The Business Case for SASE: Measuring Its True ROI
Cybercrime has continued to steadily increase in recent years. Cybersecurity Ventures expects global cybercrime costs to grow by 15% per year over the next two years, reaching $10.5 trillion USD globally this year and $12 trillion USD annually by 2031.
Remote working has also increased. According to the 2025 State of Secure Network Access Report, 63% of organizations now embrace a hybrid work model and 19% operate fully remotely. Unlike office environments with controlled security measures, remote employees connect to company resources from multiple locations, devices, and networks which are often less secure, making cybercrime easier for hackers. Unlike office environments with controlled security measures, remote employees connect to company resources from multiple locations, devices, and networks which are often less secure, making cybercrime easier for hackers.
For mid-sized companies with limited IT resources, managing security tools in these environments can be challenging. As businesses adopt more cloud-based tools and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), sensitive data extends beyond secure boundaries, heightening exposure and making it more complicated to protect.
This underscores the need for solutions like Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), which combines all the crucial security elements necessary to keep your network and distributed workforce safe from cyberattacks in one easy-to-use, cloud-centric, unified framework.
While investing in SASE may seem like a clear solution, many mid-sized organizations are struggling to justify its cost and measure the return on investment (ROI), particularly with constrained IT budgets.
What is the ROI of SASE?
Let’s examine the cost and risk of NOT investing in SASE.
Data breaches
The average cost of a data breach in 2025 in the United States was $10.22 million, according to the IBM 2025 Cost of a Data Breach report. Globally, the average cost per data breach stood at $4.88 million. The financial repercussions of a data breach go well beyond the initial incident. It can have lasting effects on customer trust, leading to reputational damage, customer loss, and significant revenue decline.
Brand reputation
Industries that manage highly sensitive personal, financial, or intellectual information such as healthcare, finance, insurance, and higher education are among the most frequent targets of data breaches. Some of the biggest data breaches in 2025 included Farmers Insurance, where hackers accessed the personal data of more than one million individuals. In November, the University of Pennsylvania reported a significant data breach to the FBI, with hackers targeting decades of information on alumni, donors, and students. Several other universities were targeted, including the University of Phoenix, Harvard University, Southern Illinois University, and Dartmouth College.
Customer trust
Customer trust can take years to establish but only moments to damage after a security breach. According to a PwC Consumer Trust Survey, 79% of consumers consider data protection essential for building trust, while 91% of business executives believe that maintaining trust directly benefits their bottom line.
Lost revenue
One of the most significant setbacks for businesses who experience cybercrime is declining annual revenue. Losses can result from customer attrition, canceled contracts, and reduced memberships, while new customer acquisition rates may also slow.
Regulatory fines
Sizable fines assessed for data breaches suggest that government regulators are getting more serious about organizations that don’t properly protect consumer data. For example, Vodaphone GmbH paid $52 million for not properly overseeing contracts drawn up by third-party agencies that caused financial harm to customers, as well as for security deficiencies in the authentication process for their customer online portal.
Staffing
Hiring, retaining, and training cybersecurity staff is costly and challenging, especially since economic pressures have led to budget and workforce reductions. In the 2025 ISC2 Cybersecurity workforce study, 63% of respondents indicated they had a staffing shortage and 72% agreed that reducing cybersecurity personnel significantly increases the risk of a data breach.
Training and upskilling
Adding to this challenge is the rapid advancement of technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), which makes it increasingly difficult for cybersecurity teams to stay ahead with the latest tools to defend against emerging threats.
The Financial Benefits of SASE
The financial benefits of SASE far outweigh the costs. For mid-sized companies with distributed workforces, SASE components like Security Service Edge (SSE) such as Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA), Next-Generation Secure Web Gateway (NG-SWG), and Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), provide layered protection helping to prevent data loss and ensure secure access.
Balancing cost management and security over time
Organizations with limited budgets can control costs by gradually implementing SASE components as finances allow, ultimately building a comprehensive SASE architecture that provides robust protection against modern threats at an affordable price.
Organizations should focus on identifying specific integration points where SASE can provide immediate value, such as enhancing cloud security visibility or improving remote access management. Partnering with a managed SASE provider that offers built-in integration, APIs, and automation features can reduce the burden of policy management and limit downtime.
SASE is flexible, scalable, and future-proof
With SASE, a managed service provider (MSP) hosts your security infrastructure in the cloud, delivering the efficiency, flexibility, and scalability needed to support your business as it grows. Security experts assist in evaluating, designing, implementing, and managing a robust security strategy that safeguards your business both now and in the future.
SASE protects your data everywhere
No matter where or how your business operates, a SASE solution ensures your data remains protected. It enables seamless, secure connectivity for employees working remotely, in the office, or on the go—without compromising security.
Meet compliance requirements
SASE streamlines compliance by centralizing security controls across all network locations and users. This enables organizations to consistently enforce security policies and data protection measures, ensuring adherence to regulatory standards while reducing the risk of data breaches.
Improves productivity
In the 2025 State of Secure Network Access Report, 50% of respondents noted enhanced productivity and secure access for remote workforces as key benefits, underscoring the importance of seamless, secure access for distributed teams. In addition, 49% highlighted improved application performance and bandwidth optimization due to SASE’s ability to use SD-WAN for intelligent traffic routing. 50% of respondents noted enhanced productivity and secure access for remote workforces as key benefits, underscoring the importance of seamless, secure access for distributed teams. In addition, 49% highlighted improved application performance and bandwidth optimization due to SASE’s ability to use SD-WAN for intelligent traffic routing.
Access to cybersecurity expertise
It takes years for security staff to develop real cybersecurity proficiency. Partnering with an experienced MSP gives you immediate access to decades of cybersecurity expertise, reducing the risk of cyber threats and high costs of staffing.
Faster detection and resolution
Centralized monitoring and reporting, backed by a team of experienced security experts 24/7, allows for quicker detection and resolution of security incidents.
Is SASE Your Next Step?
As digital transformation accelerates and IT landscapes evolve, the need for a unified, cloud-centric approach to secure network access has intensified. SASE combines networking and security into a single, cloud-native framework, providing a comprehensive solution that addresses the needs of remote work, cloud migration, and increasingly distributed workforces.
At its core, SASE safeguards your network and data, while improving efficiency, reducing costs, and strengthening customer trust.
An experienced managed SASE provider like Hughes can deploy, manage, and support your entire SASE architecture for you—or simply augment your existing security staff and resources to maximize their impact. Read the State of Secure Network Access Report to learn more about SASE solutions and contact us to explore how we can work together.