IT solutions “as a Service”

Christopher Golob-Mallaschitz: An asset conserving progress due to digitalization has already arrived in many businesses. Thereby, flexibility, scalability and efficiency are paramount. Thus, businesses increasingly contract services in an “…as a Service” style. The reasons for this are of an economic and technological nature but are also due to external parameters.

In IT for instance, company data centers do not need to be provided and operated by the business itself, this has been for quite some time now. The exact same thing is valid for Network or Collaboration applications. Here, a classic example is the provision of home office work stations in order to reduce office space or to implement the workplaces of tomorrow. In all these areas, the journey leads in the direction of consumption-oriented solutions.

Thanks to digitalization, it is possible to utilize resources in such a way that they can be billed according to usage. This model has a lot in common with leasing. Both models enable businesses to deploy assets without straining the balance sheet as machines, vehicles, buildings but also IT equipment doesn’t have to be purchased any more but can be obtained as a service by paying a fee. By this so-called shifting from Capex to Opex, businesses can improve their liquidity as there is less capital tied to noncurrent assets. The usage-dependent or subscription-based pricing allows more precise budget planning and cost prediction. Here, businesses benefit from a higher flexibility, they can adapt resources as needed and they can optimize their IT costs.

Christopher Golob-Mallaschitz: As already mentioned, the “as a Service model” (aaS) has been established and has proven itself in many areas and not only in software and infrastructure. This is also demonstrated by using the term “Everything as a Service” or XaaS. Thereby, we talk about a business model, where for instance hardware, machines and similar things are provided on a rental basis. Thus, it replaces the sometimes very expensive and laborious operation of the in-house hard- and software. This model can shape the way how future IT networks are consumed, especially in times of shortages of specialists. If you want to keep an overview of the largely grown IT infrastructures, you need comprehensive know-how, the suitable personnel resources and the right tools at the right time.

So, if you want to ensure that classical local networks such as LANs are fit for the digital future, be it in the areas of security, the feature scope or in monitoring, you need a lot of knowledge and resources. One can already see that many businesses say good-bye to classical WLAN and LAN concepts and instead rely on a managed network (Network as a Service/NaaS). At NTS, we define NaaS as a cloud-like model that allows the user to simply consume the network and to achieve desired results without having to purchase, establish or operate their own infrastructure. Thus, businesses receive more flexibility during the growth, as add-ons don’t have to be “released” as an investment, but they are assigned and billed in a usage-oriented way. As a result, initial investments no longer become necessary, and one only pays for what is actually used – for example with a price per part model. Here, NTS offers their customers suitable solutions regarding support, financing and operational responsibility in the network – from “NaaS light” to “NaaS”. With NTS ON DEMAND NETWORK you can keep your network equipment current and supported without having to purchase, install and maintain your own infrastructure. Thus, you can always keep an eye on the budget.

Christopher Golob-Mallaschitz: Due to increasing cyber threats, it becomes more and more important for businesses to strengthen their security requirements to make digital infrastructures more resistant. The driving forces behind this are EU legislations such as NIS2 or DORA. Security gaps can cause substantial damages such as financial losses, legal violations or even endangering the existence of the business. For the most part, businesses are aware of the importance to be able to react quickly to incidents, but often the right resources or the respective know-how are missing. If you only start searching for the appropriate experts after a cyber-attack, you are not only losing valuable time, but you also have to expect high costs. Therefore, it is highly recommended to start thinking upfront about the emergency or to outsource these services and to obtain this from external experts.

Christopher Golob-Mallaschitz: Definitely, as within the framework of  Managed Services there is a reliable IT service provider that takes care of the infrastructure and that assumes responsibility. Contained in the package are, amongst others, regular updates/upgrades and a respective lifecycle management to always remain up to date. A monitoring, if required on a 24/7 basis, and guaranteed response times in case of failure, safeguard operational continuity and high availability. At NTS, an experienced team with highly qualified engineers, are actively behind this. They take care of all customer matters and are able to operate entire infrastructures if required to do so. Thereby, one keeps IT infrastructures always up to date and reduces risk.

One must also not forget the Manged Services in the area of security. Potential dangers can be detected at an early stage thanks to early detection measures. Thus, the likelihood of an attack can be reduced or even eliminated. The NTS Vulnerability Management by NTS for instance continuously identifies security weaknesses and demonstrates their potential dangers. With the Threat Detection Service SIEM, possible threats are even identified in real time. But endpoints, which are end devices such as server, desktops and mobile end devices, which are connected to the corporate network, have been identified as significant sources of risks as well.  With the solution Threat Detection Service, in brief TDS|MDR, NTS supplies a Managed Service that focuses on the detection of threats and that provides suitable response measures at the same time. NTS also supports their customers in case of emergency with the NTS Incident Response Service. The perfect additions for the corporate network.