How Service Providers Are Evolving To Keep Up With The Needs Of The Enterprise
Enterprises today operate in a dynamic environment where agility, speed, and adaptability are paramount. As business needs evolve, networks must connect distributed workforces and integrate seamlessly with cloud and edge environments. Many enterprises are embracing hybrid, multi-cloud architectures and edge computing to maximize efficiency and minimize latency. However, this brings a new level of complexity to network management.
Traditional networks, built for long-term, stable connections, don’t support this new paradigm. Enterprises now need connectivity that is as scalable and flexible as their applications, with on-demand provisioning that fits their business cycles. For instance, enterprises can spin up cloud services in minutes, but connecting to these services through legacy networks can take weeks. This disconnect has created a demand for network services that match the cloud’s scalability, flexibility, and usage-based models.
The Need for Network as a Service
Metro Ethernet Forum’s recent white paper, “Articulating the Essential Features of a NaaS Offering,” highlights the need for the telecom industry to “cloudify ” to meet the needs of the Enterprise.
According to MEF, Network-as-a-Service is defined as a combination of one or more of the following on-demand services across a standards-based automated ecosystem:
- connectivity
- application
- assurance
- cybersecurity multi-cloud-based services
This ecosystem should offer consumption-based billing, dynamic SLA management, on-demand configurability, and self-service ordering and configuration via an always-on management platform, among other features.
With NaaS, enterprises gain a cloud-like user experience where they can configure and provision connectivity in real time, adapt network settings to meet evolving demands, and scale bandwidth as needed. This model eliminates operational bottlenecks by allowing seamless, API-driven management and transparent, usage-based billing, aligning network expenses directly with actual consumption.
NaaS resolves the technical challenge of flexible connectivity and ensures operational efficiency by streamlining every aspect of the network lifecycle—from quote to consumption.
Telcos Must Transform the Way They Do Business:
At Graphiant, we observe this shift firsthand and work with many telcos to enable them to keep pace with enterprise demands. With most enterprise resources now outside of the service provider’s network, the focus has shifted to the experience these SPs can provide.
This means Service Providers must make significant changes to the way they traditionally do business, including:
- Shift to Self-Service and Automation: Weeks-long lead times for bandwidth change orders, billing system updates, and balancing service credits become a thing of the past. Service providers are moving from traditionally human resource-centric processes to more automated lifecycle management.
- Agile, On-Demand Services: Fixed networks are giving way to dynamic, on-demand services by giving their customers the ability to provision connectivity to new services in real-time. Examples include private multi-cloud, SaaS on ramp, 3rd party extranet, and other over-the-top (OTT) services offered by the Service Provider. Consumption-based pricing allows the Enterprise Admin to spin up and down connectivity as needed.
- Self-Service and API-Driven Consumption: In the past, service providers primarily delivered value to their customers through services where the customer interfaced mostly with an operations center. Today, many service providers are moving toward self-service models with API-driven interfaces. This empowers enterprises to manage networks with the same agility they experience in the cloud. The value is now in the customer experience.
- Experience-Driven SLAs: Service level agreements (SLAs) are being redefined to prioritize end-user experience over traditional network availability metrics. Enterprises need reliable performance for critical applications, and telcos are responding by aligning SLAs with user experience objectives rather than simple uptime percentages.
- Automated and Proactive Network Management: With complexity increasing, traditional incident response models are being replaced by automated, proactive management. AI-driven insights and predictive analytics now enable service providers to anticipate network issues before they disrupt service, reducing downtime and improving reliability for enterprises.
- Converged Network and Security: Security is now foundational, especially as networks extend to the edge and integrate with multi-cloud environments. Telcos are adopting a converged approach that embeds security into network management, a strategy that enhances both visibility and control for enterprise customers.
At Graphiant, we are committed to empowering telcos as they navigate the shift to meet modern enterprise demands. By leveraging our Network-as-a-Service platform, with built-in Data Assurance capabilities, service providers gain the agility, scalability, and cloud-like experience that enterprises expect today. From automated provisioning and on-demand connectivity to seamless API integration with their existing products, Graphiant helps telcos transform legacy processes into efficient, digital-first workflows. Together, we’re building the future of connectivity that meets the dynamic needs of enterprise environments and drives growth, efficiency, and innovation within each service provider’s business.
Sources:
MEF White Paper – NaaS Customer Experience | Articulating the Essential Features of a NaaS Offering [September 2024]
Reproduced with permission of MEF Forum
https://www.mef.net/resources/naas-customer-experience/?utm_campaign=Press%20Releases&utm_source=PR24%3ANaaSBlueprintV2&utm_medium=PR24%3ANaaSBlueprintV2-WhitePaper
