BT today announced an expansion of its managed secure SD-WAN solution for business and public sector customers in the UK with new SSE (Security Service Edge) capabilities, leveraging technology from Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), the global cybersecurity leader driving the convergence of networking and security. The expanded software-defined wide area networking (SD-WAN) service will help customers seamlessly transition from managed SD-WAN to secure access service edge (SASE), and forge ahead with their digital transformation by protecting access to their applications and data in the cloud.

Customers’ use of cloud technology is intensifying as they increasingly digitalise their businesses, shifting apps and data from their own private datacentres into public cloud services. At the same time, their organisations are more dispersed than ever, with people and devices accessing digital services from everywhere. 

BT’s existing managed SD-WAN service already provides customers with the flexibility to mix different connectivity options for each of their sites with a leading next-generation firewall. The company is now partnering with Fortinet to enhance this with new AI-powered SSE capabilities to provide a firewall-as-a-service, secure web gateway, cloud access security broker and zero-trust network access to provide a complete, managed SASE solution. This will enhance customers’ oversight of their networks backed with AI-powered proactive threat detection and data protection via BT’s unified monitoring services in the UK. It can also help customers create a zero-trust infrastructure by continuously interrogating the credentials of users and devices attempting to access the network either on the edge or out and about.   

“Our partnership with Fortinet is another signal to customers that BT has their back as they invest to become even more successful, creative, digital businesses,” said Matt Swinden, director, digital connectivity, BT. “Our new managed service enables them to provide consistent, seamless and secure experiences to their users of cloud-hosted digital services regardless of where they are accessing them from. This will help customers manage risk as they innovate with the latest connected technologies from IoT to AI.”

“Building upon our decade-long partnership, we’re proud to collaborate on the new SASE service with BT to enable its UK customers to converge networking and security,” said Nirav Shah, Vice President, Products and Solutions, Fortinet. “SASE complements the cybersecurity platform approach to delivering integrated security and secure network access regardless of where users are located. By combining Fortinet’s cutting-edge SASE and secure networking solutions with a leading choice of fixed and 5G access networks from BT, customers can have a nimble, robust, and  more secure network to help them get the best from the cloud.”

As part of the companies’ longstanding collaboration, BT has earned over 750 Fortinet accreditations, including Regional Partner status as part of the Engage Partner Program and UK Partner of the Year 2023, while Fortinet achieved Critical Partner status with BT Security. The managed service is powered by Fortinet Secure SD-WAN which was recently named a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN, marking the fifth consecutive year it has been recognized.

ENDS

Notes to editors

SASE

Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) is a cloud architecture model that combines network and security-as-a-service functions together and delivers them as a single cloud service.  Conceptually, SASE extends networking and security capabilities beyond where they’re typically available. This lets work-from-anywhere and remote workers, to take advantage of firewall as a service (FWaaS), secure web gateway (SWG), zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and a medley of threat detection functions.  SASE is composed of Security Service Edge (SSE) and SD-WAN.

The term SASE (pronounced “sassy”) was first described by Gartner in an August 2019 report called, “The Future of Network Security in the Cloud.” Gartner notes that in the SASE market trend report, "Customer demands for simplicity, scalability, flexibility, low latency, and pervasive security force convergence of the WAN edge and network security markets.”

The BT-managed Fortinet service leverages a number of solutions, including:

• Fortinet Secure SD-WAN, which sends application traffic via a customer’s wide area network (WAN) links, using policies set by them to optimise user experience
• FortiSwitch, which provides local area network (LAN) ports for connecting additional wired devices such as desktop PC's, access points and point of sale machines.
• FortiAP Access Points, which extend Wi-Fi coverage in larger buildings simply with zero-touch deployment, and no licences to manage. Enjoy broad visibility, automated protection, and integrated threat intelligence.
• Mobile Data Access provides instant connectivity over 4G or 5G for rapid site set up and short-term needs, as well as a backup or active-active with a primary connection. All underpinned by EE; the UK’s leading mobile network.
• Fortinet Next-Generation Firewalls provide enterprise security at any edge, and at any scale on all WAN and LAN traffic as it passes through.
• FortiSASE, a cloud-delivered service that combines network and security functionalities, protecting users and devices when they are off a company's network by using common security policies and functionality similar to on-premises environments.

About the cyber security threat

Cyber security breaches and attacks remain a common threat. According to its latest figures, BT detects over 2,000 signals of potential cyber-attacks every second — over 200 million per day. It also finds web-connected devices are scanned over 1,000 times a day by known malicious sources — an average of once every 90 seconds. While some scans are conducted legitimately for security monitoring, three in four (78 per cent) are not harmless — indicating that hackers are looking for weaknesses in the online systems of businesses and essential public services, as smart tech becomes common. BT’s data revealed a 1,234 per cent annual rise in new malicious internet protocol (IP) scanners recorded across its networks in the 12 months to July 2024. The increase reflects how cyber criminals are increasingly scanning for vulnerabilities through automated, ‘one time use’ disposable bots, in an attempt to evade existing blocking and security measures.

BT’s analysis also showed that IT, defence and financial services are the three most targeted industries for cyber-attacks.  

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally. Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for SD-WAN, Jonathan Forest, Karen Brown, Nauman Raja, 30 September 2024

About Fortinet

Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a driving force in the evolution of cybersecurity and the convergence of networking and security. Our mission is to secure people, devices, and data everywhere, and today we deliver cybersecurity everywhere you need it with the largest integrated portfolio of over 50 enterprise-grade products. Well over half a million customers trust Fortinet's solutions, which are among the most deployed, most patented, and most validated in the industry. The Fortinet Training Institute, one of the largest and broadest training programs in the industry, is dedicated to making cybersecurity training and new career opportunities available to everyone. Collaboration with esteemed organizations from both the public and private sectors, including CERTs, government entities, and academia, is a fundamental aspect of Fortinet’s commitment to enhance cyber resilience globally. FortiGuard Labs, Fortinet’s elite threat intelligence and research organization, develops and utilizes leading-edge machine learning and AI technologies to provide customers with timely and consistently top-rated protection and actionable threat intelligence. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, and FortiGuard Labs.  

Copyright © 2024 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet’s trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, the Fortinet logo, FortiGate, FortiOS, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiAnalyzer, FortiManager, FortiASIC, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiMail, FortiSandbox, FortiADC, FortiAI, FortiAIOps, FortiAntenna, FortiAP, FortiAPCam, FortiAuthenticator, FortiCache, FortiCall, FortiCam, FortiCamera, FortiCarrier, FortiCASB, FortiCentral, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiCSPM, FortiCWP, FortDAST, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiDeceptor, FortiDeploy, FortiDevSec, FortiEDR, FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFirewall, FortiFlex FortiFone, FortiGSLB, FortiGuest, FortiHypervisor, FortiInsight, FortiIsolator, FortiLAN, FortiLink, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiNDR, FortiPenTest, FortiPhish, FortiPoint, FortiPolicy, FortiPortal, FortiPresence, FortiProxy, FortiRecon, FortiRecorder, FortiSASE, FortiSDNConnector, FortiSEC, FortiSIEM, FortiSMS, FortiSOAR, FortiStack, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiTrust, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLM and FortiXDR. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments. 

According to Gartner, the independent report can be used to “to evaluate and select optimal global network service partners”. It is the 20^th consecutive year* that BT has been named “a Leader” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant^TM for Global WAN Services based on its “Ability to Execute and Completeness of Vision”.

According to Gartner, “providers in the Leaders quadrant are performing well and maintaining a stable organisation, with a clear vision of market direction. They deliver comprehensive portfolios of quality network services across the broadest geographies. They address the global networking needs of a broad range of enterprises in terms of size, geographic distribution and vertical industry. Leaders shape the direction of the market by extending their coverage, developing new class-leading capabilities and commercial models, and deploying them at scale”.

The 2024 report can be accessed from the BT website here.

Bas Burger, CEO, Business, BT, said: “Customers tell me they want predictable performance for their apps, AI and IoT as well as future compliance on data sovereignty and sustainability. Our response is Global Fabric, our visionary new network-as-a-service. I thank our customers and partners for sharing their technology roadmaps, which has helped us develop this transformational new platform to meet their needs.”

ENDS

*Magic Quadrant for Global WAN Services was previously named Magic Quadrant for Network Services, Global (2015 – 2023)

Gartner Disclaimer

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Global WAN Services, Danellie Young, Gaspar Valdivia, Karen Brown and Lisa Pierce, 15th April 2024.

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

BT today announced a brand-new international network, enabling business customers to innovate at pace. The new network connects the multiple clouds businesses use for their applications and data with users, such as customers and employees, and will allow them to take advantage of the new wave of digital automation and AI.

Global Fabric, as the new network will be known, represents a generational shift in technology, based on a network-as-a-service (NaaS) technical and commercial model. Like the cloud itself, it is designed to be flexible, scalable and resilient both in the quality of connectivity and the convenience of pay-as-you-use. By combining the power of cloud and networks, customers can optimise application performance, user experience and cost.

They will be able to choose the right type of connectivity for their applications and workloads and proactively manage the routes these take as they move across the network. With this control, customers can achieve the best applications performance, manage costs and address growing regulatory requirements for data in transit.

The new high-capacity, fully programmable network is built with state-of-the-art equipment offering improvements in efficiency, sustainability and resilience. BT estimates that when fully rolled out, Global Fabric will use 79 per cent less electricity than its current global networks (see Notes to editors). This means customers on the new network will be able to reduce their Scope 3 carbon emissions.

Its digital orchestration and e-commerce-like interface enable customers to “shop” for connectivity. It will be pre-integrated with more than 630 digital service providers and over 700 datacentres. This covers the world’s largest public cloud providers, private clouds, network, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and secure access service edge (SASE) solutions — all available at the click of a button.

Jan Hein Bakkers, Senior Research Director, IDC, said: “Organisations realise that the network is a critical foundation for their digital-first and cloud-centric strategies. With the launch of Global Fabric, BT addresses their need to transform their networks. IDC research shows that organisations should adopt a secure and sustainable platform that provides the flexibility, manageability, scalability, and cost effectiveness that can support the right end-user experience for each application. Communications service providers that can deliver performant connectivity solutions with these attributes will be well placed to succeed.”

Chris Sharp, Chief Technology Officer, Digital Realty, said: “Global Fabric is a great example of how service providers should be innovating and will offer enterprises new options for connecting to Digital Realty, the world’s largest data centre platform. By building a cloud-centric network and locating its PoPs inside our world-leading carrier neutral facilities (CNFs), BT will be able to offer its customers terrific speeds with low latency while helping them minimise their environmental impact.”

Brenden Rawle, Senior Director Business Development EMEA at Equinix said: "We welcome BT’s launch of Global Fabric, which builds on its Connected Cloud Edge solution launched with Equinix last year. We enjoy a great partnership with BT and look forward to working together to connect customers to the doorstep of the cloud with a vast and varied choice of potential partners and other SaaS providers, in the Equinix location of their choice."

Bas Burger, CEO, Business, BT, said: “Global Fabric will future proof customers’ connectivity by providing flexibility to ensure they’re always connected so they can always be productive. They’re facing a new wave of digital revolution with AI, IoT and automation driving demand for simplicity and better multi-cloud connectivity. Customers can achieve better total costs, boost app performance and user experience, all while complying with regulations and mitigating cyber threats. Global Fabric means multi-cloud works better on BT.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Architected for multi-cloud

The location of Global Fabric’s network hardware is key. Global Fabric’s cloud-centric architecture will give it the most direct coverage of hyperscaler clouds of any connectivity provider in the world — almost 50 per cent more than the nearest competitor, based on connectivity information published on hyperscaler websites. Hyperscale clouds include those of AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure.

Running on the new network “underlay” will be an AI-powered digital orchestration layer. Unlike the Internet, Global Fabric will be “deterministic” — customers will be able to trust BT to deliver the predictable application experience they expect by selecting the optimal end-to-end paths for their applications and workloads as they move to and between multiple clouds and end users.

Connectivity options

Options will include a new BT-enhanced Internet service, point-to-point Ethernet, multi-point Ethernet and MPLS and these will be offered in bandwidth increments of 1 Mbps up to 100 Gbps. Connectivity will be interchangeable on the same port, offering flexibility not possible on current networks.

Global Fabric and sustainability – key figures

Using the Greenhouse Gas Protocol ICT Sector Guidance by Gesi, BT has generated the following estimates:

• In use, Global Fabric will consume 8,326 MWh/year versus its existing international networks at 39,890 MWh/year — a 79 per cent reduction.
• Use stage gross carbon including PUE will be 2,964 tonCO2e/year for Global Fabric versus 13,596 tonCO2e/year for BT’s existing international networks — a 78 per cent reduction.
• Global Fabric’s embodied emissions will be 363 tonCO2e/year versus its existing international networks 2,185 tonCO2e/year — an 83 per cent reduction.
• This gives a total carbon in use plus embodied carbon figure of 3,327 for Global Fabric versus its existing international networks at 15,781 tonCO2e/year — a 78 per cent reduction.
• BT estimates the average power consumption of Global Fabric will be 787 Watts per device, versus 2,201 Watts per device for its existing international networks.
• Moreover, Global Fabric will be built using 1,326 devices versus 1,571 devices — a 16 per cent reduction versus its existing international networks.

Under the terms of the agreement, BT hybrid cloud services will be based on Rackspace Technology’s cutting-edge solutions, which the company will deploy in BT data centres along with its Rackspace Fabric management layer.

Customers will benefit from the integration of Rackspace Technology’s cloud management expertise and automation, analytics, and AI tools with BT’s world-leading network and security capabilities.

This will enhance customer experience and enable BT to further evolve its managed cloud services.

Bas Burger, CEO of BT’s Global unit, said: “This innovative partnership with Rackspace Technology accelerates our plans to build a world-class hybrid cloud portfolio. It will deliver outstanding experiences for our customers and ensure they benefit from the best services, backed by our partner’s leadership in cloud.”

Kevin Jones, CEO of Rackspace Technology, said, “This exciting partnership with BT validates Rackspace Technology’s expertise in helping large, multinational enterprises in their cloud transformation journey and provides both companies with unique industry positioning. It highlights the enduring long-term value of a hybrid cloud model, as BT customers will now have access to the best of public cloud, private cloud, and traditional hosted environments alongside the speed, security, and resilience of BT’s worldwide networks.”

The companies have also committed to extend their partnership in the future to create new joint cloud offerings for their customers.

BT today announced it is working with ABB to elevate its internationally managed communications infrastructure to new levels of performance, choice and agility to support the company’s new operating model. It follows the signing of a new contract between the two companies.

The new contract builds on an existing agreement, signed in 2014, under which BT consolidated and optimised the leading global technology company’s international communications infrastructure. Working with ABB’s Information Systems team, BT will now transform the network infrastructure to create a sustainable, resilient and secure core platform featuring a highly automated and data-driven managed service.

Security is a top priority for ABB as it executes its cloud strategy, which includes consolidating data centres and moving more applications and data into the cloud. BT will enable ABB’s cloud-first ambitions with an end-to-end, compliant, multi-layered cyber security environment. It will deploy, manage and monitor over 1,100 end-point devices, continuously verifying every device, user and application accessing the network.

The communications infrastructure will reliably and securely connect people, devices and machines at over 600 facilities in 60 countries. Using the latest software-defined networking technology, it will offer ABB a choice of connectivity options for each site, including 5G access.

It will also provide ABB with a new software-driven platform delivered over Wifi 6 to enable mobility and digital manufacturing concepts, such as robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data technologies at production sites. Both companies have committed to a co-innovation fund as part of the contract.

By choosing BT, ABB is ensuring its network is delivered by a provider using 100 per cent renewable electricity globally with a commitment to achieving net zero emissions across all its operations by 2030.

“ABB’s world-class technology and digital capabilities are deeply embedded in our DNA. Maintaining and improving our innovation, technology and digital leadership is a strategic priority across the company,” said Alec Joannou, Group CIO, ABB. “BT is a great fit for our Information Systems function. As our trusted partner, it has helped us keep pace with a dynamic digital landscape and is now evolving our communications infrastructure to support our digital ambitions.”

“The cloud-first network and digital managed services we’re delivering will further enhance agility across ABB’s businesses,” said Bas Burger, CEO, Global, BT. “The unique trust between our two companies empowers us to push ahead as we connect ABB’s people, devices and machines in a sustainable and responsible way.” 

BT today announced a new capability to help multinational customers deliver improved experiences for users of their corporate applications and digital services. Cisco ThousandEyes Cloud and Internet Intelligence platform helps customers’ IT teams monitor end-to-end application performance across the entire digital delivery ecosystem, from users all the way to the cloud. It rapidly identifies faults and performance issues, wherever they are, so they can be fixed before they disrupt services and user experience.

The solution is powered by ThousandEyes globally distributed and local vantage points. These are natively embedded on customers’ Cisco network equipment* and can also run on virtual machines and other types of equipment. BT monitors and controls the solution using Cisco technology integrated into its own leading-edge service management platform to deliver always-on proactive monitoring and service assurance of digital experience.

Customers benefit from BT’s deep Cisco expertise and global availability of service teams offering around-the-clock, 365 days-a-year monitoring support across the network underlay, overlay and application layers as well as customer-dedicated technical consultants. Customers can choose from three services levels, from fully BT-managed and controlled to in-house operation by their own IT team.

Modern applications are more distributed and modular than ever before, powered by a hybrid underlying infrastructure combining public cloud, Internet and private networks. This hybrid approach helps organisations boost agility and reduce costs but introduces complexity and third-party dependencies. When something goes wrong, faults are difficult to find and can result in costly outages, sometimes with regulatory implications.

“Troubleshooting poor user experience is a huge pain for customers. The longer the outage, the bigger the consequences for the business,” said Scott Cowling, network solutions director, BT. “Working with our partner Cisco, we’ve launched a managed service based on ThousandEyes to cut through the complexity of modern connectivity, deliver digital resilience and enable customer success.”

“Major outages create headlines but routine technical outages and thousands upon thousands of other micro-outages happen on a daily basis and can present enterprises with significant brand and operational risks too,” said Craig Vario, global head of channels, Cisco ThousandEyes. “Now more than ever, the Internet dictates the experience of customers and employees alike. That’s why we’re building on our deep partnership with BT. Its ThousandEyes managed service will help enterprises enjoy the benefits of hybrid cloud networking while providing users with excellent and resilient digital experiences.”

*Cisco network equipment with ThousandEyes vantage points natively embedded include the Catalyst 9300 and 9400 series Switches, Catalyst 8300 and 8200 series Edge Platforms, and Cisco 4000 series Integrated Service Routers.

BT today announced the launch of a new generation of cloud-optimised managed network services to expand multinational customers’ choice of software-based connectivity solutions. The first service, based on industry-leading VMware SD-WAN, is available to customers globally and already in live deployment.

Traditional wide area networking requires dedicated, proprietary vendor hardware to be installed at each customer site. BT’s new managed service is based on generic hardware capable of supporting a choice of software-based networking solutions from different vendors.

With almost 70 different SD-WAN solutions on the market, the choice can be overwhelming. BT consultants can help customers with the best solution to fit their needs. They also advise on security, offering a range of options to meet customers’ own security policies.

The service can be managed or co-managed remotely by BT on its new digital service platform. This gives customers a single view of their entire network and a choice of management controls.

Andrew Small, director of global portfolio at BT, said: “Our new managed service further expands customers’ choice of software-defined networking solutions. Presently available with industry-leading VMware SD-WAN, it is delivered over our new, digital service platform. The solution is fully supported by our consultancy services to help customers maximise the benefits of performance, agility and flexibility for their businesses.”

Sanjay Uppal, senior vice-president and general manager, Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) and SD-WAN business, VMware, said: “We are excited to work with BT to help multinational enterprises around the world with their digital transformation during these unprecedented times and beyond. Together, we are committed to providing customers a cloud-first, more secure, automated, and scalable wide area network.”