NaaS for Enterprises: Insights from MEF's Global NaaS Event 2024

MEF’s upcoming Global NaaS Event 2024 offers enterprise leaders the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in NaaS and connect with industry experts.

MEF’s Global NaaS Event 2024 offers enterprise leaders the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in NaaS.
(Credit: Illia Uriadnikov / Alamy Stock Photo)

As businesses embrace digital transformation, enterprise leaders are under increasing pressure to modernize their network infrastructure to improve agility, scalability, and security. Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) has emerged as a game-changing solution, providing the flexibility and efficiency needed to thrive in today’s digital-first, cloud-enabled world. As the importance of NaaS continues to grow, MEF is at the forefront of driving standardization and innovation in this critical area.

Understanding NaaS and Its Enterprise Impact

NaaS is a cloud-enabled, usage-based consumption model that allows users to acquire, manage, and scale network capabilities without the need to own, build, or manage their own infrastructure. For enterprises, this shift from traditional capital-intensive networks to an operational expense (OpEx)-based model offers advantages:

  • Flexibility and Scalability: Enterprises can scale their network resources up or down based on real-time business needs, allowing them to quickly adjust to growth or sudden changes as required without significant upfront investments.

  • Cost Optimization: By moving to a pay-as-you-go model, enterprises can better manage costs and align network expenses with actual usage and business outcomes.

  • Simplified Management: NaaS offloads the complexities of network management to service providers, allowing IT teams to focus on strategic initiatives rather than day-to-day network operations.

  • Enhanced Security: With integrated solutions like SASE, NaaS can ensure that the latest version and most advanced security measures are in place to protect against emerging cyber threats, making it particularly valuable in today’s hybrid work environments.

  • Accelerated Innovation: NaaS enables enterprises to quickly adopt new network technologies and services without the need for extensive hardware upgrades or retraining. As noted above, this aspect is particularly crucial for keeping up with the latest version of cybersecurity tooling.

As enterprises increasingly recognize these benefits, the demand for standardized, interoperable NaaS solutions continues to grow. This is where MEF's Global NaaS Event (GNE) comes into play, offering a unique platform for enterprise leaders to gain insights, network with industry experts, and shape the future of NaaS.

MEF's Global NaaS Event 2024: A Must-Attend for Enterprise Leaders

MEF’s upcoming Global Network-as-a-Service Event (GNE) is scheduled for October 28-30, 2024, in Dallas, Texas. For enterprise decision-makers, GNE offers an opportunity to gain actionable insights, engage with industry leaders, and explore how NaaS can transform network operations.

 Key Highlights for Enterprise Attendees:

  • Comprehensive NaaS Ecosystem Overview: GNE 2024 will provide a 360-degree view of the NaaS landscape, featuring insights from service providers, technology vendors, hyperscalers, and system integrators. This broad perspective will help enterprise leaders make informed decisions about their NaaS strategies.

  • Enterprise-Focused Sessions: Guided by MEF’s Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC), these sessions will focus on real-world use cases, strategies, and practical insights for implementing NaaS to meet business needs. Topics include integrating NaaS with cloud-first strategies, AI-driven network automation, and implementing SASE.

  • Real-World NaaS Demonstrations: Live demos will showcase how NaaS technologies are transforming network operations, security frameworks, and business continuity. These demonstrations will give enterprise leaders a firsthand look at the capabilities of modern NaaS solutions, offering clear takeaways for their own operations.

  • Networking Opportunities: GNE is a key venue for enterprise leaders to connect with peers, industry experts, and potential partners. The event fosters collaboration across the NaaS ecosystem, encouraging exchanges of ideas and building partnerships that drive innovation.

Additionally, the LSO (Lifecycle Service Orchestration) Automation Summit, which opens GNE, will look at how automation is reshaping the NaaS ecosystem, from simplifying service procurement to delivering seamless, end-to-end experiences for enterprises.

MEF's Pivotal Role in Shaping NaaS for Enterprises

As a leading industry association, MEF has been at the forefront of establishing standards and frameworks that enable the NaaS ecosystem to thrive.

At GNE 2024, MEF will unveil its latest NaaS Industry Blueprint, providing enterprise leaders with a clear roadmap for the future of NaaS. This blueprint will guide enterprises on how to effectively engage with NaaS providers, navigate the ecosystem, and leverage emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning to optimize network operations.

Additionally, MEF will showcase its NaaS Customer Experience White Paper, a groundbreaking industry collaboration that outlines key NaaS service features and expectations. For enterprises prioritizing security, MEF’s Industry Report on SASE will also take center stage. This report offers valuable insights into SASE standardization and certification, helping decision-makers select cloud-native security solutions that align with their NaaS deployments. Together, these initiatives equip enterprises with the tools and knowledge needed to make informed decisions in the rapidly evolving NaaS and security landscape.

Leveraging NaaS for Enterprise Success

MEF’s Global NaaS Event 2024 offers enterprise leaders the opportunity to explore the latest advancements in NaaS, understand the role of automation in transforming network operations, and connect with peers and industry experts.

MEF is pleased to offer enterprises complimentary full conference access. Visit https://gne.mef.net for more information about GNE and to register.

(Editor’s note: This article is part of our regular series of articles from the industry experts at MEF.)

About the Authors

Sunil Khandekar, Chief Enterprise Development Officer, MEF

Sunil Khandekar is the Chief Enterprise Development Officer at MEF. Sunil is a seasoned tech executive and advisor with over 25 years of experience in the Telecom and Networking industry. He specializes in developing high-value growth businesses from concept to customer adoption. Sunil’s most recent role was as the Founder and CEO of Nuage Networks. 

During his career, Sunil has held various product and business leadership roles at Alcatel-Lucent, including an international assignment in Europe, leading and managing the IP Division business for the EMEA region. He has in-depth knowledge of SDN, SD-WAN, multi-hybrid cloud, cloud security, and networking. Sunil is a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences.

MEF

MEF is a global industry association of network, cloud, and technology providers working together to accelerate enterprise digital transformation through a better-together ecosystem. MEF delivers service standards, LSO frameworks and APIs, and training and certification programs for services, technologies, APIs, and professionals. The MEF 3.0 Framework enables automated delivery of standardized Carrier Ethernet, IP, Optical Transport, SD-WAN, SASE, and other digital services across multiple provider networks. For more information visit MEF.net and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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