Vice president of service provider marketing, enablement and business development at VMware.
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Few emerging technologies look poised to make as big a splash as private mobile networks (PMNs). PMNs give enterprises new options to wirelessly connect factory equipment, Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, healthcare devices and more with lower latencies, increased mobility and other enhanced cellular capabilities. Given their transformative potential, analysts expect massive interest in PMNs, with one recent study projecting the market will reach $109 billion by 2030. Less clear at the moment is how, exactly, enterprises will deploy and operate these networks to accelerate their digital transformation.
For enterprise IT organizations, PMNs represent a new approach to providing wireless connectivity that’s very different from Wi-Fi. Those planning to go it alone will need significant investments in specialized expertise and personnel to implement PMNs effectively. As a result, early indications suggest only the largest and most technically advanced enterprises plan to take a “DIY” approach to PMNs. Most businesses will prefer an as-a-service (aaS) model, where a managed service provider (MSP) handles deployment and ongoing operation, so IT can benefit from private networks without having to become experts in them.
Now, a growing ecosystem—of communications service providers (CSPs), MSPs, cloud providers and IT vendors—is emerging to meet this need. If you’re with an IT organization evaluating private networks, how should you weigh the options? What does an effective solution look like, and what should you look for in an MSP partner? Let’s take a closer look.
Inside Private Connectivity
The biggest factor driving enterprises to deploy PMNs: digital transformation at the edge. Over the last decade, the cloud has unlocked amazing new applications that have truly transformed businesses. But emerging technologies are now demanding a new set of capabilities at the edge, including:
• Edge computing to run multicloud edge applications that influence business outcomes.
• Reliable and resilient wide-area network (WAN) connectivity to ensure multicloud applications run uninterrupted.
• Zero-trust consistent security posture across the entire multicloud presence.
• Enhanced local-area networks (LAN) to augment Wi-Fi and expand digital transformation.
PMNs can support next-generation edge use cases that existing Wi-Fi networks simply can’t. PMNs can deliver much lower latencies, higher levels of security and performance to enable more compute-intensive emerging use cases.
PMNs provide:
• Enhanced coverage, seamless mobility and consistent performance beyond wired Ethernet or traditional Wi-Fi.
• Sophisticated quality of service (QoS) to assure guaranteed capacity and improved latency for business-critical applications and devices.
• New spectrum options to bypass existing, increasingly congested channels.
• Integrated security to enable greater protection, visibility and control over critical data and processes.
• A convergence path for operational technology (OT) and enterprise IT.
These capabilities are especially valuable for smart factories, where PMNs can provide the capacity, security and low latencies of 5G in a network the enterprise fully controls. That’s critical, as it allows IT to specify exactly which OT applications have priority, when they’ll run, how they’ll run, how much bandwidth they’ll use and more.
This all assumes, of course, that enterprise IT can effectively deploy and operate PMNs. Acquiring spectrum licenses, conducting radio planning studies for optimal coverage and capacity, and handling life cycle management can be daunting for organizations unfamiliar with cellular/radio frequency (RF) technology. Most organizations would prefer to outsource that effort to a partner with cellular experts so they can focus on more strategic business initiatives. Enter PMN as a service.
Key Qualities Of Effective PMN Partners
Enterprises considering PMNs have a growing pool of MSP options. But not all solutions are created equal. Here are some of the most important attributes to look for:
• Expertise in both cellular and enterprise IT: Many CSPs have exhaustive cellular/RF experience but may not be as familiar with the unique requirements of enterprise IT. After all, it’s not just about connecting a factory robot, for example. IT also must secure that robot, ensure it’s reliable, that it’s handling data properly and that it meets a hundred other behind-the-scenes requirements. Look for MSP partners with extensive experience in IT and cellular technology.
• Simplified management: Simplicity is the biggest value-add of an as-a-service model, but some solutions are simpler than others. For example, many IT organizations already manage software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), secure access service edge (SASE), and other edge computing, transport and networking solutions. Adding another orchestrator into the mix for PMNs creates still more layers of complexity. Ideally, MSP partners will integrate centralized management of enterprise systems into a single point of control. After all, the more time IT has to spend figuring out how to make different systems talk to each other, the less they can focus on actual business transformation.
• Edge intelligence and analytics: Edge networks can connect thousands of devices, quickly becoming massively complex. Effective PMNs should provide deep visibility, with the ability to view KPIs for all edge devices—across PMNs, Wi-Fi networks and the rest of the enterprise environment—in one place. Without holistic visibility, it’s much harder to manage business-critical services.
• Unified, cloud-native security: To protect critical edge equipment and workloads, you want to maintain a consistent security posture across all edge devices and services. One of the most effective ways to do this is to work with partners that offer deep integration with a SASE ecosystem, that can apply distributed security capabilities and uniform policy to any PMN.
Looking Ahead
Private cellular networks offer a powerful new option to unleash transformative new edge applications that can improve how enterprises operate in order to drive their business. But you can’t transform your business if IT has to spend most of its time managing and troubleshooting connectivity.
Eventually, PMNs may become as ubiquitous as Wi-Fi. But today, with the technology so new and expectations so high, it’s critical to choose partners you can trust. The good news is that excellent MSP options are emerging in every market. Combining long-standing cellular experience with deep enterprise know-how, expert PMN partners can help you tap the transformative potential of private networks—without the operational headaches.
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