In my past life, I was a product manager for several global service providers, including one of the largest in North America. In that capacity, one of the biggest challenges was finding cost-effective technology and tools that could either enhance existing product offerings or roll out new services to customers.
Trust me — there is no shortage of tools on the market.
As product roadmaps were created, we would regularly evaluate new tools to leverage technical feasibility, product fit and whether the tools allowed for enhancement of the customer experience while providing adequate payback.
So that’s the tricky bit. There are great tools out there but finding the ones that meshed with the existing infrastructure and toolsets, while making financial sense, sometimes involved a great deal of research.
In a recent analyst briefing covering the DNS, DHCP, and IP address management (DDI) space, I was allowed to highlight a few ways that Infoblox’s DNS–based services help address challenges that service providers and managed service providers face. My key message: Infoblox not only enables and secures the critical services within service provider networks that their subscribers and customers depend upon, but also allows them to expand their existing network product portfolios to help close some of the critical gaps that may exist in their offerings
Service providers want to drive more revenue and differentiate themselves by improving and enhancing their capabilities and experience for their customers and subscribers. Look no further than the anticipated 5G. This is software-defined networking (SDN) and network functions virtualization (NFV) that will serve as the foundation for how 5G will be deployed on newer, virtualized infrastructure rather than costly, single-function devices. This foundation will service the transformative fixed and mobile workloads and use cases that demand incredible speeds, ultra-low latency, and millions of connections per square mile.
Infoblox provides a strategic platform to support next-generation services with carrier-grade security, high availability, and ultra-low latency. This helps providers create a better “first-connection impression” for subscribers. This allows these providers to enhance cost efficiencies, visibility, insight, and manageability, while supporting the transition to NFV and SDN with physical and virtualized options with microsecond latencies and 5-9’s reliability.
We also provide a better way for service providers to deploy subscriber services. Rather than using cost-prohibitive approaches such as deep pocket inspection and proxies, our DNS-Based Subscriber Services allow providers to leverage their existing core networking infrastructure. At the same time, it is providing a cost-effective and scalable solution that improves performance and enhances visibility. In addition, our value-based pricing model allows providers to offer value-added services such as parental controls, policy enforcement, enhanced security, and in-line messaging. The result is predictable ROI and faster payback with less CAPEX exposure and flexible pay-as-you-grow pricing.
Managed Service providers typically offer managed network and security solutions but have a gap in their product portfolios with core DDI and DNS security capabilities. Many enterprise customers today leverage a variety of deployment models for their workloads (hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, on-premises) and are challenged to manage and secure a proliferation of IP-enabled devices. Without robust, secure DDI services, enterprises are more likely to fail to execute upon their initiatives.
With Managed Secure DDI, Managed Service Providers can help ensure success for their customers’ business-critical efforts by supporting these newer customer service demands through enhanced managed network and security capabilities that support next-generation NFV, SDN, and virtualization services.
In future blogs I’m going to expand on the areas above. But in the meantime, if you want to learn more about how Infoblox helps service providers visit https://www.infoblox.com/solutions/service-providers.
