Nile injects AI into NaaS to automate network setup

Network-as-a-service (NaaS) startup Nile has added several new AI components to its Nile Access Service to further automate network setup for enterprises.

The company has launched Nile Service Blocks, Nile Services Cloud and two categories of AI applications: Nile Copilot and Nile Autopilot. The new features bring together integrated security, cloud native service delivery and AI-based closed loop automation to on-premise enterprise locations, according to the company. Nile's NaaS platform, Nile Access Service, includes two pricing options for customers – per user or per square footage.

Özer Dondurmacioglu, Nile's VP of services marketing, said the company creates a connectivity plan and product installation instructions to simplify network design and installation for customers. A customer management portal within Nile Services Cloud includes AI-generated data about the installation process. One portal feature is a deviation summary, which alerts IT teams to errors such as a product installed in the wrong location.

In part, the goal behind adding these new services within Nile's NaaS platform was to "validate that we can treat our edge infrastructure for wired and wireless connectivity – switches, sensors, etc. – as an infrastructure delivered as a service. On top of that infrastructure, we built some smart software," Dondurmacioglu said.

Related:Frontier first MSP to provide Nile's NaaS in North America

Nile also replicates the customer's network environment via a digital twin in the Nile Services Cloud, which includes device metrics, logs, device data and can automatically generate troubleshooting tickets.

Nile also launched Service Blocks that each represent a collection of physical Wi-Fi sensors, Wi-Fi access points, access switches or distribution switches. The Service Blocks utilize cloud native delivery and a microservices-based architecture, as well as zero-trust capabilities.

Supporting 'massive scale'

While the use of AI for network management in enterprise IT infrastructure isn't new, "the Nile Access Service is rooted in a modern technology stack that can provide massive scale and closed-loop automation to accelerate digital initiatives and lower operational costs, all backed by a service level guarantee," said Will Townsend, VP and principal analyst for Moor Insights & Strategy, in a statement.

Nile's new AI applications include Nile Copilot, which provides one-touch installation and intent-based provisioning of the Nile Service Blocks. IT teams can use Copilot to monitor service outcomes and onboard new users and IoT devices.  

The second AI application is Nile Autopilot, which manages traditionally manual network operations center (NOC) functions including software maintenance and automates network performance monitoring and troubleshooting.  

Nile's use of microservices and containers supports scalability, Townsend told Light Reading in an email exchange. Nile's single network construct, cloud on-ramp, unified data format, closed loop automation and approach to security are among the features that stand out in Nile's new Service Blocks, Services Cloud and AI applications, he said.

"The delivery of connectivity and zero-trust security from edge to cloud with performance guarantees without any added cost for SLAs is compelling," added Townsend.

"Anytime industry legend John Chambers is involved with a startup - it speaks volumes to a company's potential," Townsend told Light Reading. "Publicly announced wins with Stanford University and others also point to its early success." John Chambers, formerly CEO of Cisco, is founder and CEO of JC2 Ventures, as well as a board member and co-founder of Nile.