Barracuda Secures and Optimizes Office 365 User Experience with Microsoft Virtual WAN

Barracuda Networks, Inc. announced new capabilities enabling Barracuda CloudGen Firewall to further improve connectivity to Office 365 and the Microsoft Azure cloud. Specifically, the new functionality of the CloudGen Firewall to enforce Office 365 local breakout policies in Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN allows Barracuda’s customers to optimize their Office 365 user experience while increasing security and reducing network costs.

As strong growth in Microsoft Office 365 deployments continues, organizations are learning that their network capabilities are critical to the success of their Office 365 migrations and the resulting user experience. It’s a challenge many organizations will struggle to overcome. “In addition to reassessing WAN service requirements, it's essential that network planners also reassess on-site equipment requirements. Although SD-WAN tends to be easier to configure than traditional routers, it can actually lead to technical debt if simply layered on top of existing network equipment. New SD-WAN deployments are a rare and great opportunity to simplify the network and replace existing routers.”1

By enforcing Office 365 policies in Azure Virtual WAN, Barracuda CloudGen Firewall reduces or eliminates potential network-related performance issues. The functionality enables Azure Virtual WAN customers to specify the Office 365 traffic categories that they trust for direct internet breakout. Trusted Office 365 traffic will bypass proxies and route directly from the user location to the nearest Microsoft network location, providing an optimal user experience and saving WAN costs by avoiding traffic back-hauling and hair-pinning.

The Office 365 policy set in Azure Virtual WAN is now automatically configured and enforced in every Barracuda CloudGen Firewall connected to Azure Virtual WAN. This ensures that Office 365 traffic will always be routed optimally following Microsoft’s recommendations.

Connection and configuration of Barracuda CloudGen Firewall with Azure Virtual WAN is fully automated as well, making it easy to get started with the solution. Users need only fill out authentication information and click “connect.”

“Customers want to optimize their Office 365 traffic, but security is still a top priority,” said Klaus Gheri, VP of Network Security at Barracuda. “By using our integration with Azure Virtual WAN, customers get the benefits of a high-performance branch-to-branch network with enhanced security from Barracuda CloudGen Firewall.”

“We are seeing a lot of customer interest in optimizing their Microsoft Office 365 user experience,” said Koert Martens CTO for Kappa Data, value added distributor for Barracuda Networks. “The capability of a firewall to enforce Microsoft Office 365 policies with Azure Virtual WAN would allow our customers to follow Microsoft recommendations that improve end-user experience while staying secure.”

The integration is available now, and the new functionality can be leveraged by organizations using Azure Virtual WAN.