Cloudbrink has introduced OnGuard technology, expanding its security and connectivity policy framework across users, devices and machines through a single platform.

The company said the expanded platform provides an alternative to deploying and managing separate products for secure access, internet security, AI security and remote connectivity. Cloudbrink said its approach is intended to address what it describes as growing complexity in enterprise security stacks, where additional threats can result in additional products, policy layers, licenses and management consoles.

“Cisco has spent years asking customers to solve secure access by adding another product,” said Prakash Mana, CEO of Cloudbrink. “Umbrella, AnyConnect, Secure Access and now AI Defense may all carry the Cisco logo, but enterprises still have to think about multiple technologies, policies and operating models. We took the opposite approach: one software platform, one policy framework, and one experience for the user. OnGuard now extends that model beyond the user to the machine. We believe a single Cloudbrink platform can eliminate a significant portion of the Cisco secure-access stack.”

Cloudbrink OnGuard enables security, visibility and user connectivity experience management through a single platform. While traditional remote-access security typically begins with a user session, OnGuard allows policy enforcement to begin when a device comes online, including before a user logs in, and continue independently of the user session.

The company said customers can use a single configuration for ZTNA, QOE, SWG, AI Security, multi-cloud connectivity and digital experience monitoring. Cloudbrink's QOE and security controls also extend to devices, machines and applications alongside users.

OnGuard includes secure overlay tunnels that are available separately from user context tunnels, allowing a secure Cloudbrink tunnel to become available when a machine comes online without user intervention. The platform can also require administrator authorization before policies are enforced and allow administrators to block or terminate machine tunnels.

Additional capabilities include centralized visibility into user and machine activity through a single console as well as selective policy controls for machine tunnels. These policies can include Internet Security, AI Security, ZTNA access controls and Cloudbrink QOE.

According to Cloudbrink, consolidating policy enforcement for users and machines can help customers maintain consistent policies across corporate assets while minimizing costs, increasing ROI and meeting regulatory compliance requirements.

The expansion builds on existing Cloudbrink deployments replacing legacy Cisco remote-access infrastructure. At one U.S. insurance company, Cloudbrink replaced an environment that included Cisco AnyConnect and Fortinet. The organization moved 300 employees on the first day and more than 600 during the first week. The company's VP of IT said remote-connectivity support calls subsequently “pretty much disappeared.”