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Citrix (CTXS) Inks Deal to Boost SD-WAN With New Firewall

Citrix Systems, Inc. CTXS recently announced its partnership with cyber security player, Check Point Software Technologies CHKP, to roll out additional next-gen firewalls within Citrix SD-WAN.

Citrix and Check Point Software already have a joint offering available in the market, which integrates Citrix SD-WAN and Check Point CloudGuard. The announced offering will further integrate Citrix SD-WAN with Check Point CloudGuard Edge and Check Point CloudGuard Connect.

The proposed offering is expected to allow Citrix SD-WAN’s customers to automate and improve their networks, while protecting their networks from the latest cyber security threats.

It will also facilitate enterprises to develop consistent access control policies based on applications and users across network and cloud, automate provisioning of Check Point CloudGuard Edge as a virtual network function (VNF) on the Citrix 1100 appliance as well as enhance the provisioning of other security services by leveraging Citrix SD-WAN Orchestrator.

The growing work-from-home trend, stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, has increased the threat of cyber-attacks. Thus, the offerings’ enhanced cyber security capabilities are expected to drive its adoption and boost Citrix’s revenues over the long haul.

Notably, shares of Citrix have returned 32.3% in the year-to-date period compared with the industry’s rise of 8.8%.

Citrix Systems, Inc. Price and Consensus

 

Citrix Systems, Inc. Price and Consensus
Citrix Systems, Inc. Price and Consensus

Citrix Systems, Inc. price-consensus-chart | Citrix Systems, Inc. Quote

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Enhanced SD-WAN Security Bodes Well

The partnership with Check Point Software is part of Citrix’s focus on improving the cyber security capabilities of its SD-WAN offerings.

Notably, Citrix partnered with cyber security firm Palo Alto Networks PANW to boost network protection within Citrix SD-WAN. The integration of Palo Alto’s VM-Series virtual firewall and Prisma Access offerings provide customers with better network and cloud protection.

The company also expanded security with the API integration between Citrix SD-WAN and the Zscaler Cloud Security Platform. This allows customers to apply controls that protect users and applications when they are connecting to SaaS applications or services over the internet.

As part of the digital transformation taking place across all industries, a growing number of enterprises are moving their operations to the cloud. This combined with the increased work-from-home wave has exposed organizations to bigger and more frequent cyber security attacks.

Thus, the integration of next-gen firewalls and other security enhancements has well positioned Citrix to expand its presence in the SD-WAN market, which per Global Market Insights data, is expected to witness a CAGR of 60% between 2020 and 2026.

Competitive Scenario

Citrix’s SD-WAN peers, including Cisco CSCO and VMware backed VeloCloud aren’t far behind when it comes to strengthening their SD-WAN offerings with enhanced security and network protection capabilities.

Notably, Cisco has partnered with cyber security players like Symantec, Netskope and Iboss Cybersecurity to integrate their offerings with its SD-WAN platform.

Moreover, the company is leveraging its own network protection offerings like Cisco Umbrella and Cisco Talos to strengthen its SD-WAN platform. This saves the company training and integration costs associated with third party solutions.

Meanwhile, VeloCloud partnered with Menlo Security to integrate the latter’s Secure Cloud Transformation offering, which enables enterprises to optimize local internet breakouts and provides global low-latency access to the internet and critical SaaS applications.

VeloCloud has also inked deals with the likes of IBM Security, Fortinet and Forcepoint to further strengthen its SD-WAN offering.

Nevertheless, Citrix’s strong focus toward strengthening its security and network protection capabilities is likely to strengthen its market position in the SD-WAN market.

Zacks Rank

Citrix currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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