Zscaler partners with SAP for secure cloud migration

Zscaler has announced the integration of its Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) service, known as Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), into RISE with SAP, offering a more secure and streamlined approach to cloud migration for its customers.

This integration is aimed at addressing the security challenges associated with traditional VPNs. According to Zscaler's 2024 VPN Risk report, 56% of organisations reported being targets of cyberattacks that exploited VPN security vulnerabilities in the preceding year. This statistic highlights the necessity for enterprises to transition from conventional security measures to more robust solutions.

The integration of ZPA within RISE with SAP helps businesses eliminate conventional firewalls and VPNs, which in turn enhances cloud agility and boosts security and compliance. Additionally, customers of RISE with SAP will benefit from native Zero Trust protection by using Zscaler connectors, which facilitate secure access without relying on traditional VPNs.

ZPA also provides seamless client-based and client-less Zero Trust connectivity, enabling secure and direct access for employees and third parties to RISE with SAP applications and resources from any location. This feature ensures that access is managed securely and efficiently, promoting a flexible 'work from anywhere' environment.

Punit Minocha, Executive Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Zscaler, commented, "Customers have been using the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange to protect their SAP workloads across a large range of SAP applications for years. Now, we are launching a solution that natively integrates within RISE with SAP to facilitate the secure migration of workloads to a managed service and provides improved user-friendliness by eliminating the burden of traditional firewalls and VPNs. Customers achieve application modernisation while also securing remote access to business-critical applications and therefore facilitating the 'working from anywhere' culture that is so important to today's workforce."

Roland Costea, Chief Information Security Officer, SAP Enterprise Cloud Services, stated, "The integration of Zscaler Private Access with RISE with SAP enables streamlined Zero Trust security across SAP applications, providing secure access for users and partners while supporting compliance and performance, no matter where their workforce, apps or data resides."

Tobias Thörmann, Network Security Architect at Volkswagen AG, remarked, "Using Zscaler Private Access platform, we can confidently enable secure, remote access to SAP resources while maintaining the flexibility and scalability needed. This new integrated solution that Zscaler and SAP have created is an important capability to support our digital transformation with secure cloud services."

Georgios Billios, Group Service Manager at Siemens AG, added, "Zscaler's ZPA integration with RISE with SAP marks a significant step forward in securing and optimising enterprise applications in the cloud. By seamlessly connecting users to SAP services while maintaining the highest standards of security and performance, this partnership empowers organisations to innovate and scale with confidence in today's digital landscape, which we will for sure evaluate in our own RISE with SAP implementations."

Nataliia Iskra, Head of IT Security Operations at Deutsche Börse, expressed, "This innovative solution will enable organisations like ours to enhance the security and reliability of our SAP applications. By enabling secure, zero-trust access to critical systems without the need for traditional VPNs, Zscaler empowers our teams to work with confidence, no matter where they are. This innovative approach reduces risk, ensures regulatory compliance, and ultimately strengthens the foundation of our IT security strategy."

Britta Simms, Managing Director at Accenture, said, "Using Zscaler's ZPA solution to securely access SAP applications is a strategic move for organisations aiming to fortify their enterprise security. Moving beyond traditional perimeter defences like VPNs allows organisations to ensure that every access request is validated based on identity, context, and risk. This continuous authentication model is essential for protecting SAP applications in the cloud, enabling organisations to embrace digital transformation while maintaining a robust security posture."

Sachin Singh, Managing Director at Deloitte & Touche LLP, noted, "Modern organisations operate SAP systems across a hybrid landscape and today's distributed workers need access to these systems from different locations. This new solution offered jointly by Zscaler and SAP simplifies migration of SAP applications to the cloud by allowing users to have a consistent, secure experience, no matter where these applications are hosted. Together, with our deep technical cybersecurity knowledge and this new solution from Zscaler and SAP, we can help clients navigate data protection compliance while also utilising digital experience monitoring for optimising user-experience during the migration."