4 ways NaaS achieves better performance for government remote office connectivity

As organizations struggle to keep up with the relentless advance of digital technology, the challenges faced by government agencies are especially intimidating. For federal, provincial, and local governments alike, tight budgets, reduction in highly skilled technical staff, and outdated, legacy infrastructure force departments and agencies to stretch their networks beyond intended lifespans, often increasing their security risks.

The high cost of enterprise WAN connectivity, support, and personnel combined with the growth of bandwidth-hungry streaming apps and cloud-based services, challenges network administrators to search for better solutions. Many government entities are following the private sector path and embracing Network as a Service (NaaS) to lower operating costs, extend networks quickly, provide users with easy access to cloud apps, and offload time-consuming support, maintenance, and security tasks.

What is NaaS?

Network as a Service (NaaS) is a scalable, cloud-managed method of supporting, maintaining, expanding, and securing an organization's network. With full cloud integration, NaaS delivers networking resources, services, and applications across locations as needed, including software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) connectivity, data center connectivity, switching, Wi-Fi, and auto VPN. 

NaaS allows organizations to use their network with increased flexibility, to add network services instantly at a new branch or location, with better quality, fewer outages, greater visibility, and increased security. 

How does NaaS work?

NaaS is a single-box solution for an entire network infrastructure. When you think about the number one requirement for your network, the obvious answer is the Internet. For the network to be secure, however, the Internet needs to connect to a security appliance, commonly known as a firewall. The firewall then connects to a data switch, which interfaces with all the PCs, laptops, printers, and mobile devices in an office. Finally, a Wi-Fi appliance connects back to the data switch, allowing all of these devices to access the Internet wirelessly within the office environment. 

When an organization has multiple sites, these network services are deployed across all of its locations. Each location is connected through a network firewall, allowing employees to communicate securely from office to office. This secure connection is accomplished by using software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) technology. SD-WAN eliminates disparate networks and dynamically shifts traffic to provide the best route for connection.

4 key benefits of NaaS for Canada's federal, provincial, and municipal governments

As many government agencies begin to transition to virtual, software-defined infrastructure, a growing number recognize the benefits of converting from on-premises networking assets to streamlining operations with Network as a Service. Here are the four key benefits when making the switch to NaaS.

1. Achieve better performance at a lower cost
   In the public sphere, budgets are tight as a general rule, so the goal always is to do more with less. A significant advantage NaaS brings to government entities is the ability to shift costs from a capital expenditure (CapEx) model to an operational expenditure (OpEx) model. With this shift, agencies avoid extensive upfront costs of network rollouts and expansion while providing a consistent, manageable consumption of resources according to workload demands. The result is a more reliable and cost-efficient network that allows government IT staff to concentrate on their core mission to improve public services for their constituents.
2. Gain powerful application and device usage
   Since the adoption of cloud-based applications has become mainstream, many organizations experience more frequent interruptions from their MPLS networks, like poor VoIP call quality or lag in their video conferencing. By pairing NaaS with cloud-native SD-WAN, government employees can connect securely from multiple devices from remote offices to the main department office via the public Internet, giving them the bandwidth they need to be responsive and effective. With the transition to SD-WAN, valuable IT staff members save the time and expense of visiting each branch for setup and updates. For government employees, SD-WAN delivers the high-speed experience they are accustomed to without the lag in performance when running multiple apps simultaneously over the network.
3. Automatically provision site-to-site VPNs
   A virtual private network (VPN) gives users the ability to connect to the agency network remotely without compromising security. IT personnel can increase security by restricting user access to sensitive data with VPNs and the gating of internal networks. With site-to-site VPNs, government agencies securely connect the entire organization while allowing remote locations to communicate and share resources on a single network. OnX NaaS enables the network to expand rapidly to new locations, automatically provisioning site-to-site VPNs for authorized users and devices, and ensuring secure access to the organization's servers.
4. Seamless deployment with 24x7x365 support
   With traditional network infrastructure, tasks like configuring routers, optimizing protocols, and setting up firewalls are costly and labor-intensive. OnX NaaS, on the other hand, gives government agencies the ability to outsource these functions to an expert technology provider. IT staff members gain single pane of glass control to monitor and manage network security and ensure it meets regulatory compliance. And with 24x7x365 support and first call resolution, government agencies ensure always-on access and the ability to provide workers with the services and apps they need to be successful.

Experienced guidance

As a vendor of record (VOR) for the Canadian government, OnX knows what it takes to fulfill the technology mandates of an increasingly data-dependent public service mandate. We offer seamless deployment and 24x7x365 expert engineer support from Vancouver to Nova Scotia. Our approach is to provide a convenient, cost-effective solution with quick access to highly skilled professionals with all of the appropriate certifications and levels of expertise.

Ask how OnX NaaS can help your government agency address the accelerating demand for secure, high-bandwidth connectivity and collaboration among employees spread out at locations serving your vital constituencies.