Business

An entrepreneur’s guide to NaaS 

  • April 15, 2024
  • 6 min read
An entrepreneur’s guide to NaaS 

In the dynamic landscape of modern in business and entrepreneurs are constantly seeking innovative solutions to streamline operations enhance efficiency and drive growth. 

One such innovation that has emerged as game changer in the realm of networking Is Network as Service (NaaS). NaaS represents paradigm shift in how businesses approach, their networking infrastructure, offering a flexible, scalable and cost-effective alternative to traditional network management models. 

By outsourcing the complexities of network provisioning configuration and maintenance to specialized providers entrepreneurs. the focus their resources on strategic initiatives while leveraging NaaS to meet their evolving connectivity needs. 

In this article, we’ll delve into what NaaS entails explore its key components examine the challenges and benefits it presents to entrepreneurs, shed light on its transformative potential in today’s digital era.

What is NaaS? 

Network service (NaaS) is form of cloud service model. Where businesses rent out networking services from the cloud providers. The platform enables companies to operate their networks without the hassles of managing infrastructure.

Like other as-a-service offerings NaaS providers also offer networking solutions through software allowing businesses to set up their networks without any hardware hassles. All they require is internet connectivity.

NaaS tends to replace multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) connections, virtual private networks (VPNs), and other legacy networks in addition to on-premise networking hardware like firewall and load balancers. With the ease that it offers, NaaS platforms are changing the meaning of what are managed services.

The components of NaaS

The success of NaaS deployment depends entirely on how well it is built. Here are the different components of the service offering.

  1. Connectivity – The component looks into offering network links having predefined quality of service (QoS) and bandwidth. It enables multiple systems, devices, and networks in the company to communicate through data transmission.
  2. Self-service portal – The self-service portal is an element which powers real-time connectivity and access to virtual network functions. The portal generally comes with a user-friendly interface and can be easily accessed via an application or web browser. After having connectivity in place, businesses can effortlessly handle their value-added services (VAS) and network with one click through the NaaS portal and the already integrated VNF marketplace.
  3. VNF and VAS marketplace – VNF and VAS components let businesses access and purchase additional network services outside of the basic connectivities. VAS and VNF enhance the capabilities and functionalities of a network. Real-world examples of these solutions might include fully managed local area networks (LANs), and security elements like Voice over IP, firewalls, or mobile virtual networks (MVN).
  4. Managed network – Managed network services are a set of networking activities that companies outsource to a managed service provider (MSP). Throughout the entire installation and relocation stages, these solutions don’t just define SIP trunk meaning but also allow the current IT teams to concentrate on other key tasks. This betters the operational efficiency since the NaaS providers can track specific services.

Advantages linked with NaaS platforms

Flexibility: Cloud solutions provide greater flexibility and customization. All the changes are made through software without any dependency on hardware. As a result, IT teams are able to reconfigure the corporate networks on demand.

Scalability: NaaS services tend to be more scalable compared to traditional, hardware-driven solutions. Enterprise NaaS users can easily purchase higher capacity from vendors, removing the hassles of buying, plugging in, and using more hardware.

Remote access: Based on how the cloud-driven network has been configured, the users can access them from anywhere and any device, without a dependency on VPN. Ideally, all that a user would need is an internet connection and login credentials.

Bundled with security: NaaS makes it easy for a provider to give both security and networking services like firewalls to businesses. This leads to a tighter integration between the network and its security.

Cost savings: Investing in cloud services in place of building one’s services tend to result in cost savings. The cloud customers do not have to buy and manage hardware since the vendor already has the servers which they need to provide the solution.

Improved performance: NaaS providers tend to offer robust service level agreements (SLAs). Guaranteeing performance and reliability including uptime guarantees, bandwidth availability and quality of service (QoS) assurances. Businesses can depend on NaaS to deliver consistent network performance, ensuring seamless connectivity and optimal user experience for their customers and employees.

While these are some of the key benefits of NaaS investment, there are some issues associated with the platform as well. 

Challenges associated with NaaS

Compatibility: The NaaS provider’s infrastructure might not get integrated with legacy systems which are in place in the organization like old hardware, on-premise-based apps, etc.

Legacy data centers: In a majority of enterprises, important apps and procedures still run on the on-premise data centers and not cloud. This makes transitioning to a NaaS model more challenging.

Vendor lock-in: Moving to cloud solutions adds on to the risk of a company becoming reliant on a particular service provider. If the provider’s ecosystem fails or the subscription amount gets raised, companies might get stuck.

These challenges, while prevalent, can be addressed by partnering with the right NaaS solution provider. Assuming that you find the right tech partner, there are some considerations that you will need to plan for. 

  • Build a comprehensive strategy – When implementing NaaS, IT teams must understand the business goals and how the network infrastructure would help it meet them.
  • Review network security framework – Network security elements like intrusion detection, firewalls, and prevention systems should be continuously monitored by the network managers and updated to keep up with the best security policies in the domain.
  • Monitor network performance – Businesses which rent hardware from NaaS providers must ensure that there are trained personnel to monitor the software’s performance. This would ultimately lead to minimal outages of business-focused applications and ultimately enhance the QoS.

Network as a service, or NaaS, is quickly becoming the default option for businesses planning digital transformation. Powered by the advantages that the platform offers, it has become a matter of competitive advantage for businesses to migrate to NaaS. 

We hope that the information we covered in this article helps you get an assurance in the platform’s capabilities. 

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Alyona Jain