What SSE actually is
Security Service Edge is Gartner's term for the security half of SASE delivered as a unified cloud platform: Secure Web Gateway (internet filtering and threat protection), Cloud Access Security Broker (SaaS visibility and policy), and Zero Trust Network Access (private-app access). For Australian buyers, SSE is the practical purchase — most organisations are not replacing their entire WAN at once (the SD-WAN half of SASE), but they are consolidating point-product security stacks into a single cloud edge.
Microsoft, Zscaler, Netskope, Palo Alto — the AU evaluation
The four serious SSE vendors in Australia are Microsoft Global Secure Access, Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, Netskope Intelligent SSE and Palo Alto Prisma Access. Microsoft's pitch is integration with Entra and the Defender stack. Zscaler's pitch is mature ZTNA and a deep policy engine. Netskope leads on CASB depth. Palo Alto leads on traditional firewall buyers. For mid-market Microsoft 365 tenants the Microsoft pricing — bundled into Entra Internet Access and Entra Private Access SKUs — is often the deciding factor.