How NaaS creates a gateway for digital transformation in education

[Chris_Tingley]

The adoption of hybrid and distance learning only scratches the surface of the challenges faced in higher education today. Network scalability is now a standard requirement. And the ability to support the growth of IoT devices and new bandwidth demands continue to grow. Ensuring the network infrastructure can support the connectivity demands of an ever-changing user base can seem daunting. Especially when today’s students can average between 6 to 12 IoT devices.

Network management also becomes a compounding issue for IT departments who race to keep devices connected for the varying campus initiatives and tech-savvy students. Both lead to one of the biggest challenges they face, which is network security. Higher education networks are a target for cybercrime as they store mass amounts of sensitive data. These matters are compounded given the budget constraints they face along with ongoing directives to minimize cost.

Networks need to be agile

 NaaS provides partners the opportunity to work with higher education customers to help them quickly adapt and scale. NaaS offers a predictable financial model and flexible deployment while enabling next-generation teaching, learning, and smart-campus initiatives. Partners should consider NaaS when working with your higher education customers because:

1. Flexible financial obligation. NaaS eliminates the need for upfront capital to build and maintain their networks, Institutions can focus on campus initiatives, such as new classrooms, research labs, or e-sports facilities while avoiding complicated budgeting and guesswork.


2. Scalability. With the growing number of IoT and BYOD needs across campuses and the need for smart-campus initiatives, NaaS enables IT departments to grow or shrink their network to accommodate change.


3. Speed of adoption and deployment. NaaS helps institutions adopt digital transformation for their smart-campus initiatives faster and more efficiently, giving students access to the network content they need and enhancing the student experience starting on their first day.


4. Network management and security. Through the flexibility and scalability of NaaS, institutions can provide enhanced support for often understaffed IT departments with centralized management, automation, and enhanced security.

NaaS offers partners opportunities in higher education

1. Differentiate your business from your competition with an alternative way to deploy networking and unlock a monthly recurring revenue (MRR) stream with no upfront capital.


2. Rapidly deploy a subscription service that include your Day 0, 1, and 2 high-margin professional services and help your education customers get access to services faster.


3. Increase customer retention through 3- and 5-year contract terms and support budget constrained schools with more predictable financing.


4. Implement NaaS offers like HPE GreenLake for Networking that offer world-class zero-trust and SASE security, along with digital insights powered by AI automation, to help you manage your customer’s network and keep them up to date on the latest technology.

To learn more about NaaS in higher education, check out how Trevecca Nazarene University and Grove City College have successfully deployed NaaS.

Related Resources:

Why partners should sell Network as a Service (NaaS)

How to use Network as a Service (NaaS) in a managed service environment

Partner sales: Best practices for selling Network as a Service