Morgan Stanley says Microsoft now competes with cloud network security providers

Morgan Stanley analysts Keith Weiss and Hamza Fodderwala noted that Microsoft (MSFT) announced its entry into Secure Service Edge, or SSE, otherwise known as “SASE” minus SD-WAN, with the announcement of Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Entra Private Access. The analysts call this “potentially the largest and last major cybersecurity market that Microsoft has yet to enter” and note that it is now competing with cloud network security providers, mainly Zscaler (ZS), Cloudflare (NET) and Palo Alto Networks (PANW). However, the analysts add that they think achieving meaningful market share in SASE/SSE will “prove harder vs other security markets” and that SASE is “less synergistic with the existing Microsoft estate.”