Zscaler (NASDAQ: ZS) announced new capabilities in Zscaler Digital Experience (ZDX), its observability platform focused on Zero Trust, with a clear goal: detect earlier, isolate root cause, and remediate digital experience issues within minutes—instead of days—reducing downtime costs and strengthening overall SLA.
The company emphasizes that traditional troubleshooting—fragmented across teams and tools—slows down root cause identification (is it a device, network, or application?) and contributes to estimated digital downtime losses of $400 billion annually. ZDX addresses this by unifying endpoints, network, internet, and application telemetry.
The three key innovations of ZDX
1) Network Intelligence: automatically circling around ISP outages
- What it does: detects bottlenecks or outages in ISPs and suggests/automates rerouting traffic through Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA) to another Zero Trust Exchange data center, avoiding the affected zone.
- Use case: in incidents such as submarine cable cuts (e.g., in the Red Sea), this reroute reduces user disruption from days to minutes.
2) Zscaler Managed Monitoring: 24/7 SaaS and custom apps monitoring
- What it does: monitors critical applications (SaaS and internal web apps) from multiple routes and global locations to proactively detect degradations and document third-party breaches.
- Use case: enables SLAs enforcement with providers (ISPs, SaaS), claiming compensation and negotiating better terms.
3) Device Health Score, System Events & Remediation: endpoint health at scale
- What it does: aggregates device health and performance metrics (hardware/OS/apps), correlates system events, and facilitates remote remediation.
- Use case: discovers and resolves widespread issues (not just isolated cases), extends device lifespan, and prevents premature replacements.
Expected outcome, according to Zscaler: –98% reduction in detection time (MTTD) and resolution within minutes, with a more transparent Zero Trust model and sustained productivity—whether in the office, at home, or on the go.
Why it matters (beyond security)
- Breaking down domain silos: user experience rarely fails due to a single layer. Unifying endpoint + network + application speeds up pinpointing the true root cause.
- Seamless Zero Trust: end-to-end visibility enables policies that support business rather than hinder it, choosing healthy routes to prioritize.
- Lower total costs: fewer tickets, less escalation, more robust SLA, and deferred capex on hardware.
Analyst Zeus Kerravala (ZK Research) summarizes: the market is shifting from discrete pieces to unified security and networking platforms; applying AI to massive telemetry accelerates resolution beyond what isolated tools can achieve.
What it means for IT (in practice)
- Specific SLO/SLA: measuring p95/p99 experience per app, ISP, and region; closing the loop with actions (rerouting ZIA, endpoint remediation, provider notifications).
- Fewer “war bridges”: with automatic root cause detection (ISP vs. LAN vs. SaaS vs. endpoint), MTTR is reduced, and teams align.
- Vendor governance: objective evidence for enforcement of SLAs and contract optimization.
- Endpoint lifecycle: health score + remediation allows extended device lifespan without degrading user experience.
Availability and cautions
Zscaler targets these updates at existing ZDX/ZIA customers; more details are available on their technical blog. Like any roadmap, the company notes these are forward-looking statements subject to successful integration and variable results depending on environment.
In a nutshell
ZDX combines visibility of Internet, endpoint, and application and introduces smart rerouting during ISP failures, managed monitoring 24/7 for apps, and device health/remediation. Less time chasing culprits; more time keeping users productive.