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Unlocking the NaaS Opportunity

Unlocking the NaaS Opportunity

 

Insights from MEF’s Stan Hubbard

The market for Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) is rapidly evolving, creating both opportunities and competitive risks for service providers. How can service providers deliver modern NaaS solutions that meet enterprise needs, stand out in a crowded market, and scale globally?

MEF Principal Analyst Stan Hubbard has been instrumental in defining the NaaS opportunity and aligning the ecosystem through the recently released 2025 NaaS Industry Blueprint. In this conversation, Stan discusses how service providers can capitalize on emerging trends, why adopting open standards and automation are critical, and why MEF certification is becoming a key competitive differentiator in building enterprise trust.

Stan Hubbard

Why is NaaS a key focus for service providers right now?

NaaS is gaining attention due to multiple macro-level factors.

First, on the enterprise side, NaaS is emerging as a critical enabler of AI-driven digital transformation, secure multi-cloud networking, and next-generation business models. Built on an adaptive automated ecosystem, modern NaaS empowers organizations to scale AI workloads, enhance cybersecurity, and embrace application-led connectivity.

Second, service providers worldwide are increasingly embracing NaaS to improve customer experience with cloud-like flexibility for network services, create new revenue opportunities, and gain competitive advantage. Many are embracing NaaS to maximize business opportunities through strategic partnerships in the emerging NaaS automated ecosystem and NaaS marketplaces.

Finally, numerous supply-side trends are converging to accelerate the buildout of the NaaS automate ecosystem. These include accelerated service provider digital transformation, advances in key technologies, broader adoption of standardized APIs and services, and greater collaboration among industry organizations like MEF, TM Forum, and the ITW GLF.

How is MEF helping service providers accelerate their NaaS strategies?

MEF is focused on aligning industry leaders dedicated to accelerating NaaS innovation for an AI-powered digital world.

Our 2025 NaaS Industry Blueprint provides a comprehensive guide to help service providers develop, deliver, and manage NaaS across a standards-based automated ecosystem. The blueprint lays out the key service components, use cases, and technical enablers that service providers can leverage to build differentiated offerings. We also highlight the critical importance of standardized LSO APIs that automate business, operational, and network functions between buyers and sellers.

In addition, MEF’s popular NaaS Customer Experience White Paper describes essential service features that enterprises should be able to expect from current NaaS solutions. 

What are the most important building blocks of a successful NaaS offering?

MEF defines NaaS as the combination of on-demand connectivity, application assurance, cybersecurity, and multi-cloud networking across the automated ecosystem.

NaaS solutions will increasingly be composed of piece parts from many providers, including retail and wholesale service providers, data center providers, hyperscale cloud providers, technology solution providers, and others. These players must collaborate closely to scale NaaS across an ecosystem grounded in common service, automation, and cybersecurity frameworks, using standards-based and certified services and APIs wherever possible.

The beauty of the ecosystem is that NaaS customers can pick and choose from one or more underlay and overlay service components, which are assembled into NaaS offerings powered by LSO APIs that automate transactions between ecosystem partners. These LSO APIs are designed by combining product- or service-specific payloads (e.g., Carrier Ethernet, DIA, wavelength, SD-WAN, SASE, AI clouds, GPUaaS, etc.) with product- or service-agnostic API envelopes (e.g., address validation, quote, order, performance management, and other functions).

Why is certification so critical for service providers in this space?

Certification builds trust. Customers want to know that the services they’re buying have been validated to meet performance, security, and interoperability standards. MEF’s certifications for services like Carrier Ethernet, SD-WAN, and SASE are helping providers prove their capabilities.

Certification is not just about services. It is also about APIs. During ITW, our team will also be drawing attention to our new certification program covering multiple sell-side LSO business APIs.

Want to learn more?

Check out MEF’s 2025 NaaS Industry Blueprint for an in-depth look at the market’s direction, and download the NaaS Customer Experience White Paper to better understand what enterprises are looking for and how providers can differentiate with best-in-class solutions and certification.

Visit MEF.net for resources, guidance, and details on how certification can help your organization stand out and build enterprise trust in an increasingly competitive landscape.

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