What is a chief concern of cloud computing?
In the past, managed network services have been dominated by telcos. This is no longer the case. Here’s why.
For decades, telcos delivered managed network services using a hoary if familiar template: “hub-and-spoke” network architecture. This wide-area network model (WAN) is no longer relevant as it can’t support users who require mobile network access at home and in the field.
This is the main reason for cloud managed services’ evolution and growing popularity among large corporations as well as small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
The practice of shutting down data traffic (and voice traffic) to an intermediary center has become inefficient and excessively expensive as network traffic flows change.
Security is a major concern when decentralizing data traffic. It is relatively easy to provide secure IT in a data center. With traffic moving to the cloud, cybersecurity must be used everywhere.
Simply put, worker mobility is incompatible with the “hub-and spoke” managed networking model. Telcos usually only serve “spokes”, which are a small number of locations within an organization.
Multi-national enterprises will need to join together multiple networks in order to establish a global WAN when tapping Multiprotocol label switching (MPLS). This is a huge task, especially for small IT support personnel. The evolution towards managed IT services is evident.
Cloud Managed Services
Cloud-based networking is the preferred choice of today’s network ecosystem. All services are sourced directly from the cloud, and users only pay for what they use. These services are flexible. These services, in addition to being “a la carte”, are also metered on a pay-as-you go basis.
There are three basic models:
* Software as a Service(SaaS);* Platform as a Service(PaaS).
* Infrastructure as a Service
These standards cover a wide range of applications, including data storage, networking and computing, analytics, mobile management, tools development, and more.
Cloud managed services providers create a private network worldwide with multiple points of presence (PoPs), across a multicarrier network. The provider provides SLA benchmarks for availability, performance, and reliability through “load-balancing” networks and multiple links. Multiple layers of encryption ensure data security.
Mobile, data centers, and office branches users can access their global network via a PoP (i.e. their laptop, mobile device, or other devices). All security measures are integrated into the network.
Benefits:
* Cloud and Internet access directly without any backhaul traffic or security compromises
* VPNs do not need to be used
* This cloud service is free of infrastructure and CPE.
* Unconditional flexibility to offer services in any location
