Delivering Managed network services now costs less than ever. Whole new markets are ready and waiting for the benefits they bring.

It took years for alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power, to become affordable to consumers and profitable for providers. The same is true of managed network services. For years, network service providers struggled to serve small to medium-sized companies or the small branches of large companies. The high cost of acquiring and supporting them and the price sensitivity did not make economic sense.

Now times have changed. Providers can deliver cost-effective managed services faster and more easily to businesses of all types and sizes. They can do this via a cloud model enabled by Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV). These are not only more cost-effective, they give business customers what they want. That is easy self-service, service on demand, and capacity on demand.

User benefits in high demand

In a 2015 AMI-Partners study, more than 70 per cent of businesses surveyed had a strong desire for the efficiencies available with SDN- and NFV-enabled IT-as-a-Service (ITaaS) in the cloud. The main benefit cited was the ability to easily turn cloud services on or off through a web portal. Others mentioned included the ability to scale the capacity up or down as needed; to order services as desired; to enjoy more precise billing based on consumption; and to benefit from zero-touch automated service and network provisioning.

Source: AMI-Partners study, March 2015.

Reduced costs for service providers

SDN and NFV technologies can also reduce the cost of deploying these services. An ACG Research study estimated that building a software-defined infrastructure behind cloud services lowers a provider's costs by a whopping 78 per cent. That transforms the business model, making a broader range of business customers more attractive prospects.

The opportunity is clear. Network service providers are now better positioned to deliver higher quality managed services (or ITaaS) in the cloud. Targeting businesses through channel partners helps them to reach this new business market. They can differentiate further by creating a range of service bundles based on the operational efficiencies offered by the cloud infrastructure.

Find out more

By giving you the right tools, Cisco allows you to build a highly evolved cloud platform and broaden your market for managed services. Whatever their sector, businesses are ready for a new era of affordable IT services delivered from the cloud. They want the self-service simplicity and ability to tweak features in real time. It's a game changer for businesses. And it's a bright new revenue opportunity for network service providers.

For more information on the opportunity, visit us here: cisco.com/go/moi

For information on our virtual managed services solution, check this out: cisco.com/go/vms