What is WiFi as a service and is it right for my business?

Every year, a whole raft of devices and platforms become obsolete. Technology moves at the speed of light and internet connections that once enabled spaceflight now wouldn’t even load a Wikipedia page. With speed and increasing always-on connectivity a priority, many businesses are moving to WiFi as a service. In this blog we’ll help you understand what that is and why you might want to consider it in your future connectivity strategy.

What is WiFi as a service?

WiFi as a service or WaaS takes all the scalability and cost savings of SaaS and applies it to internet connectivity. WaaS combines the infrastructure, managed service and software needed to enable connection to the internet and packages it into a monthly fee for businesses. WiFi as a Service (WaaS) is configured and implemented to best serve network access demands. Therefore, WaaS is delivered to the customer as a complete turnkey service. In a nutshell, this means that all aspects of the service are typically inclusive, from planning and installing the necessary IT infrastructure to the measures put in place to monitor and manage the system. It also helps with managing a ‘bring your own device’ environment (BYOD) where unique permissions and access management are required.

What are some benefits of WaaS?

WiFi as a service provides first-rate connectivity without the initial cap-ex spend. Since everything is included in the monthly fee, there’s no big up-front investment. And the service is secure – providing an air gap between your connection and other networks. Using WaaS networks, enterprises can gain sophisticated location and user intelligence from location-based analytics. If your enterprise provides public WiFi, WaaS allows you to engage with end consumers through location-based advertising and ultimately optimise their experience. And, critically, it can scale with you. Quickly add or drop connection points as needed. Plus, you won’t need to have your in-house staff worry about the internet. This releases them to work on your internal proprietary IT needs. Since your WaaS provider will have service level agreements in place, that uninterrupted service is something you can count on.

Is it right for my business?

WiFi as a service is right for you if you need a turnkey option. WaaS makes enterprise-grade WiFi accessible to companies of all sizes. The subscription model eliminates capital expenditure. And managed WiFi services give smaller companies the support and maintenance they need to focus more on growing their business and less time spent worrying about the all-too-common WiFi problems. Furthermore, they don’t have to sacrifice security for this service. WaaS solutions have the same standards for connective encryption you’ve come to expect. It moves the expense of hosting WiFi from capex to opex. That can really help small to medium-sized businesses where cash flow is an issue.

If you’re keen to talk about how a WaaS deployment might help your company, let’s discuss your needs. Our team of connectivity experts have decades of experience with a wide range of installations for businesses of all sizes.