Covering Disruptive Technology Powering Business in The Digital Age

Authored By: Julian Chow, Country Manager, Malaysia – Aruba (a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company)

Just a decade back, enterprise flexibility was deemed as a bonus feature for most businesses. While the flexibility element gave enterprises a competitive edge over their competitors, it was not a priority for survival. However, fast forward to 2022 and this status quo has most certainly changed. Flexibility today is not a mere bonus but an imperative for survival.

A distributed workforce is a permanent fixture for enterprises today and flexibility is a core ingredient in making this a reality. But what are the implications of this evolution? Today’s increasingly remote and hybrid workforces have created new, novel issues for IT teams, who are already under immense pressure to ensure that enterprise networks remain reliable, secure, scalable, and compliant. The importance of a resilient network has never been more paramount.

According to Deloitte, these new networking demands are one of the key factors driving the need for more flexible consumption models from IT services providers. Their findings conclude that the pandemic has accelerated a shift towards as-a-service offerings. Three out of four of the IT leaders surveyed shared that they were running half of their enterprise IT as-a-service.

An Aruba study further validates this surge towards new service models. The report, featuring insights from over 1,500 IT leaders across Asia Pacific including Japan, shows how enterprises are adjusting to increased flexibility needs and why Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) may well become the consumption model of choice. When asked to rate what was most important to their companies in terms of network, network uptime, delivery and alignment between network and business needs and return on investment for the network, were the top three priorities.

The Network-as-a-Service Paradigm 

As we dive head-first into the post-pandemic era, IT leaders driving digital transformation within their enterprises are leaning towards more agile and adaptable network models. Our research found that when it comes to network management goals, businesses are prioritising the need to scale up quickly, as well as the desire to better align network and business needs.

Additionally, 71% of respondents indicated access to new technology as one of the top four drivers for network investment. This is verified by a separate study which stated that Asia Pacific organisations—including Malaysia—have almost twice the interest in newer technologies such as 5G as compared to those in the Americas and Europe. In fact, seven out of 10 respondents believe that an investment in 5G will give them an opportunity to reinvent their processes over the next five years.

“A distributed workforce is a permanent fixture for enterprises today and flexibility is a core ingredient in making this a reality.”

However, this desire to adopt new technologies and better flex and align the network comes at a certain price. It will require both IT talents that have the capabilities to lead these changes, as well as a network that can support this.

The solution: NaaS.

Our research revealed that not only are respondents familiar with NaaS as a term, but a whopping 93% from this group are also discussing implementation in some capacity within their enterprise. That is unsurprising given the benefits NaaS can bring to their operations.

It all comes back to flexibility

As companies continue to transition in and out of lockdowns, one of the main factors driving the spike in conversations around NaaS is having the flexibility to scale the network based on business needs, with three quarters (77%) of companies stating this has triggered their interest in the model. The appetite for NaaS adoption is also underpinned by the expectation that NaaS can free up IT team time for innovation and strategic initiatives, as well as reduce operational costs. We do not have to look far to find a case in point: An energy development and vertically integrated electrical utility company located in Sarawak, SESCO, is leveraging NaaS to deploy, monitor and maintain the communications network, thus improving operational efficiency and consumer engagement.

Indeed, NaaS enables companies to own, operate and manage a network and its associated services without actually buying the infrastructure. For companies struggling to keep up with the associated costs around ever-changing technologies, choosing NaaS could be an effective and viable solution.

“As companies continue to transition in and out of lockdowns, one of the main factors driving the spike in conversations around NaaS is having the flexibility to scale the network based on business needs.”

The ability for enterprises to approach infrastructure as an operational expense provides certain balance sheet advantages as well. With budgets most likely strained after two years of unprecedented turbulence, the outright purchase of networking technology might not be an option. NaaS is delivered, via subscription, through a cloud model to offer a high level of choice in terms of the services offered, pricing, availability and features, among other benefits. When companies experience a surge in user-base or services, they can easily scale up their network resources to meet these demands. Essentially, the NaaS paradigm addresses the need to pivot quickly—a concrete requirement of the next decade.

You Are Only as Strong as Your Weakest Link

Our research suggests that security has also been driving the increased appetite for NaaS, with 66% of IT leaders surveyed believing it will help them enhance their abilities in this area. NaaS is a good way to guarantee tighter integrations between networking resources and network security. The outsourcing aspect of the NaaS model allows companies to offload their security responsibilities for more secure NaaS services. NaaS adoption will also mean that IT teams no longer have to use network manager tools and outdated hardware—instead challenging their provider to ensure they have the most up-to-date solutions serving their business.

Moreover, NaaS makes it possible for a single provider to offer both networking services and security services like firewalls. For businesses failing to keep pace with ever-evolving cyber threats, switching to NaaS can ensure their threat defence is in safe hands.

Despite the clear benefits, our research also showed that barriers to implementation still remain. While there is widespread recognition of NaaS as a concept, only 67% of technology leaders said that they fully understand it. It is unsurprising then that less than a third (27%) of leaders see it as an established and viable option for businesses today.

“For businesses failing to keep pace with ever-evolving cyber threats, switching to NaaS can ensure their threat defence is in safe hands.”

That said, the benefits far outweigh the uncertainties. NaaS can provide lower entry costs and greater flexibility as well as offer easier customisation to one’s needs. It can also deliver improved IT staff resilience, agility and line of business support, faster access to the latest technologies and better quality of service. However, we need to bridge the gap between awareness and knowledge—unlocking the true potential of NaaS. Conquering this summit would be an essential step that enterprises need to take in their journey towards network resiliency.

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