Simplifying NaaS for easier enterprise consumption: Capturing the USD100bn opportunity

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A practical guide for telecom operators

Embracing the platform mindset will be critical for telcos to capture NaaS revenues

Transforming the operational model to support network-as-a-service (NaaS) is a significant challenge – and many telcos are still building the business case for such a transformation, leaving them asking the following key question:
How big is the NaaS opportunity, and what are the risks and the rewards associated with adopting the platform approach?

Total addressable revenues for ‘net new’ NaaS services

STL Partners has outlined the following guiding principles for telcos looking to unlock growth with B2B NaaS services:

  1. Build a business case for NaaS with ROI calculations that are based both on external monetisation and internal efficiencies.
  2. Leverage NaaS to strengthen your position as a wholesale as well as enterprise player, offering services to telcos, hyperscalers and enterprises.
  3. Clearly define what needs to be developed internally, such as mindset changes and software skills, versus what is better procured or partnered for (such as advanced automation engines).
  4. Only develop a proposition when there is a qualified enterprise need – do this by working in cross-functional teams across IT, networking, product and sales – and make sure it isn’t overengineered.
  5. Build a modular and interoperable platform – and only prioritise features that are universally attractive to enterprises (such as zero-touch provisioning).
  6. Differentiate from the hyperscalers by retaining qualities that enterprises uniquely like about their telco suppliers – it’s unlikely that an enterprise will want to take out a hybrid private network without speaking to your team.

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Table of contents

  • Executive summary
  • Why operators need to think about NaaS today
  • Enterprise needs for NaaS and implications for telco propositions
  • How telcos should address key net new NaaS revenue drivers
    • Network API monetisation
    • Secure cloud connect monetisation
    • IoT connectivity monetisation
    • Hybrid private networks monetisation
  • Conclusions and next steps

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Anna Boyle

Author

Anna Boyle

Senior Consultant

Anna Boyle is a Senior Consultant at STL Partners. She has supported Tier-1 telecoms operators with their edge computing and 5G strategies. Anna sits in STL’s Edge Practice covering topics including the global edge computing market, investment trends and adoption of enterprise and consumer edge computing applications.