Colt's sights are set on bolstering SD-WAN security and user experience for its enterprise customers' distributed workforce with the launch of SD-WAN Remote Access. In partnership with Versa Networks, Colt is delivering the new SD-WAN service via a remote client that customers can install on their corporate devices.

"It will be a SASE-based remote client that can be installed on the device and will allow you to connect securely to your enterprise network or any other multi-cloud site," says Mohit Manral, global product manager of SD-WAN for Colt Technology Services.

Colt says Remote Access provides users with secure access to their business data and applications, based on their role or profile, from any location.

"In a time when uncertainty is the norm, having certainty in how networking and security services are delivered – whether in the cloud, at a data center, branch offices or to home offices while taking into context the user and device – is essential for business continuity and productivity," said Dogu Narin, head of Global Product Management at Versa, in a statement. He adds that the Remote Access service provides customers with the ability to "address the new normal by facilitating seamless and secure hybrid work, allowing them to work anytime, anywhere."

Light Reading first reported on Colt's SD-WAN Remote Access service in Eurobites, and recently caught up with Manral for additional details on what the service entails.

Manral says this remote access service is part of a phased roll-out of new SD-WAN services. Next up, Colt will provide SD-WAN services on an at-home universal customer premise equipment device (uCPE) or a white box CPE that comes pre-integrated with SD-WAN.

"The second phase will deliver SD-WAN on an at-home CPE," says Manral. "This will provide much more flexibility to combine different connectivity types, enhance our SD-WAN portfolio and basically convert an employee's home into an enterprise branch."

The uCPE option will "combine our CPE with Versa SD-WAN, but we can also bring in other security VNFs such as Palo Alto or Check Point as a firewall," explains Manral. A third option coming soon will be "cloud-delivered SD-WAN where you can have your virtual SD-WAN router deployed in the cloud," he adds.

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— Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading