Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) explained

Simon Edward • 16 September 2024

Want more simplicity, flexibility and cost-effectiveness in your network? Learn why NaaS could be the answer.

Picture this. You're off to the supermarket for your weekly shop. Tonight is fajita night, and the recipe calls for a single lime. Yet when you get to the limes, there's only one option: you can buy 20 limes or nothing.

You stand there um-ing and ah-ing as shoppers around you reach for their big bags of 20 limes. Is this… normal?

No one wants to pay for more than they need. But in the networking world, that's precisely what happens.

Across the space of a year, your networking demands could change. But if you're running your network on your premises, you can't easily scale up or down to meet those demands. You're stuck, shall we say, with 20 limes when you really only need one.

This is where Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) comes in. It's a flexible, cost-effective way of managing your network according to demand, not a pre-prepared package. It frees up time, money and resources.

How does it work?

NaaS is a way for businesses to simplify their network operations. It does this by shifting the network from on-premise equipment to the cloud, where resources can be allocated when they're needed.

Those dusty old pieces of network hardware will clutter your offices no more as you move to a virtualised environment. Upgrades and upkeep are now the responsibility of the provider, not your IT team.

It's pay-as-you-go – a simple enough change with wide-ranging consequences, not least the shift of network costs from CapEx to OpEx.

This isn't just about saving money. It's also about better money management. With NaaS, you can be as flexible or as predictable as you like. Want to scale up or down? No problem. Want a consistent allocation of resources? Again, no problem.

Above all, it's about freedom. You're no longer tied to one piece of hardware or one level of resource allocation. "Agile" may be an overused word in the business world – but with NaaS, it's exactly the right description.

What are the key benefits of NaaS?

NaaS isn't just a clever way of delivering your network. It can also save you money and improve your overall performance. Here are five of the key benefits that make this possible.

1. Cost-effectiveness

With NaaS, you pay for what you use, not the total costs of your network infrastructure. This lets you allocate your budget with far greater precision and flexibility.

2. Simpler network management

It's not just your invoice trail that's simplified – it's the network itself. With NaaS, you don't need to manage your infrastructure. The time you save can be put towards research and development, branding, growth plans and all the other tasks you've been putting off.

3. Agility

Having your own on-premises infrastructure is like wearing a raincoat all year round. There are times when you just don't need it.

Market conditions change – so why shouldn't your networking resources change too? NaaS lets you scale up and down to meet demand and stay competitive.

4. Speed

If you want to upgrade your hardware, you're going to have to wait. NaaS, by contrast, can be provisioned quickly, so you can always stop on top of changing demands and new opportunities.

5. Managed services

Some things are best kept in-house. Others can be outsourced to the benefit of your company. NaaS is one of these. Reduce your administrative burden by letting a third party take care of your network.

Four use cases for NaaS

That's what it is – but when should you consider using it? Here are four situations where NaaS could come to the rescue.

1. You're ready to scale up

Your business is growing – congratulations! But it's putting a strain on your network. Should you upgrade your hardware or outsource your network to a pay-as-you-go cloud service model? By now, the answer should be clear…

2. Your business is affected by seasonal fluctuations

Some goods and services go up and down at different times of the year – sleighs and surfing lessons, to cite two examples. But even those goods and services needed all year round experience spikes – at holiday times, for instance.

Then there are those spikes in sales that can't be predicted, caused by a public issue or celebrity trend.

A spike in sales means a spike in traffic. And a spike in traffic can negatively affect your application performance.

NaaS gets around this by providing bandwidth on demand. It's another example of the cost-saving flexibility it offers. Instead of having spike levels of bandwidth all year round, use what you need and pay for what you use.

Picture of someone handing over money in a shop.

3. You feel like your costs are getting out of control

Remember when software could only be accessed when you bought it on disk? Chances are you ended up spending an amount of money on software disproportionate to the time spent actually using it.

While enterprises have more or less shifted to Software-as-a-Service, they're still largely tied to Network-as-a-Burden. NaaS knocks this on the head by providing a monthly subscription that can be budgeted for with ease.

4. You're worried about downtime

If your on-site hardware goes down, you go down with it. But with NaaS, traffic gets automatically re-routed in the event of any kind of hardware failure. This high availability and redundancy means greater peace of mind.

About Ascend Cloud Solutions

Ascend Cloud Solutions is a team of trusted cloud specialists based in Cork, Ireland.

Expertise and problem-solving are our strengths. We know the world of cloud computing like few others on earth – and we put this knowledge into action by helping organisations like yours extract more value from the cloud.

Already, we've assisted hundreds of businesses as they migrate to the cloud. And we've helped dozens more with solutions like cloud optimisation, cloud security consulting and cloud readiness assessments.

But these solutions are just the start. We're constantly investing in new infrastructure and technologies to help our clients move faster and work better.

Need a helping hand with cloud strategy? Get in touch. Want to harness cutting-edge cloud networking and management services, born and based in Ireland? Watch this space.

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