The Customer Edge Drives the Need for NaaS

Network as a Service (NaaS) enables a flexible and responsive strategy to enable the edge, in all its forms.

When organizations view their assets and resources, they all involve what communications services providers consider the edge. But from a client perspective, the edge IS the company. Located at the edge are the organization’s sites, assets, people, applications, productivity needs, and security challenges.

Inter-networking these enables the business’s commercial activities and determines the success of the company. As such, application performance and security (voice, data, and software) are all that matters for the business from a networking perspective.

The path traveled to get to the edge is transparent to the site, individual, or application and like dial tone – it just works.

All business problems and their solutions involve a need at the edge.
• Cloud-resident applications are at the edge.
• Remote workers are at the edge.
• IoT devices are at the edge.
• Wireless devices are at the edge.
• The business’s customers are at the edge.
• The business HQ, data center, factory, branch office, store, and warehouse are at the edge.

NaaS is how the client contracts, orders, configures, changes, analyzes, and consumes the network.

Network as a service, just like cloud clients consume cloud services – on demand, as needed, based on business needs. It’s not the piece parts that are significant, they already exist and many have for quite some time. It is how it is consumed and what that means for the edge (the client’s business elements).

It is not about which technologies are used or even how, it is about choice of technology fit for purpose and in consumable elements.

Think of the electric outlets in your house. Logically you are the edge in the eyes of the power company. But you are not, you are a family, living in a home.

You don’t care how the power company gets electricity to you, you just want it to work for your purposes – light, electronics, maybe heat, maybe cooking, etc.

Nor do you want to be an electric company, build power plants, distribution, etc. You want to consume. And your consumption needs and patterns are different from your neighbors.

Retail has different electric power needs, so do manufacturing plants. So different “access” needs at the “edge.” Again, they don’t care about tech or access, they care about consumption options, reliability, cost, flexible pricing options, etc.

It is Power as a Service.

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Brian

Managing Partner at meshIP, LLC

Brian Byrne is the founder and Managing Partner of Dallas based meshIP, a technology services firm offering cloud computing strategies and services. He is an accomplished executive with senior management experience in all facets of the technology, telecom, cloud computing, and SaaS industries. He has proven success in developing, financing and executing strategic plans as well as launching new ventures. His background includes a record of significant achievement in international business development and his credentials include a MBA in Marketing and Management Strategy from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, a MS from the School of Computer Science at DePaul University, and a BBA in Finance from the University of Notre Dame.

He is also the inventor of the patented meshDETECT, Secure Prison Cell Phone Solutions.

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