Updated: Aug 13, 2025
You run cloud apps across cities, your users jump between SaaS, private apps, and the internet, and your controls still sit in a data center. If users in Bengaluru and Pune reach Salesforce faster than your policy does, you do not control risk; the network does. Security Service Edge gives you a way to pull control back without slowing anyone down.
You have remote and branch-heavy teams across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Pune. You run a mix of SaaS and private apps. You adopt GenAI and need strong egress controls. Tool sprawl and fragmented policies create blind spots. SSE fixes that with one control plane and one data plane for all user traffic.
A fact that sets the context: India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, exists in law, but large parts of the regime still await full enforcement through final notifications. You need stronger controls today, and you must prepare for compliance that will tighten tomorrow.
1. Secure Web Gateway, SWG: You inspect and control web traffic with real-time policy, decrypt where policy allows, and block command and control. You apply acceptable use by function, not by old categories, and you stop malware early with DNS and HTTP controls.
2. Zero Trust Network Access, ZTNA: You replace broad network access with application-level access. You publish private apps behind identity-aware proxies. You set posture checks, device health, and risk signals from EDR. You can use client-based or clientless ZTNA for different user groups. You reduce lateral movement, and you remove split tunnelling guesswork.
3. Cloud Access Security Broker, CASB: You control SaaS use with both inline inspection and API based posture. You detect shadow IT in Mumbai and Hyderabad offices, quarantine risky files in Google Drive, enforce tenant restrictions in Microsoft 365, and apply DLP to source code and PII.
4. Firewall as a Service, FWaaS: You enforce L3 and L4 controls in the cloud for outbound traffic. You keep rule sets small, dynamic, and policy-driven. You avoid hairpin traffic through a head office in Gurugram.
5. Remote Browser Isolation, RBI, and DLP: You stream risky pages in a container when you must reduce endpoint exposure. You tag and control sensitive data with exact data match and document fingerprinting.
You need short paths and predictable performance. Ask three questions:
For identity, you should integrate with Azure AD or your identity provider of choice. Use conditional access and device risk signals. For posture, you should collect device health from EDR, MDM, and OS. For context, you should include user group, location, network, device state, and app sensitivity. Your policy should combine these signals at decision time. Your audit teams in Pune should see full attribution, who accessed what app from which device and where, in one place.
On data residency, you should confirm where logs, user identifiers, and decrypted content transit and rest. DPDP rules will tighten retention and transfer controls. Prepare now, reduce data movement, and centralize logging with access controls.
Cisco Secure Access gives you the SSE layer. You get SWG, CASB, ZTNA, FWaaS, DNS security, RBI, and DLP in one service. You run unified policy across the internet, SaaS, and private apps. You can start with clientless ZTNA for contractors in Chennai and then move your managed workforce in Jaipur to client-based ZTNA with posture checks. You can enforce tenant control for Microsoft 365 in Mumbai and stop data exfiltration from code repositories in Hyderabad using exact data match.
Cisco Secure Connect extends SSE into full SASE by adding SD-WAN. If you run Meraki or Cisco SD-WAN, you can route branch traffic to the nearest security point of presence, apply the same policy, and keep the user experience high. You remove hairpins, cut MPLS costs, and simplify your topology across campuses.
IT and ITeS in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. Your teams work from client sites, homes, and co-working spaces. You need fast access to Atlassian, GitHub, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and private developer services. With SSE, you publish GitLab and Jenkins through ZTNA, enforce least privilege, and stop SSH sprawl. You apply API based CASB to Google Drive and OneDrive, catch risky sharing, and apply DLP on source code patterns and API keys. You cut VPN incidents that flood your L1 desk every Monday morning.
Manufacturing in Pune and Manesar. You push Industry 4.0, connect OT and IT, and adopt SaaS for MES analytics. You keep OT segmentation at the plant, and you apply SSE to users, vendors, and engineers who reach plant apps from outside. ZTNA removes flat access. SWG and FWaaS stop risky downloads and command and control. CASB prevents PII and design leaks to personal drives. You keep third-party maintenance access in check with just-in-time ZTNA and session recording.
1. Baseline and goals, two weeks. Map apps, users, and devices in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Set outcome metrics, see the KPI section.
2. Identity and posture, two weeks. Integrate IdP, EDR, and MDM. Define device health and risk signals. Pilot adaptive MFA for high-risk states.
3. Quick wins, two weeks. Turn on DNS layer protection. Block known bad destinations. Start API based CASB for Microsoft 365 and Google Drive in Mumbai and Pune.
4. ZTNA pilot, three weeks. Publish three private apps behind ZTNA. Move one user group off the VPN. Measure time to first packet and access success rate.
5. SWG and DLP, four weeks. Roll out the secure web gateway with decryption where policy and privacy allow. Apply DLP for PII and source code fingerprints. Add RBI for risky categories.
6. Full policy and scale, continuous. Expand to all cities. Compress and dedupe policies. Move select sites to Secure Connect if you are ready for SASE.
Ask one question at every steering review. Can every control you deploy explain itself with end-to-end attribution, user, device, app, rule, and action? If it cannot, find the gap and close it.
You need design, rollout, and daily care you can trust. Proactive Data Systems brings deep Cisco security skills, real-world runbooks, and a certified, expert field force across India. You get architecture that matches your identity and network, clean policy mapping, and change control that will pass an audit. You get a migration plan that removes risk and a support model that keeps the service stable.
Your teams do not have time to stitch tools. Proactive gives you unified policy design, DLP classifiers tuned for India-specific patterns, Aadhar and PAN where relevant, incident response playbooks, and weekly service reviews with hard metrics. You get direct access to engineers who run Cisco Secure Access and Secure Connect in production, not only in a lab. You can ask for a proof of concept that mirrors your stack and cities, not a demo that glosses over the details.
Proactive will help you design, pilot, and scale Cisco Secure Access and Secure Connect across Indian metros with clear timelines, clean change control, and accountable SLAs. Ask for a zero-cost SSE readiness check, a two-hour working session that leaves you with a draft architecture, policy tree, and a pilot plan. Contact us today.
