Information Technology Services (ITS)

Network as a Service (NaaS)

Description

In response to growing demand from departments for network management and support services, EIS is pleased to introduce a new service offering called Network as a Service (NaaS).  This service allows departments to leverage the specialized skills and experience of the network experts in the Enterprise Infrastructure Solutions group to ensure fast and reliable network connectivity within departments.  NaaS fills the skills and capacity gaps that often occur in departments where there may only be 1 or 2 IT staff who are spread very thin.  NaaS offloads the design, provisioning and ongoing management of the departmental network and makes it easier to predict and budget for costs associated with what has now become a utility as essential and ubiquitous as power, heating and cooling.  Pricing is based on a per port basis and includes the cost of network switches.  Departments that have recently completed a network refresh can opt for just the Network Management service.

Please read through the details below and feel free to contact us if you would like to find out more.

Timing

NaaS was launched on May 1st 2019.

Benefits

  • Free up local IT capacity (and fill skills gaps)
  • Access to full range of specialized expertise and knowledge:  JOG, field services, network design, network engineering
  • Pro-active device monitoring, alerting and remote troubleshooting by ITS Joint Operations Group
  • Fast response to on-site network problems (2 hour SLO)
  • Predictable OpEx for network hardware, management & support
  • Improved network performance and reliability
  • Enhanced security

What’s included?

  • JOG Monitoring & Contact Centre
  • Remote & onsite troubleshooting
  • Firmware patching
  • Switch & Firewall configuration changes
  • Free replacement of failed switches
  • 2 hour response time Service Level Objective (SLO)
  • Virtual Firewall
  • DNS (Domain Name Service)
  • DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
  • IPAM (IP Address Management)
  • CGNAT (carrier-grade network address translation allows you to conserve public IP addresses)
  • Discounted hourly rate for ad hoc services by the network infrastructure team

Cost

Network Management Service: $10 per port* per year
Network Infrastructure: $15 per port* per year

NaaS Total: $25 per port* per year

*based on total port count

5-year cost comparison

Department with 10 x 48-port switches:
10 x 48 x $25 = $12,000 per year
5 year cost:  $60,000

Compared to:

1 x PB10 FTE @ $60,950 + 24.75% benefits = $76,035 per year
Plus OTO cost of switches:  10 x $2,200 = $22,000
5 year cost:  $402,175

Pre-requisites

  • EIS must first do a network assessment ($1,500). Assessment fee is waived if department signs contract.
  • Department will need to address any deficiencies identified in the assessment (e.g. fibre and copper cabling, racks, cable management and labelling, etc) before signing up
  • EIS will complete the work based on the proposal provided
  • This is an OTO departmental cost that will vary depending on current state of the network

Before and after…

These images show a typical departmental network room before EIS came in and installed proper cable management systems, labelled patch cables and refreshed the network switches:

First image shows the network cables before and after the network modifications done by EIS.Second image shows the network cables before and after the network modifications done by EIS.

Click on images to enlarge

Next steps

If you are interested in signing up for NaaS, have any questions about the service or would like to arrange for a network assessment, please contact us.