Yes — but its role has changed. Modern perimeter security is no longer just about building a fortress around your office network. Today, it protects users and devices on-site, secures east/west traffic, enables inspection of application usage, and safeguards IoT and third-party devices like CCTV, printers, and door entry systems.
At the same time, cloud and SaaS applications mean your security framework must extend beyond the office. To stay secure in this hybrid environment, businesses need standardised perimeter security integrated with SD-WAN and unified platforms.
Perimeter security was designed for a world where employees worked from offices, servers hosted internal applications, and data stayed inside company walls. That foundation is still critical, but relying on it alone leaves gaps when users access SaaS applications, work remotely, or use personal devices.
The risk isn’t that perimeter security doesn’t work — it’s that managing multiple vendors across cloud, SaaS, and on-site environments increases the chance of oversight.
Consider this: 74% of UK businesses use multiple security vendors. Each additional tool adds complexity, creates gaps in visibility, and increases the workload for IT teams. Even a strong perimeter can’t prevent misconfigurations or oversights across a fragmented environment.
Today, perimeter security:
Protects users and devices in-office, ensuring safe access and inspecting internal traffic.
Prioritises applications so critical business tools get the bandwidth and protection they need.
Secures IoT and third-party devices, reducing risk from non-traditional endpoints.
Standardises security vendor management, simplifying monitoring, reporting, and policy
Perimeter security remains a cornerstone, but it’s most effective as part of a broader, unified approach that extends protection to cloud and SaaS applications.
Managing perimeter security with one vendor reduces complexity and improves visibility across your environment. Unified platforms allow your team to:
Monitor all users, devices, and applications from a single dashboard.
Apply consistent policies across on-site and cloud environments.
Respond faster to alerts without juggling multiple systems.
Reduce the operational burden on IT teams, freeing them to focus on strategic initiatives.
By standardising perimeter tools, businesses can strengthen security while reducing the chance of oversights that lead to breaches.
Integrating SD-WAN and Cloud Security
SD-WAN is a key component of modern perimeter security. It enables smarter routing, improves application performance, and ensures secure access for remote workers. When combined with a unified, AI-driven platform, SD-WAN helps enforce consistent policies and protects traffic across both office and cloud environments.
This integration makes it easier to manage multiple security needs — from inspecting internal traffic to protecting SaaS applications — all within a single, scalable framework.
Adopting a unified, standardised approach to perimeter security delivers measurable benefits:
Better visibility: Full monitoring of all users, devices, and applications.
Reduced compliance risk: Consistent policy enforcement and automated reporting simplify audits.
Faster response times: Automated alerts and policy enforcement shrink exposure windows.
Operational efficiency: One platform means fewer vendors, less training, and a more focused IT team.
Perimeter security isn’t dead — it’s just evolved. Its value lies in protecting on-site users, managing internal traffic, and standardising security vendor management, while being part of a wider cloud-ready framework.
If your business is juggling multiple vendors across cloud, SaaS, and on-site environments, you risk oversight, misconfigurations, and gaps that attackers can exploit. Standardising your perimeter and integrating it with SD-WAN and unified platforms reduces risk, simplifies operations, and strengthens overall security posture.
The perimeter security model is evolving, and many organisations are exploring new approaches like Zero Trust. Adopting these strategies can help address the challenges of remote work, cloud apps, and complex tool environments.
So, what’s next? It’s about applying Zero Trust principles to your environment—updating policies, streamlining tools, and maintaining security while supporting business flexibility.
Want a clear roadmap?
Join our live webinar, How to Move Beyond the Firewall: Enforcing Zero Trust in 2025, where our security experts will share practical strategies to reduce vendor sprawl, close visibility gaps, and enforce Zero Trust—plus answer your questions in real time.