digital Realty and its ServiceFabric offering, play a crucial role in the Fortinet Security Fabric. The collaboration under the Fortinet Fabric-Ready program aims to create integrated solutions that drive innovation and enhance the value customers derive from their deployments.

FTNT's approach involves collaborating with trusted partners like Google Cloud and DLR to scale its cloud network. These partnerships are instrumental in achieving Fortinet's goals of global expansion and providing secure connectivity solutions for enterprise customers.

Fortinet SASE has been selected by some notable companies like Deutsche Telekom and eight new managed security service providers. This is expected to boost service revenues in the upcoming financial year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s 2023 service revenues is pegged at $3.37 billion, indicating year-over-year growth of 28.1%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for gross profit services in 2023 is pegged at $2.85 billion, indicating a year-over-year increase of 27.06%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of FTNT have gained 21% in the past year compared with the Zacks Computer and Technology sector’s rise of 36.1% due to tough competition from Cato Corporation and Palo Alto Networks (PANW - Free Report) in the SASE market.

Cato's SASE solution effectively and securely links all corporate sites, users, applications and cloud resources through a global and secure cloud-native service. CATO can be implemented in a phased approach to replace existing security point solutions and outdated network services.

Palo Alto Networks is a prominent leader in the SASE market. It is one of the popular SASE providers which uses artificial intelligence. It boosts the security of its customers, automates operations and accelerates branch transformation. PANW offers two SASE products, namely Prisma Access and Prisma SD-WAN.

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