The VPN has done its job for a long time. The problem is that many businesses are still asking it to solve a problem it was never designed for. VPNs were developed for a simpler access model than the one businesses now have to manage.
A user sat outside the office, connected back into the network, and worked as if they were inside the building. That made sense when most applications, users, and devices lived behind a defined perimeter. That is no longer how most South African businesses operate.
Today, the average environment is far messier. Staff move between offices, homes, client sites, and mobile connections. Applications sit across Microsoft 365, private data centres, SaaS platforms, and cloud infrastructure. Contractors need temporary access. Branches need reliable connectivity. Some systems are modern, some are legacy, and not every device touching the business is fully managed.
Rethinking the network
The question should no longer be, “How do we get this person onto the network?” It should be, “What specific application does this person need, under what conditions, from which device, and for how long?”
That shift is where Security Service Edge (SSE) starts to make a difference. SSE is a cloud-delivered security model that brings together capabilities such as Zero Trust Network Access, Secure Web Gateway, Cloud Access Security Broker, and Digital Experience Monitoring. Essentially, it moves security closer to the user, the application, and the access decision, instead of treating the network as the trust boundary.
Traditional VPN access usually does the basic job of connecting people. The problem is that it can give them more room than they actually need once they are in. Someone brought in to support a single finance application should not have unnecessary visibility across the internal network. A branch employee logging into a cloud platform does not carry the same risk profile as an administrator accessing a sensitive private system. And when someone connects from a device the business does not manage, that should be treated very differently from a secured company laptop.
In many environments, VPN access still makes those distinctions harder than they should be. If credentials are compromised or access rights are overly broad, the attacker may gain a foothold. At that point, the problem is no longer remote access. It is exposure.
Enter ZTNA
Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) changes the logic. Instead of placing a user onto the network, it gives that user access to a specific application based on identity, device posture, policy, and context. Think of ZTNA as a modern alternative to traditional remote-access VPNs, designed to support secure access for users, devices, and private applications.
This is important locally because most organisations do not operate within neat architectural diagrams. They are managing hybrid environments under budget pressure, skills constraints, compliance expectations, and real operational urgency. The security model has to work in that reality, not in a boardroom sketch.
SSE also helps address the wider access problem. Secure Web Gateway protects users as they move across the internet. CASB gives visibility and control over SaaS use. Digital Experience Monitoring helps IT teams see whether users are actually getting a workable experience. These capabilities matter because security that breaks productivity will eventually be bypassed, ignored, or quietly worked around.
Security considerations
The wider move towards SASE reflects the same pressure. HPE Aruba Networking’s unified SASE approach brings together secure SD-WAN, SSE, and cloud-native network access control.
This cleaner access model provides businesses with greater precision. It allows access to be granted based on need rather than network location. It reduces unnecessary exposure. It makes third-party access easier to govern. It gives IT and security teams a clearer view of who is accessing what, from where, on which device, and under which policy.
Of course, it does not mean every VPN must disappear tomorrow. Some legacy systems and operational environments will still require staged migration. VPN should no longer be the default answer to every access requirement. The old model asks whether a user can connect. The newer model asks whether that connection should exist at all and, if so, how narrowly it can be controlled.
That is the access conversation South African businesses need to have now. When users are working from different locations, applications are spread across cloud and private environments, and risk no longer sits neatly within a single perimeter, broad network access becomes much harder to defend as the default model.
The VPN era is ending because connectivity alone is no longer enough. Businesses need an access model that is more precise, more visible, and less dependent on inherited trust. That is the practical value of SSE. It helps organisations move away from simply connecting people to the network and towards giving the right people secure access to the right applications, under the right conditions, with less unnecessary exposure.
