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The enterprise cybersecurity challenge is growing more urgent by the day. According to Gartner, AI-powered cyberattacks are scaling at a 23% annual rate, and expect three out of four enterprises to be impacted by 2025. IDC predicts global security spending will soar to $377 billion by 2028. Yet, despite these investments, CIOs and CISOs are still left wondering: which solutions can we trust to deliver proven protection?
Fragmentation has long been the enemy of enterprise security. Too many tools often add complexity instead of resilience, creating the very gaps that attackers exploit. At the same time, boards, insurers, and regulators are demanding proof of resilience, not promises.
The enterprise community has spoken—trust must be earned, and it starts with certification. Certification provides that proof, validating conformance to enterprise expectations and regulatory requirements, and ensuring solutions are both operationally sound and future-ready.
On 10 Sep, 2025, Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC) issued a manifesto calling for mandatory SASE certification across all products, services, and solutions under the Mplify framework, the Manifesto for Advancing Trust, Assurance, and Resilience through SASE Certification.
Why Mplify Is Leading the Way
Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC), a strategic advisory group of senior executives from Accenture, Bloomberg, Burberry, Decathlon, Grab, Morgan Stanley, Santander, Siemens Healthineers, TD Bank, UPMC, and Williams-Sonoma, recently issued a public manifesto with a bold call to action: make Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) certification mandatory across the industry.
Their message is simple but powerful: it’s time to certify what matters.
This mandate isn’t just about checking boxes, it’s about protecting businesses as they embrace cloud, expand hybrid operations, and scale AI-powered applications. Without clear, verifiable benchmarks, enterprises risk being left with solutions that interoperate inconsistently, underperform, or leave critical security gaps exposed.
The Role of Mplify Certification
Mplify has created the industry’s first standards-based SASE certification, designed to validate the three pillars of secure connectivity: SD-WAN, Security Service Edge (SSE), and Zero Trust (ZT). Each component is tested against rigorous, real-world scenarios to ensure performance, security, and interoperability.
For enterprises, this means:
- Assurance that solutions deliver on their promises.
- Transparency with a common framework for comparing providers.
- Efficiency through faster procurement and reduced RFP complexity.
- Readiness with production-ready solutions built for models like Network-as-a-Service (NaaS).
Certification is the foundation for trust, innovation, and resilience in today’s digital economy.
Enterprises Lead, Providers Must Respond
Certification alone isn’t the full story. What makes this moment unique is that enterprises themselves are driving the change. Through the ELC, global business leaders are asserting their voice and reshaping the agenda. Standards must now evolve in lockstep with enterprise needs, not just provider roadmaps.
For technology and service providers, the call is clear: certification is no longer optional. It is the new benchmark for competitiveness in a market where transparency and trust are the ultimate differentiators. Providers that embrace certification will not only meet enterprise demands but also gain meaningful differentiation in a crowded landscape.
Looking Ahead
This enterprise-driven mandate will take center stage at Mplify’s Global NaaS Event, GNE 2025, November 10–14, in Dallas. At GNE, enterprises, providers, and technology partners come together to move certification from exception to expectation.
Learn More
- About Mplify for Enterprises.
- Mplify’s SASE Certification Program for Service Providers.
- Mplify’s SASE Certification Program for Technology Providers.
- Read the press release, Enterprise Leaders Issue Industry Manifesto to Mandate Mplify SASE Certification Amid Rising AI-Driven Cyber Threats.
- Meet Mplify’s Enterprise Leadership Council.
- Read the Mplify Enterprise Leadership Council’s Manifesto for Advancing Trust, Assurance, and Resilience through SASE Certification.
