A new Ericsson discussion paper suggests the demand for accessibility and flexibility is changing enterprises attitude towards their networks, moving the focus from protecting the perimeter of the enterprise network to protecting the business-critical data and application environment. It opens up opportunities for telecom operators to provide as-a-service offering. Read the paper and talk to Ericsson to find more about, for example, how to address this transformation, what a winning strategy looks like for operators, what bundled offerings are like to gain most market traction.

1. The coming
obsolescence of
the enterprise
network

2. Highlights
Adoption of new technologies has traditionally begun in enterprises and then shifted to
consumers. Over the past decade during the mobile boom, however, we have seen just the
opposite.
Driven by mass mobile adoption and the BYOD trend, enterprise IT organizations have been
forced to turn their focus towards network security and virtualization beyond servers and storage.
As a consequence, we predict that enterprise-owned and operated internal networks will soon
become obsolete. This will open up a major opportunity for operators to provide a range of
as-a-service offerings, such as end-to-end Enterprise Network-as-a-Service (ENaaS).

3. Discussion Paper: The coming obsolescence of the enterprise network 3
Introduction
Every CIO requires a clear vision of the IT transformation that mobile adoption, BYOD and the cloud are
bringing about: the necessity to reach beyond server and storage virtualization and to rethink network
security. This transformation will lead to the obsolescence of internal network infrastructure – and
network operators should be ready to take advantage of this opportunity.
Technology adoption has traditionally begun in enterprises and then moved to consumers. But over
the past decade, we have experienced a revolution in the consumer segment that is now coming to
enterprise.
As consumers, we have instant access to information, communication, location services and video,
using any device, fixed or mobile, on any network. But many enterprises are still stuck using telephony
and e-mail for communication and collaboration, and that is about it. This disconnect between our
lives as consumers and our lives as enterprise employees is the root cause of the Bring Your Own
Device (BYOD) trend as well as the consumerization of enterprise IT.
Mobile adoption and BYOD, however, are not without their drawbacks. Both are the cause of major
concern within IT organizations today, largely because providing security for mobile devices is
significantly different from doing so elsewhere in the enterprise.
To meet the increasing and often-contradictory demands of users and business organizations for
increased device flexibility and productivity, while still maintaining corporate security, IT organizations
have to rethink everything from network security to network infrastructure to what employees have on
their desktops.
From guarding the fences to protecting information at the source
In a classic end-to-end, perimeter-protection scheme, the strategy is to minimize risks by not trusting
users, by maintaining the status quo, and by allowing only locked-down devices managed by the IT
department.
However, with an increasing variety of mobile devices within an enterprise (including BYOD), plus a
huge number of connected machines and sensors, maintaining such an environment will be an uphill
and ultimately futile battle.
If business-critical information is going unprotected, even as the network perimeter is maintained, it’s
clear the conventional security model is broken. Enterprise IT organizations may instead need to
change their network security strategy to protect information at the source, not on the perimeter. And
when the focus shifts from protecting the device to the application environment, this allows for any
and all device types, even BYOD, while the really valuable components – user data and business-
critical information – remain safe.
In this shift to protecting information at the source, we predict that desktop virtualization technology
will play an important role.
Furthermore, as a result of the decreasing importance of perimeter protection, the enterprise access
networks have to be separated from the core network. This separation of the access and core
networks then triggers a significant shift: the obsolescence of the enterprise network.

4. Discussion Paper: The coming obsolescence of the enterprise network 4
The obsolescence of the enterprise network
In a world where perimeter security and end-point protection were the first and last lines of defense,
the power to command or control the internal enterprise (W)LAN network was key.
But when the focus shifts to protecting business-critical information rather than controlling and
protecting the access ports to the corporate intranet, the enterprise (W)LAN is no longer a strategic
asset. Instead, any internet connection that offers acceptable coverage and capacity is essentially fine.
If IT departments no longer need to command or control the access network, why not let someone
else provide that service, if they can do it better, faster and cheaper?
The value of owning internal infrastructure then becomes a question of operational efficiency,
minimized TCO and increased availability, agility and robustness of network services.
For companies that both equip their employees with a virtualized desktop and move all their business-
critical applications to the cloud, the entire intranet infrastructure might disappear from their balance
sheet altogether.
The operator opportunity
The cloud holds many advantages for enterprises. The pay-as-you-go business model enables
enterprises of all sizes to gain access to powerful resources and solutions without any capital
expenditure. The cloud enables companies to focus more on their business and less on the technology
technology needed to run it. By moving enterprise network infrastructure to the cloud, enterprises can
take advantage of future economies of scale.
This shift is also advantageous for network operators. For them, the obsolescence of enterprise-
owned and operated internal networks opens up an unprecedented opportunity for growth in the years
to come, by providing end-to-end Enterprise Network-as-a-Service (ENaaS).
Figure: The move from classic, perimeter, end-point protection of the corporate intranet to protecting
business-critical information at the source. As perimeter protection becomes less important, enterprise
access networks become separated from the core network

5. Discussion Paper: The coming obsolescence of the enterprise network 5
Let’s keep talking
This arena will be a vital battlefield in the convergence of telecom and IT. The telecom industry already
possesses essential components that could completely change the dynamics of enterprise
networking.
 But there are a few fundamental questions:
 How should the industry address this opportunity?
 How do we achieve economies of scale while leaving room for differentiation?
 What does a winning go-to-market strategy look like?
 Which bundled enterprise offerings are likely to get the most traction in the market?
Come and talk to us!