MEF sets sights on Network-as-a-Service

MEF published a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) Industry Blueprint designed to help service providers develop, market, and deliver the next generation of NaaS offerings. The blueprint leverages MEF’s existing body of work, while providing a common framework for understanding and defining NaaS for enterprises as well as Service Providers.

"The MEF NaaS Industry Blueprint provides a foundation for the industry to build on as it develops the NaaS ecosystem," said Nan Chen, President, MEF. "By providing a common framework for understanding and defining NaaS, the blueprint will help service providers develop and deliver innovative offerings and enable enterprises to make informed decisions about which are right for them. We are confident that the MEF NaaS Industry Blueprint will play a major role in driving the growth of the NaaS market and helping businesses achieve their digital transformation goals."

MEF defines NaaS as on-demand connectivity, application assurance, cybersecurity, and multi-cloud-based services across a standards-based automated ecosystem.

Specifically, the blueprint will:

• Define NaaS and its core components and capabilities,
• Propose primary building blocks of NaaS solutions, including services, automation platforms, ecosystem, and certifications,
• Reference available MEF service and Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) automation API standards and other industry tools for building and delivering NaaS services,
• Present initial NaaS use cases in the areas of on-demand transport, SD-WAN, SASE, and multi-cloud.

The blueprint was shared this at MEF’s inaugural Global Network-as-a-Service Event in Arlington, Texas. It can be downloaded from the MEF website.