Given the digitalization of most operations and business functions, global connectivity is becoming essential for enterprises today. As such, Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) has emerged as a foundational element in such connectivity plans as it offers cloud-like on-demand connectivity.
MEF, the international organization that was instrumental in driving the success of carrier Ethernet, is driving industry NaaS efforts by bringing together service providers, equipment vendors, and industry groups to develop certifications and specifications to support NaaS services.
Initially, most of the group’s efforts centered on the service providers and vendors whose solutions would enable NaaS services. But in the last year, MEF has worked to bring enterprise users who consume those services into the fold.
This month, the first result of that outreach to enterpriser users came to fruition. Specifically, MEF announced a new Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) Circuit Impairment & Maintenance (CIM) Service API designed to automate and standardize how network circuit impairments and scheduled maintenance are communicated to enterprises.
NaaS Enterprise Input
The new API was developed in collaboration with MEF’s Enterprise Leadership Council (ELC). The council was formed last year at MEF’s Global NaaS Event (GNE). It includes senior executives representing major enterprise vertical markets (finance, retail, healthcare, media, and more) with mission-critical network infrastructures.
The goal of the ELC was to provide an enterprise perspective on MEF’s strategies and work. The aim is to use that input to help prioritize MEF’s execution of cloud, network infrastructure, and security projects.
In August, we talked with Sunill Khandekar, Chief Enterprise Development Officer, MEF, about the work of the council over the last year. At that time, he noted that council members had provided input on two issues on which MEF had started projects.
Addressing one of those issues, automating communications when there is an impaired circuit, was the driving force behind the development of the new API.
The need for automated communications has to do with the nature of NaaS (and many other services global enterprises use).
If a U.S.-headquartered company wants to order services to connect a branch office in, say, Zaire (or any other place), it would likely order from one provider, who then may use the services of a second provider to support and deploy the services in that region. MEF tries to smooth out the interactions between all three entities through automation, lifecycle service orchestration (LSO), and more. The work goes beyond interoperability, coordinating provisioning and billing, and addressing problem resolution.
In the case of a circuit outage, the norm has been to communicate the issue via email. The new LSO CIM Service API does more to get the message of the downed circuit out to the enterprise user.
“Standardizing the way impairment and maintenance updates are communicated enables businesses to stay ahead of disruptions and optimize their connectivity management,” says Khandekar.
Additionally, the API delivers real-time insights into network performance. “This is a game-changer for businesses that depend on the seamless operation of multiple circuits across diverse service providers around the globe,” says Khandekar.
According to MEF, the CIM Service API uses MEF’s LSO Trouble Ticket and Incident Management API and can be integrated into existing enterprise network management systems. As such, Khandekar notes that with the LSO CIM Service API, enterprises can proactively manage their network circuits, minimizing downtime and improving service quality. The automated system ensures that critical updates reach the right teams quickly, reducing the risk of business disruption.
NaaS Futures
The demand to securely connect users and increasingly devices (i.e., IoT sensors and alike) is forcing enterprises to rethink their connectivity strategies. Just as cloud computing services disrupted the data center, NaaS offers a similar model for networking, one where subscription-based services are available on-demand and can be easily scaled up or down to meet demands.
For this to happen, the networks supporting NaaS services will need to be fully API-driven. That requires standards-based and end-to-end automation. Work on standards-based APIs has been underway for several years. For example, the TM Forum created toolkits and frameworks, including Open APIs, used by many cloud service providers. In 2020, the group developed a NaaS API component suite to support functions and capabilities responsible for the complete lifecycle of services.
MEF complements such efforts and is developing many more NaaS APIs, specifications, and certifications. As part of that work, MEF has expanded the ELC from four founding members to twelve members representing various industry verticals such as Entertainment, Financial services, Banking, Retail, Technology, Healthcare, and Consulting.
Most of these members will be attending next week’s MEF GNE 2024 conference in Dallas. Keep an eye out for our coverage from the conference.
