Automated Application Delivery: Enables Extensible

W H ITE PAPER
Automated Application Delivery: Enables
Extensible Managed Services at the
Network Edge
www.netsocket.com
Contents
Abstract3
Background3
Automated Application Delivery
4
The AAD Value Proposition to MSPs:
5
Summary7
About Netsocket
2
7
WHITE PAPER: A
UTOMATED
APPLICATION DELIVERY: ENABLES EXTENSIBLE MANAGED SERVICES
AT THE NETWORK EDGE
Abstract
Netsocket’s Virtual Edge solution delivers centralized, automated service creation,
delivery, management and orchestration of a wide range of virtualized applications for
service delivery across a Managed Service Provider’s (MSP) SMB and enterprise customer
base. Virtual Edge’s new Automated Application Delivery (AAD) capability supplements
Virtual Edge’s virtual networking capability to provide a synergistic platform for extending
an impactful, high-ARPU, profitable managed services catalogue to the MSP’s customers.
The Automated Application Delivery (AAD) feature orchestrates and automates the creation
and delivery of a broad set of virtualized open source and commercial applications to
Virtual Edge. Summary benefits to MSPs include …
•Higher average revenue per user (ARPU) - through broader, more agile service
portfolio
•Higher service profitability – through 10:1 lifecycle opex savings and >3:1 capex
savings and reduced site appliance bloat
• Improved up-selling opportunity - through expanded managed service catalogue
•Increased closing rates – by starting managed service trial in minutes with no
appliance cost or truck rolls
•Future-proofed customer premise equipment – through hosting best-of-breed
applications on Virtual Edge’s common, low-cost MicroCloud Server
Background
The number of worldwide MSPs has increased dramatically in the past decade as former
VARs/SIs/DVARs and existing cloud and telecom service providers encountered the
diminishing profit margins and revenue lumpiness associated with product resale and
professional services offerings. These new MSPs migrated upscale in the financial value
chain to offer managed services. Managed service delivery offers these next-gen MSPs the
opportunity to create customized services with recurring revenue streams by packaging
vendor solutions with their own integrated services. Until recently, the introduction rate and
profitability of these managed services have been hampered by the lack of service creation and
delivery automation. Without this automation, the profitability of delivering the service over the
lifecycle of any given service contract was adversely impacted by multiple manual operations
workflows and high labor rates associated with traditional solutions. These traditional solutions
were typically configured and managed manually by technicians with knowledge of vendorspecific command line interface syntax and semantics. Fortunately, new technologies such as
virtualization, web services and software-as-a-service are removing these barriers to profitability
and service delivery agility. Netsocket leads this market sector with its revolutionary Virtual
Edge solution.
3
Automated Application Delivery
Virtual Edge – is an edge virtualization solution for branch offices of distributed SMBs and
enterprises. Virtual Edge virtualizes WAN-LAN edge networking functions including routing,
switching and firewall (shown as vFC and vFS applications in the figure below), and hosts
them on a commodity x86 server - the MicroCloud Server. Because the MicroCloud Server
is virtualized, it can host any other virtual applications, whether they deliver networking or
non-networking functionality.
Virtual Edge Solution
Extensibility and Agility for New Managed Services
LEGACY EDGE
VIRTUAL EDGE
MicroCloud Server
vNetCommander
MSP Service Desk
Rack of Madness
vFC
VM
• Constrained services
• Appliance bloat
• Network plumbing nightmare
• Assured truck-roll
vFS
VM
vRA
VM
App
App
VM
VM
• Extensible services
• One common appliance
• Quick to develop/add/plumb new service
• No truck roll
Fig. 1: Virtual Edge, A Platform for Managed Services Extensibility and Agility
Automated Application Delivery – is an integral feature of Virtual Edge. AAD
capabilities are delivered by two applications, vNetCommander and vRemoteAgent
(labelled vRA in the figure above). VNetCommander is the cloud-based, multi-tenanted
application that automates and orchestrates the installation, network provisioning and
day 2 management operations of all virtualized applications hosted on each branch
office MicroCloud Server. vRemoteAgent is installed in a virtual machine on each
MicroCloud Server and is the workhorse that performs the virtual machine creation,
application installation, network provisioning and day 2 management tasks initiated by
vNetCommander. Automation of all lifecycle management workflows removes the need
for truck rolls, reduces labor significantly and simplifies the skillset requirements (and
consequent labor rates) of each task. The result of this simplification is higher speed
of new application/managed service introduction, higher ARPU, significantly reduced
lifecycle capex and opex and higher service operating margins.
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WHITE PAPER: A
UTOMATED
APPLICATION DELIVERY: ENABLES EXTENSIBLE MANAGED SERVICES
AT THE NETWORK EDGE
Qualified vApps
“Essentially, Netsocket has
Netsocket’s initial manifest of virtualized applications, or vApps, includes a broad set of
turned almost all the hardware
open source and commercial applications. This set of vApps will expand rapidly over time,
that was running the network
allowing an MSP to customize a competitive set of managed services based upon its own
and made it run in a virtual
machine. This would allow
market and expertise.
APPLICATION
DESCRIPTION
Ubiquiti UniFi®
WiFi Controller
us to approach the bigger
Fortinet Fortigate
Advanced Security/Firewall/IDS/IPS
companies to replace their
GENBAND QFlex ™
Session Border Controller
Snorby
Intrusion Prevention System (IPS)/Intrusion
Defense System (IDS)
Pandora
Open Source Remote Monitoring/Management
Microsoft Windows Essentials
Software Infrastructure
high-end edge networking. As
long as we’re able to maintain
an Internet connection and
OpenVPN
Virtual Private Network (VPN)
provide remote access, we no
FreePBX
Private Branch Exchange (PBX)
longer have to have skilled
“Generic” debian™ Linux™ VM
VM for MSP-installed applications and tools
service technicians on staff.
That’s the future.”
–M
anaged Service Provider
Michael Carey
IT Systems Group
Table 1: Example vApps
The AAD Value Proposition to MSPs:
Edge virtual networking functions and vApps are hosted on the branch office’s MicroCloud
Server. As shown in Figure 1, Netsocket’s networking applications deliver functionality that
allows an MSP to deliver a managed edge routing/switching/firewall service to a branch
office. Each new vApp virtual machine is automatically installed and “plumbed” to Virtual
Edge’s virtual network. These installation and provisioning workflows are initiated remotely
by an MSP service desk agent, interacting with the GUI of Virtual Edge’s vNetCommander
application. Service desk agents do not require knowledge of command line interface or
other complex languages to initiate the workflows. A couple of clicks are all that is required
to start the process of creating a virtual machine, installing and activating the application,
plumbing it to the virtual network and applying its initial configuration. Following the
installation, the vNetCommander GUI presents a GUI tool to automatically link to the web
front-end of each installed vApp.
Virtual Edge’s automation, virtualization and integrated edge networking functionality offer a
number of immediate and long-term value propositions to each Managed Service Provider:
•Increased managed service catalogue depth. The breadth of managed
services offerings delivered using legacy edge routers, switches and firewalls
is severely limited, as these legacy devices are unable to host and orchestrate
non-networking applications. Virtual Edge’s x86-based virtualized MicroCloud
Server allows hosting of an infinitely countable set of both networking and
non-networking applications. Increased managed service catalogue depth and
5
increased ARPU are illustrated in the figure below with examples of managed services
recurring pricing for each example vApp.
Netsocket’s Virtual Edge Solution
Extensibility and Agility for New Managed Services
Increasing ARPU and Service Stickiness
Virtualized
Applications
Managed Service
Opportunities
Netsocket
Virtual Network
vFC
vFS
vRA
VM
VM
VM
WiFi Controller
Intrusion Detect /
Prevent
Remote Mgmt / Mon
WFC
ID/P
RMM
VM
VM
VM
Routing, Firewall
Wireless LAN
Enhanced Network
Security
Help Desk
$100 / mo.
+$25 / mo.
+$10 / mo.
+$2 / mo. / device
Remote MicroCloud
MicroCloud Server
LAN
LAN
Fig. 2: Extending Value to the MSP: Increased Managed Service Catalogue Depth and ARPU
•Limitless set of qualified vApps. Any application that can run in a virtual machine
is a candidate for a vApp. Further, because AAD’s orchestration of installation and
network “plumbing” of a vApp is very loosely coupled to the application itself, no lengthy,
complicated API integration is required. Integration and qualification of the vast majority of
applications as a vApp is simple and straightforward, ensuring that the rate of qualification
of new commercial and open source vApps is high.
•
No up-front data center infrastructure costs. Netsocket hosts and operates the cloud
management application, vNetCommander. This frees the MSP from the cost of the data
center infrastructure required to host and operate this function. It also allows the MSP to
start selling the solution immediately.
•
Dramatically reduced lifecycle opex and increase operating margins. AAD’s
automation and GUI visualization of vApp lifecycle management workflows means both
reduction in time per workflow and labor rate required per workflow and eliminate the
need for truck rolls. MSPs can reduce opex for site-based applications by 10:1 over nonvirtualized, appliance-based applications.
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WHITE PAPER: A
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APPLICATION DELIVERY: ENABLES EXTENSIBLE MANAGED SERVICES
AT THE NETWORK EDGE
•Reduced application capex and branch office appliance bloat. Virtual
Edge’s networking functions and all vApps are hosted on a common branch office
appliance, the MicroCloud Server, eliminating the need for a dedicated appliance per
application. MSPs can reduce capex for site-based applications by greater than 3:1
over dedicated appliance-based solutions.
•Broadened geographical footprint. Virtual Edge allows an MSP to extend their
geographical footprint beyond the reach of their truck fleet, yielding much more
responsive service through centralized service desk operations.
•Flexible application deployment fulfillment. MSPs can order sites preconfigured with selected, qualified applications. Or, once deployed to a site, MSP
service desk agents can use vNetCommander to automate the installation and
network provisioning of the virtualized apps without requiring a costly site visit by
installation technicians.
Summary
The Automated Application Delivery capability of Netsocket’s Virtual Edge solution allows
a Managed Service Provider to profitably deliver a broad, high-ARPU set of managed
services to its customer base. The Virtual Edge vApps that serve as the core of these
managed services broaden an MSPs service catalogue, significantly improve ARPU and
dramatically increase the profitability of those services through opex-saving automation.
Commercial application vendors can learn more about qualifying their virtualized app by
visiting http://www.netsocket.com/partners/netsocket-virtual-partner-program-nvp.
About Netsocket
Netsocket, a technology leader in virtualized, software-defined networking and automated
application delivery, is igniting the transformation of how Managed Service Providers can
simply and affordably design, deploy, and deliver extensible managed services to their
enterprise and SMB customers. The company’s flagship solution – Netsocket’s Virtual
Edge, is powered by its award-winning software-defined networking architecture, and
delivers cloud-based automated application delivery and network orchestration via a
robust suite of applications. By providing a completely virtualized network and application
delivery platform, Service Providers can now greatly increase average revenue per
user, reduce their bottom line, and boost their profitability by delivering a broader set of
managed service offerings. To discover how Netsocket can virtualize your world,
visit www.netsocket.com.
7
3701 W. Plano Pkwy, Suite 140, Plano TX 75075
Phone: +1 214.427.7300 Fax: +1 972.596.7943
www.netsocket.com
[email protected]
Copyright 2014 Netsocket. All rights reserved.

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