When it comes to providing security for digital business, Zscaler Inc. has chosen to change the status quo.

Traditional security in the information-technology world over the past 30 years called for connecting users to applications in a centralized data center. The problem is that the basic model has become anything but centralized in the new reality of today’s distributed-computing ecosystem.

“My users are on devices that I barely control; my network is the internet that I really don’t control; my applications have moved to the cloud,” said Amit Sinha (pictured), president of research and development, operations and customer service, and chief technology officer at Zscaler. “Imagine if you’re a [chief information officer] and your job is to make all of this work. Those are some of the big problems that we’re helping our customers with.”

Sinha spoke with Peter Burris (@plburris), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio, in Palo Alto, California, as part of the Zscaler Digital Transformation series. They discussed how Zscaler’s platform is focused on connecting users with applications through the shortest route while ensuring maximum security for the full IT stack. (* Disclosure below.)

Leveraging a peering network

Zscaler’s Cloud Security Platform is a secure access service edge, or SASE solution, which combines wide area network capabilities with security functions. The goal is to ensure that users have the shortest secure hop to their enterprise applications.

“You need to have compute capabilities with things like SSL interception and all of the security services running right at the edge, connecting users with applications in the shortest path,” Sinha said.

To provide users with the shortest path, Zscaler leverages a peering network built with hundreds of major internet exchanges around the globe. This helps power its Zscaler Internet Access and Zscaler Private Access offerings.

“One of the first things we did when we built the Zscaler platform was to distribute it across 150 data centers,” Sinha explained. “We looked for the world’s best co-location facilities that provide maximum connectivity options in any given region. We can quickly get you to the content while delivering the full security stack.”

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s CUBE Conversations. (* Disclosure: Zscaler Inc. sponsored this segment of theCUBE. Neither Zscaler nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE