Zero Trust and Agility at the Edge

Original broadcast 11/19/25

Presented by Omnissa & Carahsoft

The Indo-Pacific is a region defined by scale—geographic scale, strategic scale, and operational scale. It spans thousands of miles, multiple time zones, and a wide array of mission environments ranging from garrison installations to contested maritime spaces. For the Department of the Navy and the United States Marine Corps, that scale creates unique challenges in cybersecurity, mobility, and user experience. It also demands a modern approach to securing mission systems without slowing down the warfighters who depend on them.

At TechNet Indo-Pacific, Gino Troy, Global Account Executive for the Navy and USMC at Omnissa, outlined how Zero Trust and unified endpoint management can meet those demands—if implemented with a deep understanding of culture, usability, and mission needs. Zero Trust has become one of the Department of Defense’s most referenced priorities, but Troy emphasizes that it is not a product and not something that can be delivered in a box. It is a framework, a journey, and a continuous practice that must be woven into daily mission execution.

For the fleet and the Marine Corps, Zero Trust adoption hinges on one central idea: security cannot impede the mission. If operators must fight against systems to access applications, networks, or data—especially at the edge—Zero Trust becomes a burden instead of an enabler. Troy explains that the cultural challenge is often more significant than the technological one. Many operators and administrators hear new mandates and assume they will add friction, complexity, or new layers of bureaucracy.

But when done right, Zero Trust simplifies rather than complicates. It creates consistency across devices, networks, and domains—NIPR, SIPR, JWICS, and joint environments. It helps ensure that a Marine deploying from a stateside base to a forward operating environment can maintain access to the same applications and tools without juggling new logins, new devices, or unfamiliar workflows.

Troy’s work at Omnissa focuses on reimagining this experience. The company’s unified endpoint management platform allows operators to move fluidly between networks, domains, and devices, while security policies follow them automatically. Whether an operator is using a laptop aboard a ship, a handheld device on a flight line, or a ruggedized tablet in a tactical environment, the security posture remains continuous—but not intrusive.

This seamlessness is essential in a region as vast and diverse as the Indo-Pacific. Missions routinely require mobility, cross-domain operations, and integration with joint and coalition partners. The ability to authenticate once, securely, and have that trust extend across environments is no longer a convenience—it is a requirement. Troy notes that this region is the most joint in the world. The Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Army, and Space Force must operate as a unified digital ecosystem, and they must do so alongside allies who also bring their own systems and workflows.

User experience is the heart of that ecosystem. Troy explains that Zero Trust must feel empowering rather than restrictive. If a system makes operators slower, they will find workarounds. If it makes them faster, they will champion it. That is why Omnissa’s approach prioritizes reducing the cognitive load on operators—providing them with secure access to the right tools at the right time, without requiring them to understand the underlying complexity.

At the same time, administrators and cybersecurity personnel face their own challenges. They must contend with ever-growing compliance requirements, expanding cyber threats, and dynamic operational environments. Troy acknowledges the “digital bureaucracy” they face—mandates, audits, authorization boundaries, and risk management frameworks. Unified endpoint management helps here as well, offering a consolidated control plane that can manage devices, users, applications, and policies at scale.

The Indo-Pacific amplifies these challenges. The vast distances, the distributed nature of forces, and the reliance on multi-domain operations all require a cyber posture that prioritizes agility and resilience. Devices must work across platforms, networks must adapt to shifting missions, and systems must remain secure even when disconnected or degraded.

Troy draws an analogy to traditional force readiness. In previous eras, military planners focused on stripping down hardware—reducing weight, optimizing loadouts, and ensuring operators could move quickly and effectively. Today, the same mindset applies to the digital battlespace. Cyber and IT systems must be lightweight from a user perspective, even if they are complex behind the scenes. The operator should not feel the burden of cybersecurity; they should feel only its benefits.

As Troy explains, this requires partnering across the ecosystem. No single vendor can deliver Zero Trust alone, and no single platform can meet every operational need. The future lies in interoperability—solutions that complement rather than compete, architectures that allow choice rather than lock-in, and technologies that empower rather than constrain.

In a region where mission speed, security, and user experience converge, the work of connecting these systems becomes mission-critical. Troy sees it not as building a new layer of complexity, but as creating a single, coherent digital backbone that can adapt to the Indo-Pacific’s relentless operational demands.

Zero Trust, in his view, is not a constraint but a catalyst—something that, when paired with unified endpoint management, can give operators the agility they need to succeed in one of the most challenging theaters on Earth. And as the region continues to evolve, the ability to deliver secure, seamless, and resilient digital experiences will be fundamental to safeguarding the mission.

Key Takeaways

• Zero Trust requires cultural adoption and must enhance rather than hinder operator workflows.

• Unified endpoint management enables seamless, secure access across devices, networks, and domains.

• The Indo-Pacific’s vast, joint environment demands interoperable, agile, and user-centered security solutions.