Network-as-a-Service or NaaS is a cloud model that enables users and enterprises to easily operate a network without owning, building, or maintaining their own infrastructure.
NaaS has gained popularity, especially with the rise in subscription models during COVID, as it can replace hardware-centric VPNs, firewall appliances, load balancers, and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) connections. NaaS allows enterprises to scale up or down based on demand, quickly deploy services, and eliminate hardware costs.
Why is NaaS gaining popularity?
NaaS has become an emerging model for organizations looking for network infrastructure that provides flexible network subscriptions inclusive of hardware, software, management tools, licenses, and lifecycle services.
Traditional network models run on capital expenses for physical networks that include switches, routers, and licensing. This model usually puts immense pressure on the enterprise as they need to find the resources and time to plan and deploy physical infrastructure with the help of their IT team, which in most cases may not have the expertise to do so.
This often results in:
- Requiring diligent monitoring for updates and security patches
- Hiring a technician/s to deploy and configure equipment at various locations
- Long, lengthy resolution time for non-complex issues
Despite the accelerated growth of networks, IT teams still struggle to keep pace. With NaaS, the aim is to take this load off the IT team’s shoulders and instead utilize the power of AI to drive actionable insights. This can help IT improve the utilization of services, optimize workload traffic, and even protect the business.
What are the benefits of NaaS?
NaaS gives businesses the flexibility to pay for services based on usage and growth. It simplifies how hardware and software technologies are managed and consumed. Thereby, providing greater speed, agility, and scale.
Without a doubt, NaaS will continue to evolve to provide businesses with the additional capabilities they require to scale up.
Simplifying IT processes
It makes sense for businesses to align their costs with actual usage. After all, why should they pay for surplus capacity that goes unused?
It is mandatory for businesses that own their infrastructure to implement upgrades, security patches, and bug fixes in a timely manner. This often means having IT personnel travel to various locations to make these changes.
With NaaS you can continuously deliver new fixes, features, and capabilities without having to go anywhere. NaaS automates multiple processes, thereby taking the pressure off the IT team’s shoulders.
Global access
With the current hybrid and remote work environments, employees need network flexibility allowing them to connect their devices and work from home or office without relying on VPNs.
NaaS provides enterprises with global coverage, low-latency connectivity enabled by a worldwide point of presence, and negligible packet loss when connecting to SaaS applications, platform-as-a-service (PaaS)/infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platforms, or branch offices.
Enhanced security
Adopting NaaS results in almost impervious integration between network and network security. NaaS solutions provide on-premise and cloud-based security to meet today’s business needs, as compared to traditional networks where vendors and IT teams to piece together a security network.
