Zscaler kills the VPN.
In the old world (Castle & Moat), you connected to the corporate network. In the new world (Zero Trust), you connect to nothing; you connect through Zscaler to a specific app. The thesis is that Zscaler is the Switchboard of the Internet for enterprise traffic, sitting between the user and the application, inspecting every packet.
Product Deep Dive: The Exchange
1. ZIA (Internet Access)
- The Product: Secure Web Gateway. Protecting employees browsing the internet (blocking gambling sites, malware downloads).
- The Moat: Proxy Architecture. Zscaler runs inline (Man-in-the-Middle). This is hard to build at scale (150 data centers).
2. ZPA (Private Access)
- The Product: VPN Replacement.
- The Magic: The user never touches the corporate network. Zscaler spins up a dark connection to the app (AWS/Data center). Even if the user is hacked, the attacker can't "move laterally" to other servers.
3. ZDX (Digital Experience)
- The Product: Monitoring why "Zoom is slow."
- The Value: Since Zscaler sits in the middle, they know if the lag is the WiFi, the ISP, or the Zoom server. IT loves this.
The Business Model
- User-Based Licensing: Priced per user/per year (e.g., Business bundle).
- Upsell: Moving customers from "ZIA only" to "ZIA + ZPA + ZDX."
- Sales Efficiency: High CAC, but very high LTV.
Risks
- Palo Alto & Fortinet (SASE): Firewall vendors are successfully pivoting to SASE. "Single Vendor SASE" (One Firewall + One Cloud) is a strong pitch against Zscaler's "Best of Breed" pitch.
- Cloud Hyperscalers: Microsoft (SSE) and Google (Chrome Enterprise) are entering the edge security market.
- Sales Turnover: Zscaler has had high sales leadership turnover, impacting execution.
Conclusion
Zscaler is the purest play on "Zero Trust." As long as work is distributed, the VPN is dead, and Zscaler is the replacement.