The increasing complexity and risk of managing networks has many business and IT leaders saying there must be a better way. An overwhelming 88% of Canadian organizations say that simplifying networks to make them easier to manage would have a significant benefit to the business.1

Fortunately, help has arrived in the form of network as a service (NaaS) a cloud-based model for managing network resources, including switches, wireless LANs, and security appliances. These are activities that, for equipment located on-premises in an organizations data centre or campus network, might typically be managed by internal IT organizations.

NaaS, however, might also include ownership of all network equipment by the service provider as well as the operation, monitoring, optimization, and management of these network components, all for a single monthly fee. NaaS is designed to allow organizations the ability to administer networks as if they were still on-site and to rapidly deploy new or additional network resources.

4 essential guidelines for evaluating managed network solutions

1 Solving the Growing Complexities of Network Management: Network as a Service 2016, IDC

Definition:

Network as a Service (NaaS) NaaS is a cloud-based managed network service that provides dynamically adaptable networking services virtually in a multi-tenant, pay-per-use model. Network services can be provided via hosted or on-premise environments or through the cloud.

Evaluating your provider

While there can be significant advantages to businesses in switching to a managed model, its important to fully consider your needs and how a managed offering might help drive your unique business objectives. As you evaluate a provider, here are four essential guidelines to consider:

1 Assess your technology requirements

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Spend time understanding your organizations technology needs, with the goal of determining what is required in terms of time, effort and cost to keep your communication infrastructure up and running. Its also important to consider how your in-house IT skills can be used to support business strategies and drive success, as well as being a key source of innovation for your company.

You might want to prioritize the technologies that support your business core competencies and give you the opportunity to improve your customers experiences. Then, find the right network deployment model for your workload.

2 Know your provider

Adopting a NaaS model shifts the way your organization delivers IT by offloading the day-to-day operational tasks and deploying faster and more flexible IT solutions. But its also essential to select a provider whose products and services best meet your needs.

Make sure the provider you select has partnered with reputable networking and security vendors, who not only offer the NaaS components you want to adopt today but are capable of managing your future needs.

4 ESSENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING MANAGED NETWORK SOLUTIONS

4 ESSENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING MANAGED NETWORK SOLUTIONS

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3 Carefully review your SLAs

SLAs outline the types of services to which you have subscribed, the infrastructure/platforms that will be used, the levels of network availability, performance and security you will receive, and the levels of support that are available to you. Compare these network performance metrics in the SLA to that of your own datacentre and look to improve on performance and availability. The ability to move and grow with your business are great features of NaaS, and if your workloads vary, its wise to ensure your SLAs allow for changes in data volumes and traffic without incurring additional fees and penalties.

4 Data Security

Whenever data is passing through a third-party system, security becomes a major concern. Below are a list of top security concerns when moving into the cloud, and should be reviewed with your NaaS provider.

1 Data encryption Is data protected in transit and at the cloud providers facility?

2 Data availability Is it available at all times?

3 Data access Will only the right people at my company have access?

4 Data location Where in Canada is my data located?

5 Data ownership Is the cloud provider allowed to mine my data?

6 Data disclosure What happens in the event US law enforcement seeks to access my data?

7 Data repatriation How do I take my data back from a provider?

8 Data migration How easily can I switch to another provider?

9 Data disposal How is data deleted by the provider?

10 Data archiving What are the policies for archiving data?

4 ESSENTIAL GUIDELINES FOR EVALUATING MANAGED NETWORK SOLUTIONS

Rogers Wi-Fi as a Service

Summary

Look for a provider that:

Offers the types of NaaS components you require now, and offers a complete NaaS solution that can facilitate any future needs

Partners with leading best-of-breed network infrastructure hardware, software, and security vendors

Offers flexible SLAs and rapid deployment of network resources and services

Wi-Fi as a Service from Rogers is a core component of a complete NaaS solution. Wi-Fi, security and other features become a service that is fully managed, and you receive predictable monthly billing. Best of all, it helps free up valuable time that your teams currently spend managing the day-to-day, so that they can spend more time moving your business forward.

Whats next?

Learn more about Network as a Service solutions and how these can help deliver better cost, security, performance and capabilities, ease of use, and flexibility.

Call 1-866-307-3992 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm EST)

Speak with your Rogers Account Representative

Resources

Wi-Fi: The primary network improving business and IT operations with managed Wi-Fi

How to choose a Wi-Fi services vendor

Network as a Service: Benefits for Canadian Businesses

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