Network as a Service (NaaS) is the trend of the future

Network as a Service (NaaS) means that customers can access third-party network transmission services over the Internet and pay for them on a subscription-based basis. NaaS enables enterprises to outsource network capabilities at layers 4-7, such as software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) and Application Delivery Controllers (ADCs), and tiers 1-3, including switches and routers. Full adoption of NaaS is still in its early stages because most enterprise network capabilities require physical hardware to transfer data to endpoints, data centers, or the Internet. This is a challenge for NaaS as a service. The capabilities of Layers 4-7 are already available in cloud delivery mode.

Over the next five years or so, IT teams will increasingly adopt NaaS as vendors offer a mix of products, including software, cloud intelligence, and on-premises hardware management options. These services will be subscription-based, pay-as-you-go, making the network more of an operating cost than a cost of capital. They will provide centralized management that makes it easy to add and remove network and security features.

These services will outsource enterprise network operations to vendors, which may include service level agreements (SLAs) for vendors and their partners to determine uptime and guarantee problem resolution.

Today, NaaS is best suited for businesses with streamlined IT concepts and the need to provide network support for homes and branch offices. The options available provide overlay network services that can be enabled and delivered in the cloud with little or no on-premises hardware management. These include:

* Wi-Fi control
* SD-WAN
* Secure office network and remote access
* ADCs Security, including firewalls,
* DDOS protection, and network security gateways
* Management, coordination and network automation (MANO)
* Cloudy network access and control

NaaS has many of the same benefits as other as-a-service offerings, including flexibility. NaaS is able to quickly configure new sites and services, and has the flexibility to scale up and down as demand changes. It is also suitable for rapidly adding and removing network services.

Like Software as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service, NaaS's underlying software may be regularly updated to the latest and most secure versions, and because it is cloud-optimized, its management is driven by artificial intelligence to provide uptime assurance and help resolve issues.

NaaS can transfer significant capital expenditures to operating costs, allowing some or all of the resources to be outsourced to the network for specific locations or user categories, such as those who work from home.

And corporate NaaS is not without its challenges.

Moving to NaaS can be difficult and time-consuming for large and medium-sized enterprises that have invested heavily in existing remote, branch, campus, and data center network network network security infrastructure, and a multi-vendor environment will further complicate the problem. Because NaaS is implemented by fast, low-latency Internet services, any disruption to WAN connectivity can severely reduce or disrupt the network operations of the enterprise. Because the service is relatively new and NaaS pricing remains uncertain, business leaders may find that annual operating costs may be higher than their budgets.

And they will want to address a number of important issues, including service level agreements. These protocols should address what happens when a network is down or degraded, and how quickly all services can be restored. Compensation for these issues should include loss of revenue, poor customer service, and loss of employee productivity. Before purchasing NaaS, enterprise customers should determine how easy it is to tailor products to their individual needs and how easy it is to adjust services as their needs change.

Because they have outsourced part of their network, NaaS customers need to consider what they will do when their contract expires. These organizations do not have networks in the traditional sense, so if they want to switch to a different vendor, the switching process can become complex and contract negotiations can become complex. NaaS may be ideal for recent employees or new branch offices, but it's not for everyone. Migrating a large enterprise campus or data center network to NaaS can be challenging. NaaS vendors are unlikely to support multi-vendor networks, which will open up the possibility of vendor lock-in for businesses that want to hear from them all. Adopting NaaS will require a shift from the current enterprise model, in which trained in-house network engineers operate all complex network hardware. While most enterprises will continue to run complex physical networks within the enterprise, they will add cloud-based intelligence, including MANO and security.  

In addition to The Impact of NaaS on enterprise networks, it will have a significant impact on the structure of the network industry, including channel partners that sell hardware, software, and services. Suppliers have a lot of work to do to educate these partners and get them to buy their NaaS products. They must answer how the channel can continue to offer value-added services and how difficult it is to customize NaaS products. The widespread adoption of enterprise NaaS will be slow over the next 5 to 10 years, and small branch offices are now best suited. NaaS products will also be attractive to remote networks, homes, and mobile workers who need secure, reliable application performance, making it harder for enterprise networks with high-speed mobile traffic in the field to be delivered as a service.