Consume Your Entire Network as a Monthly Service — Hardware Included
Network as a Service (NaaS) delivers complete network infrastructure — routers, switches, wireless access points, cabling, installation, monitoring, and support — as a single per-location monthly subscription. No capital expenditure, no hardware refresh projects, no vendor management complexity: just a managed network that works.
What RLM Delivers on Network as a Service (NaaS)
RLM advises enterprises on NaaS provider selection, contract structure, and the transition from CapEx networking to a subscription model — ensuring the NaaS arrangement delivers the operational simplicity and cost predictability it promises without hiding costs in contract complexity.
How We Approach Network as a Service (NaaS)
A structured path through the Network as a Service (NaaS) decision — current-state discovery, shortlist and benchmark, commercial negotiation, then support until it is actually working.
NaaS Requirements & Business Case
We define your NaaS requirements — locations, infrastructure scope, performance requirements, and support expectations — and build the business case comparing NaaS TCO against traditional CapEx networking over a 5-year period.
NaaS Provider Evaluation
We evaluate NaaS providers — Meter, Cisco Plus, HPE GreenLake for Networking, Juniper Mist NaaS, and regional managed network providers — against your requirements, focusing on hardware quality, management platform capability, and SLA commitments.
Contract Structure & SLA Design
NaaS contracts are more complex than hardware purchase orders. We review the contract structure — per-location pricing, hardware replacement commitments, upgrade rights, exit provisions, and SLA remedies — and negotiate terms that protect your interests.
Transition Planning & Execution Support
Transitioning to NaaS at existing locations requires coordinated cutover. We design the transition approach — parallel operation, cutover scheduling, and validation testing — that minimizes disruption during the switch to the NaaS model.
Network as a Service (NaaS) Evaluation Criteria
Before committing to any Network as a Service (NaaS) platform, these are the points worth forcing a straight answer on.
True Per-Location Cost
NaaS pricing must be modeled location-by-location against your specific infrastructure requirements — access point count, switch count, router complexity. Simple per-location pricing may over-charge simple sites and under-charge complex ones.
Hardware Refresh Policy
The hardware refresh commitment is a key NaaS value proposition. Evaluate the refresh trigger — technology generation, failure rate, age-based — and whether it guarantees you receive current-generation hardware.
Support SLA Quality
NaaS providers vary significantly in on-site support response time. Evaluate the support SLA — time to dispatch, time to resolve, spare hardware availability — against your location criticality and tolerance for connectivity downtime.
Exit & Portability
NaaS lock-in risk is real. Evaluate exit provisions — notice period, equipment return requirements, data portability, and the cost of transitioning back to CapEx or to a different provider mid-contract.
Network Visibility & Control
NaaS means the provider manages the infrastructure, but you still need visibility. Evaluate the management portal access available to your IT team — what you can see, change, and troubleshoot without contacting the provider.
Upgrade Included vs. Upgrade Available
Some NaaS contracts include automatic upgrades to next-generation hardware; others make upgrades available at additional cost. Evaluate the upgrade terms carefully — the value of NaaS diminishes if you're paying for hardware that doesn't stay current.
"RLM gave us an objective view of our network options that no single vendor could. We replaced aging MPLS across 40 locations and came in 28% under our original budget."
The benchmark comes first. Without a baseline, “savings” is just a number a vendor gave you.
Where This Matters Most
Sector-specific considerations we see repeatedly in advanced networking engagements.
A Sample of the Advanced Networking Providers We Evaluate
RLM is vendor neutral. These are among 600+ providers in our evaluation set — inclusion here is not an endorsement, and we are paid by the provider you choose, not by any provider in particular. How that works →
Thinking About Network as a Service (NaaS)?
Start with a no-cost conversation with an RLM network advisor — vendor neutral, no agenda, just clarity on the right path forward for your environment.
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