While enterprises have been relocating applications, compute resources, and data storage to the cloud for the last two decades, the same can’t be said for networking. Networking has been the sector of IT that has been resistant to change more than any other largely because it has involved heavy-duty, expensive, on-premises infrastructure and management tools.

The “not enough resources/time” school of thought also has been pervasive. Far too many companies that continue to limp along with aging legacy networks are finding out it's hard to stitch together modern networking IT and maintain it while using slow or limited provisioning and networking processes.

Efficient, fast, and secure data movement has never been more integral to corporate success as it is today.

With the advent of heavier big data and artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) workloads, networking is finally being forced to adapt. This opens an opportunity for enterprises to benefit from “cloudification” (or, if you will, “SaaS-ification”) of their networks, enabling movement of data to be managed as a service by a trusted third party in the same way enterprises have adopted software as a service for applications such as Salesforce and Workday. The shift of workers to remote locations in response to COVID-19, coupled with the increase of connected field locations, edge deployments, and ancillary offices in many industries, also has led a growing number of enterprises to bring networking to the cloud.

Making the right decision on a network

The corporate decision to rethink how networks should be procured and deployed with operational efficiency and automated and managed network performance/reliability using SaaS-based principles is a critical one for any business. A reliable network is the backbone of business operations; any disruption can jeopardize customer satisfaction and employee productivity. Choosing the right network strategy is vital to maintaining seamless operations and driving business growth.

Legacy networks in tech's early days were built in data centers on enterprise campuses and consisted of physical nodes for routing, data processing, and storage. But starting at the turn of the 21st century, various versions of the cloud (originally called application service provider networks) changed all that. The ASPs were creaky and unreliable at first, but 25 years of improvements have made the cloud the trusted international business standard that it is today.

Comparing/contrasting NaaS and MSPs

Here in 2024, an increasing number of enterprises are realizing that their legacy systems need replacement, and they're looking to the cloud as the next step. Two of the choices they have are the old-school managed service providers (MSPs, direct descendants of the ASPs) and next-generation Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) specialists.

NaaS versus MSP boils down to one key fact: NaaS manages most, if not all, aspects of the network; MSPs do not. Both NaaS and MSPs offer businesses ways to outsource their network management, but they differ significantly in their approach and scope. Here's a breakdown of their key differences and similarities:

NaaS

• Focus: Provides networking services such as bandwidth, security, and network management on a subscription basis. Think of it as cloud computing for a network infrastructure.
• Delivery: Delivered as an all-inclusive cloud-managed service with bundled purpose-built technologies like SD-WAN, zero-trust network access (ZTNA), and AI Operations (AIOps), built to work together seamlessly.
• Scalability: Highly scalable. You can easily adjust your network resources (bandwidth, security features, coverage, etc.) as needed.
• Efficiency: Network lifecycle management is completely covered, with hands-off proactive troubleshooting, remediation, and performance optimizations.
• Cost: Predictable, subscription-based pricing, usually considered an operating expenditure (OPEX).

Managed Service Provider (MSP)

• Focus: Offers a menu of IT services, including network management, cybersecurity, data backup and recovery, and help desk support.
• Delivery: Can be delivered on-site, remotely, or a hybrid of both.
• Scalability: Can be less scalable than NaaS, because scaling often requires manual intervention or contract renegotiation.
• Control: The flipside of efficiency with NaaS is that MSPs need customer approval for most management, hardware line cards/provisioning, maintenance, and upgrade actions.
• Cost: Can vary depending on the services provided, often a mix of project-based and recurring fees.

How Join Digital provides complete hands-off control

Let's look closely at a rapidly emerging NaaS provider and why it sets itself apart from competitors.

In its seven years, Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Join Digital has developed a trusted platform that includes network management, performance optimization, and uses AI for automating IT tasks and proactive troubleshooting. Customers with legacy networks who want to let go of all that hardware and corresponding maintenance don't have to worry about transitioning to NaaS; Join's delivery model enables users to operate their older systems as long as they want while gradually scaling up the NaaS to take over all of the network management.

“We're focused on meaningful business outcomes,” says Jayesh Patel, Join's Vice President of Business Development. “What sets us apart isn't just providing the network; we take full responsibility for managing and operating it. Our customers don't have to lift a finger, and that makes a significant difference.”

Defining SaaS-ification

SaaS-ification of a network is more than easier management – it's about zero management. Just as one wouldn't expect to manage Salesforce's underlying infrastructure, Join NaaS provides a similar hands-off experience, Patel said.

“Our competitors and legacy vendors are telling IT teams, 'check out all the cool dashboards our AI tools offer for managing your network,'” Patel said. “But we're saying you shouldn’t even have to look at those dashboards, because we're taking the entire problem off your hands. We manage and operate the network for you.”

Join's SaaS-ification allows enterprises to keep their on-premises deployment not only as thin as possible but also as standardized as possible. This enables IT teams and network admins to focus their energies on supporting the enterprise’s core business – not an increasingly complex network infrastructure.

Enterprises would be wise to find a true partner – a vendor that will manage configuration, operation, troubleshooting, and inclusive of end-of-life transitioning under a transparent, per-seat contract. That networking partner also should provide a future-proof solution needing only upgrades and fine-tuning in future years. Expensive forklift-style upgrades will become problems of the distant past.

Such a migration offers the advantage of a high-performing network that requires no local management. That’s no small matter for enterprises facing a shortage of IT talent and network administration teams with a heavy workload.

Legacy systems require constant attention

Conventional network management is complex and time-consuming, requiring 24/7 attention by staff to maintain reliability, tuning, and performance. On the other hand, migrating to the cloud necessitates a complete network overhaul, which can be a major barrier to adoption. However, in Join's case, the customer doesn't have to worry about such a changeover because Join handles all that detail all by itself.

Join has been an early market leader in deploying AI in its NaaS to automate IT operations.

“Our NOC (network operations center) leverages AI in several ways,” Patel explained. “It begins with proactive troubleshooting. Before customers even notice any network degradation, we’re already gathering data from various network elements, analyzing it, and using AI models to predict potential impacts. This allows us to identify and address issues proactively, well in advance.”

“It's (actually) more than sampling. One thing we do is we're monitoring the radio interference, and based on the density of users in certain areas, we manage the APs [access points] they connect to, and manage the radio output so that it's optimal and eliminating intermittent Wi-Fi issues. It’s network self-healing at the radio level – to ensure we’re continuously optimizing performance.”

These are only a few important facets of networking that a customer does not have to manage if a partner such as Join Digital is on the team.

Join provides the highest level of zero-trust network security (ZTNS) at all times in its platform. Join NaaS also features workplace analytics and Wi-Fi and Ethernet switching to go with all the network management features noted previously.

Summing it all up

Join's approach to cloudification addresses any networking challenge by providing a holistic, SaaS-type experience. Join manages the entire network lifecycle – from design and deployment to ongoing operations – as a white-glove service. By centralizing network intelligence in the cloud, Join simplifies on-premises infrastructure and automates essential tasks, such as upgrades and maintenance.

This results in several key business advantages that apply directly to the real world:

• Simplified operations: Standardized deployments with thin edge devices make the network painless to manage.
• Future-proofing the network: Easily keeps pace with new technologies and features, such as AI and automated observability tools, without needing your team to do the integration.
• Reduced burden on IT: Join NaaS automates IT tasks, handles all actions and remediations, freeing the IT team from tedious network management tasks.

By managing the entire network, Join NaaS allows enterprises to optimize IT systems to their specific needs, enabling network teams to focus on the core mission of the business – instead of studying a lot of dashboards.