In our current organization, we have been using Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler by Maiden Edge, Maidenhead Bridge for almost two and a half years. They are providing us specialized virtual appliances to simplify and secure connectivity between cloud environments. For our case, this involves AWS and Zscaler Internet Access, with a focus on zero trust and high availability, and it also helps with performance enhancement.

Our main use case for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is that we have been using it as a pre-configured virtual machine that we deploy on our AWS system with minimal networking requirements. This connector helps us automate Zscaler node detection and route selection, which reduces the manual configuration and operational burden for our organization's administrators. Management is quite straightforward through it being available with SSH and AWS System Manager. The appliance also includes built-in utilities for traffic monitoring and troubleshooting and log export to syslog. Our day-to-day use case is primarily that it helps us automate Zscaler node detection and route selection.

Automating node detection and route selection has helped us reduce the number of errors we were getting and made Zscaler more reliable and less dependent on Zscaler directly. Before using this solution with Zscaler, the Zscaler used to malfunction frequently, impacting our productivity. After implementing Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler along with Zscaler, we have seen positive effects, saving time as well as resources, which has left a very good impression on us.

Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler has positively impacted our organization by helping us in our cloud environment to connect our resources to Zscaler, ensuring that security policies are consistent with zero-trust access and increasing reliability by 28%. It has also helped us with site-to-cloud networking at high performance, optimizing performance and reducing the bottlenecks of cloud connectivity, saving resources and time by at least 78%. Additionally, it has automated workloads using Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler's high availability and ensured that connectivity is uninterrupted to Zscaler, even during network outages or maintenance.

Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler offers multiple features, but the major feature I love specifically is automated Zscaler node detection, which helps detect any kind of problem first. Additionally, it is available all the time, providing high availability routing for seamless failover, which is one of my favorite features. It also provides Layer 4 routed bypass for TCP, UDP, and ICMP traffic, enabling granular traffic control that streamlines our services working with Zscaler. It has provided complete visibility of internal IPs on the Zscaler console, allowing us to monitor and troubleshoot whenever there is a problem, making things transparent and easy for us to monitor. The integration with SIEM or syslog enhances centralized log management for our organization.

I feel that they are doing great with Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler. If I need to suggest an improvement, it would be to simplify the steep learning curve, as it can be complex for newcomers without prior experience. Apart from that, I did not face any challenges with them in these two and a half years.

I have been working in my current field for almost 10 years.

Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler's scalability is definitely impressive, as it has handled growth and changes in our organization well. Whenever we have increased our employees and the number of users, it has contributed positively to our growth without any scalability issues.

We reached out to customer support three weeks back due to an issue where Zscaler got stuck, and they identified and solved the problem within 45 minutes, which is exceptional. I give them a 10 out of 10 for customer support.

Positive

The deployment of Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler in our environment is very straightforward with the option to pass configuration parameters via user data during initial setup. The connector integrates seamlessly with cloud-native services, in our case AWS, and it also works with load balancers, firewalls, and monitoring solutions, making the deployment straightforward and easy, with no challenges I remember in our organization.

The configuration process for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is excellent. We did not encounter any challenges, and it was very smooth. Even if it is complex, the team is always there to help, and customer service is excellent—always there to assist with deployment or configuration challenges.

We have definitely seen a return on investment with Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, saving us money by at least 20 to 25%. In terms of time, we have saved at least 22 to 25% related to security and automation. The employees have become more productive and focused on the right direction.

The experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is definitely competitive. They provide us a good cost, and since we obtained it through AWS Marketplace, we are well supported in this area.

We did not use a different solution, but we have evaluated some alternatives, including Fortinet SASE, Cisco Umbrella, Netskope Security Cloud, and Palo Alto Networks Prisma Access.

Before choosing Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, we definitely evaluated other options and looked at several solutions. We chose Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler because it is a scalable solution. Increasing the number of seats or users did not show any signs of crashing or lagging.

One more thing I want to mention is the built-in tools for testing and troubleshooting, which include traffic logs, TCP dump, speed test, and MTR.

Everything else is good. The user interface is very attractive and does not require any change.

If you are looking into using Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler, I recommend it highly if you are committed to Zscaler and want a very simple automated GRE and IP routing from Azure, AWS, or GCP, without having to manage tunnels or custom NVA designs yourself.

Cloud Security Connector for Zscaler is a good solution that can help your Zscaler work better and secure your environment more effectively. It can also integrate with multiple cloud platforms like Azure, AWS, and GCP, making it a must-have solution for organizations based on my observation. I provide this review with an overall rating of 4 out of 5.