Updated: Feb 17, 2026
When Shreya Bhandari, the CIO of a manufacturing firm in Noida, reviewed her security posture, she knew firewalls and VPNs weren't enough. Her teams were mobile, systems were hybrid, and access requests came from every corner of the country. Two failed audits later, she acted. What followed was a move to Security Service Edge (SSE) that stabilised access and gave her control without friction. You might be in a similar place.
SSE solves a basic but growing problem. You can no longer trust users based on location or network. With cloud apps, hybrid work, and third-party access now normal, the perimeter is gone. SSE doesn't rebuild it. It replaces it with identity-based access and inspection, delivered from the cloud.
At its core, SSE brings three things together:
Together, they inspect, verify, and control access, no matter where the user sits or what device they use.
SSE gives you full control over how users connect to business systems and what they can do once they connect. You stop blind trust. Instead, you check identity, device posture, and context before allowing access. You can inspect traffic in real-time. You can block uploads, downloads, and shadow IT use.
For example, in a fintech firm based in Hyderabad, Proactive deployed Cisco's SSE solution to give field teams access to core apps like Salesforce and Workday without sending traffic through their data centre. The firm saw a 35% drop in policy violations within a month and improved user satisfaction with remote access.
SSE isn’t a VPN replacement. It’s a rethink. VPNs trust and tunnel. SSE evaluates and enforces. It’s not just traffic routing, it’s security inspection. Some confuse it with SASE (Secure Access Service Edge), but that includes SD-WAN too. SSE is about security only.
A well-implemented SSE stack allows:
Cisco’s Secure Access supports all of the above with centralised visibility and reporting via SecureX. Session logs and audit trails can be pushed to SIEM platforms like Splunk or Qradar. This helps streamline compliance reporting under ISO 27001, PCI-DSS, or internal security audit mandates.
For Indian firms, SSE adoption also reduces the compliance load. SSE provides the enforcement backbone for key regulatory themes:
Proactive works with in-house teams and legal advisors to map SSE policies to audit requirements, helping CISOs respond with clarity, not improvisation.
Cisco’s Secure Access, part of its SSE stack, brings mature cloud-delivered security with deep integrations across identity, endpoint, and threat intel. But a strong product means little without the right hands to deploy it. This is where Proactive steps in.
We’ve implemented Cisco’s SSE framework across manufacturing clusters in Aurangabad, tech parks in Pune, and logistics firms in NCR. Clients come to us not just for the badge, but for what we bring to the table: fast implementation, fewer disruptions, and insights tailored to Indian networks and regulations.
When you compare partners, ask who has actually done this at scale in India. Ask who understands local infra gaps, compliance expectations, and how to align global tools to local needs. You’ll find Proactive ahead of the rest.
Review your current access architecture. Map where your users are, what systems they need, and how they get in today. Look at breach reports, audit gaps, and shadow IT usage. If you see friction, delay, or risk, it’s time to act.
Book a diagnostic with Proactive. We’ll show you what SSE could look like in your context. Then we’ll implement it without disrupting business, using Cisco’s world-class tools.
