The functional scope of SASE solutions continues to broaden… risking an “over-platformization.”
Gartner highlights this phenomenon in the summary of its latest Magic Quadrant dedicated to this market. This is not, by any measure, the first year that the American firm notes the trend of incorporating components from other segments (notably NDR and XDR). But it has never before likened it to an “over-platformization”—which, in Gartner’s view, could steer offerings away from buyers’ real SASE needs.
In any case, buyers rarely use all the features of SASE platforms. They still source the network (SD-WAN) and security (SSE; essentially the SWG-CASB-ZTNA trio) separately. The single-vendor approach is nonetheless gaining ground (35% of purchases in 2026 according to Gartner, which projects 75% by 2029). There is also growing interest in the sovereignty aspect (where traffic passes, where policies apply, where encryption happens, where logs are stored…).
Fortinet is no longer the “leader” in SASE; Zscaler takes the lead
Three of the four “leaders” of 2025 remain: Cato Networks, Netskope, and Palo Alto Networks. The fourth is no longer Fortinet (which drops to “Challengers”), but Zscaler.
The Magic Quadrant is structured along two axes. One, termed “Execution,” reflects the ability to meet demand (customer experience, pricing, quality of products/services…). The other, termed “Vision,” mirrors strategies (commercial, geographic, R&D…).
The situation on the “Execution” axis:
| Rank | Vendor | Year-over-year Change |
| 1 | Netskope | + 1 |
| 2 | Cato Networks | + 2 |
| 3 | Palo Alto Networks | – 2 |
| 4 | Fortinet | – 1 |
| 5 | Zscaler | + 2 |
| 6 | Cisco | = |
| 7 | Versa Networks | – 2 |
| 8 | HPE | + 2 |
| 9 | Cloudflare | = |
| 10 | iboss | new entrant |
| 11 | Sangfor Technologies | new entrant |
| 12 | Check Point Software Technologies | – 4 |
On the “Vision” axis:
| Rank | Vendor | Year-over-year Change |
| 1 | Palo Alto Networks | + 3 |
| 2 | Zscaler | = |
| 3 | Netskope | – 2 |
| 4 | Cato Networks | – 1 |
| 5 | Cloudflare | + 1 |
| 6 | Cisco | + 2 |
| 7 | Fortinet | – 2 |
| 8 | iboss | new entrant |
| 9 | Versa Networks | – 2 |
| 10 | Sangfor Technologies | new entrant |
| 11 | Check Point Software Technologies | – 2 |
| 12 | HPE | – 1 |
Modular SASE vs Unified Platform: a potential inconsistency at Cato Networks?
Cato Networks sits “above average” on customer experience. It has demonstrated its ability to respond to market trends (universal, umbrella-style zero trust, agentless DNS security, macrosegmentation of local networks…). Gartner also praises its progress in preventing agent-based vulnerabilities.
Beyond a financial profile Gartner considers less favorable than most other vendors, Cato Networks tends to be more expensive. The firm also notes an “inconsistency” between the value proposition of its unified platform and the trend toward modular SASE.
AI security pushes Netskope toward “over-platformization”
Gartner commends the functional depth of Netskope’s offering, particularly strong in SD-WAN, inline controls, visibility into SaaS, and adaptive access. Positive marks also for customer experience (“above average”) and the PoP infrastructure.
As with Cato Networks, Netskope is not favorable on pricing. Nor on its financial profile. Gartner also suggests it focuses too much on AI security, favoring the well-known “over-platformization.”
Palo Alto Networks, limited on the on-prem side…
Palo Alto Networks carries a more favorable financial profile. It demonstrates a solid understanding of market dynamics (simplification of solutions, sovereign controls, post-quantum cryptography…). Gartner also praises its progress in securing agent traffic and AI-assisted management.
Like Cato Networks and Netskope, Palo Alto Networks sits near the top in pricing. In terms of customer experience, it is “below average.” As for its on-prem security options, they are more cloud-dependent — particularly for IPS and content filtering — than those of other vendors.
… as well as Zscaler
The financial profile for Zscaler is also favorable, and it stands out with its PoP infrastructure. Gartner also credits progress in networking, AI-assisted management, and extending zero trust to agents.
Like Palo Alto Networks, Zscaler is “below average” for customer experience. It is also more limited than leading competitors on the on-prem side, both for networking and security. It arrived relatively late to the single-vendor SASE segment and tends to focus more on security-centric use cases.
