Network as a Service: Cisco publishes latest Global Networking Trends Report

The newest Cisco Global Networking Trends Report is based on a poll of 1,534 IT professionals from 13 countries. The subject of this year’s report is Network as a Service (NaaS).

Exploring the report’s findings, Osama Al-Zoubi, CTO for Cisco Middle East and Africa said, “As with any new technology, the best way around these concerns is to introduce them to one domain at a time; measure the success, and then replicate it across the business if it is found to work. The as a service (aaS) model has already proved its value in areas such as software, cloud and UC. I am in no doubt that this will revolutionize how networks are deployed. This is set to be an exciting space in 2022 and beyond.”

The main network problems for 2021, according to the research, are responding to interruptions (45 percent) and supporting new business needs (40 percent). The biggest benefit of NaaS, according to 46% of respondents, will be freeing up IT personnel to focus on strategically vital work that promotes business-critical reforms.

Adopting a NaaS architecture, according to respondents, will affect how companies buy, provide, and manage networking capabilities.

The report also found:

1. Access to the latest technology: Many IT executives are motivated by the fact that they will always have access to the most up-to-date networking capabilities and technology (35 percent ). IT teams who use NaaS won’t have to wait as long for a full technology refresh.
2. Upskilling employees: The majority of IT leaders around the world (75 percent) agree or strongly agree that a NaaS approach will empower IT teams to enhance their skillsets and become innovators.
3. The right time for NaaS: : The optimal time and circumstance for NaaS adoption, according to 49 percent of IT leaders and 57 percent of network practitioners, is during a network infrastructure upgrade or refresh, when they are looking for novel technologies.
4. A nascent technology that has the ability to drive recovery and growth: While more than a third of IT leaders (36 percent) claim to have NaaS solutions in place, their definitions were extraordinarily broad when pressed further, implying that this fledgling technology is not yet completely understood.

NaaS is a cloud-based, usage-based consumption paradigm that enables customers to acquire and orchestrate network capabilities without having to own, develop, or maintain their own infrastructure. This will make it easier for IT teams to scale up or down, quickly deploy new services, and optimise the CapEx/OpEx balance.

Towards new horizons

This benefits individuals working in IT, given how technology adapts and enables hybrid work. As new technologies emerge, such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and other cloud-based applications, IT personnel must stay updated on the latest networking technology.

However, only 1 in 4 firms trust their own IT personnel to translate their business needs into technical policies, rather than a system integrator, managed service provider, or NaaS vendor.

This relates to a different set of issues that IT executives have recognized. These concerns range from whether NaaS can support unanticipated emerging demands (30%) to security control loss (26 percent ). Transitioning’s expense and interruption are also high on their list of concerns (28 percent).