Verizon Business bullish on NaaS for SMEs – Omdia

Verizon Business is shifting gears with enterprise managed services to focus on network-as-a-service (NaaS), according to analyst group Omdia.

Analysts with Omdia, a sister company to Light Reading, attended Verizon Business' Analyst Forum in Basking Ridge, New Jersey in March, and reported back on the increased focus on NaaS at the forum.

Providing managed services to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is a top priority for Verizon Business, said Omdia. Smaller organizations can be more profitable and have greater growth potential, explained the analysts.

"This strengthening of focus is a rational decision. Large enterprises, especially large multinational corporations (MNCs), feature long contract cycles, keen competition, and questionable margins," said Omdia.

Elements of Verizon's NaaS offering (Source: Omdia)

For larger enterprises, Verizon Business is focusing on developing application programming interfaces (APIs) and supporting "connections to cloud and security, IoT and now AI," said the analysts.

Using APIs is one of several ways for enterprises to consume Verizon Business' network services. "NaaS rolls up to a digital experience through Verizon's NaaS Management Center or can be accessed through APIs," explained Omdia analysts.

"NaaS reporting and analytics, billing and payments, and service orders and change requests are handled via the portal or APIs," they added. "The experience is designed to be simpler, more flexible and consumption-based."

Verizon announced in February plans to use Ericsson's Vonage API platform. The service provider also plans to look into other API vendors including Nokia and Microsoft, reported Light Reading's Mike Dano.

Cloud management for NaaS

Verizon Business also fleshed out the cloud management piece of its NaaS platform earlier this year. In February, the service provider launched NaaS Cloud Management to simplify multicloud management. The platform provides enterprises with the means to move cloud workloads and gain visibility into capabilities such as load balancing, network traffic and performance, and firewalls within their multicloud cloud infrastructure.

Verizon's NaaS Cloud Management service can be used as a standalone service or together with Verizon Business' broader NaaS offering. By using it together with the larger NaaS framework, enterprises can "connect all sites, devices, etc., with simplified connectivity across multiple cloud providers. All the major cloud providers are supported," Debika Bhattacharya, Chief Product Officer for Verizon Business, told Light Reading.

Verizon Business' broader NaaS platform is supported by HCLTech, an IT infrastructure management company based in India. The organizations began partnering on NaaS in August 2023. They have a joint go-to-market effort to sell, build and support large enterprise NaaS implementations, according to Omdia.

Over the next five years, the largest NaaS revenue opportunity is expected to be in North America, and campus NaaS could reach global revenue of $609 million by 2027, according to analysts at Dell'Oro Group.