5 reasons IT teams should shift to Network-as-a-Service

Hybrid and remote work are driving the need for a digital transformation. Organizations are under increased pressure to:

• meet sustainability goals
• manage increasing data volumes
• deliver secure network connectivity

Software-defined wide-area networking (SD-WAN) shifted organizations’ connectivity reliance from hardware to software. The next evolution in networking is a consumption-based service model.

Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) is a cloud-enabled, usage-based service model that allows organizations to deploy network capabilities without having to own, build, or maintain their own infrastructure. With a flexible consumption model and subscription-based pricing, NaaS enables IT teams to shift from capital expenditures (CapEx) to operational expenses (OpEx) and avoid large, recurrent investments in network infrastructure. Spending becomes more consistent and predictable, and organizations only pay for the resources they use.

According to a 2021 Cisco survey, businesses stated that responding to disruptions and accommodating new business needs were their top network challenges.

Luckily, NaaS will help organizations tackle those challenges. Modern software development has made the process of controlling usage much easier, resulting in simplified monitoring and reduced spend. NaaS will change how organizations acquire, deliver, and manage their networking capabilities, positively impacting how organizations meet demands no matter the scale.

These are the top five reasons that organizations should shift to a network-as-a-service model:

1.      Free up teams to innovate and deliver value

To better support the hybrid work models and evolving business operations their organizations face, IT teams need to:

• work seamlessly across on-premises, multi-cloud, and edge environments
• provide a secure and consistent experience for all users, regardless of location, device, or method of connectivity
• support both traditional and modern microservice-driven applications

While organizations recognize the need to deploy the latest networking technologies such as Wi-Fi 6, SD-WAN, secure access service edge (SASE), 5G, and AI, compounding all these new innovations can often strain IT teams’ abilities to effectively manage their organizations’ environments.

With a subscription-based model in which teams are not required to maintain their own infrastructure, organizations can free up resources and develop solutions that will deliver greater value to their clients and constituents.

2.      Improve network agility and disruption response

It can take weeks to get through the contract signing phase with a network provider. The time then spent configuring all the network equipment could add another two or three months to the initiation process.

Bad actors don’t pause their attacks because organizations are setting up their network. During the months it can take to configure new equipment, teams are left vulnerable and critical data is at serious risk.

With third-party NaaS management, that setup time could be cut down to a matter of hours.

3.      Integrate with hybrid work models, multi-cloud, and edge environments

Because many organizations require multi-cloud access, SASE is a common entry point to NaaS. NaaS’s self-service model means IT teams can quickly reconfigure and add new branch locations – even from their laptop or home office.

4.      Secure corporate data no matter where your employees are working

While many organizations traditionally kept their networks secure with on-premises gateways and perimeter appliances, remote work has shifted the paradigm of how teams access their organizations’ network and data. For many businesses, their dependence on virtual private networks (VPNs) has created major security risks during a time of increased cyberattacks.

NaaS can replace VPNs, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) connections, and other legacy network configurations. With a NaaS service, rather than an internal IT team monitoring its own organization’s infrastructure, a third-party NaaS provider secures browsing activity and protects the business’ data with industry best-practices.

5.      Reduce costs with usage-based billing

A major challenge for organizations is how to minimize their network spend without sacrificing resources or security. NaaS saves money by providing modern networking tools while allowing IT teams to avoid large, recurring investments in network infrastructure. Its usage-based billing model means organizations only pay for the resources they use.

Organizations are engaging heavily in business transformation, and with that comes the potential for digital transformation. NaaS adoption is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 40% within the next five years. SHI’s partnerships with our strategic infrastructure partners allow us to keep our customers on the leading edge of networking technology.

Ready to implement a NaaS model? SHI is here to help your organization gain back employee time, improve your network agility and data security, and free up funds for other initiatives.