Proof of concept tests ‘customer-defined routing’ for businesses to choose their own packet network path in near-real time
Colt Technology Services (Colt), the global digital infrastructure company, today announced a proof of concept (PoC) for its transformative Smart Path feature which will enable businesses to define their preferred network route on a packet network – in near-real time – directly from its Network as a Service (NaaS) platform. Smart Path is set to revolutionise and simplify access to secure digital infrastructure for businesses, providing flexibility, control, convenience and transparency through Colt’s multi award-winning NaaS platform.
The pilot will see one of Colt’s global customers in the media industry become the first to trial Smart Path to manage optimum network performance for its live-streamed events. Downtime during live events can cost broadcasters reputational and financial risk, so the media firm will test Smart Path for ease-of-use, accessibility and choice. Removing the need for traditional manual ordering processes gives the business the ability to define and implement its network routes in near-real time, accelerating provisioning time while providing enhanced resilience and low latency so their customers can enjoy uninterrupted viewing experiences.
The groundbreaking Smart Path NaaS solution was developed to address Colt’s customers’ requirements around selecting a specific packet network route for their connectivity between their offices and data centres to meet a number of different business objectives, including data sovereignty, security, compliance and sustainability. With Smart Path, Colt customers will be able to browse and select the network route themselves – directly from their NaaS portal – that best fits their strategic goals.
For example, they will be able to access the digital platform to:
- Select routes with lowest latency;
- Define specific subsea routes to be used for resiliency reasons,
- Meet sovereignty requirements by ensuring their traffic remains within a specified country or region
Smart Path will also provide customers with greater clarity around the incremental network carbon emissions linked to a specific circuit, to support their sustainability goals.
Peter Coppens, VP Infrastructure and Connectivity Solutions, Colt Technology Services, said, “Just as we can click and activate compute power and storage in the public cloud, businesses should be able to choose their network routes with the same level of ease, autonomy and simplicity. Until now, this hasn’t been an industry standard option on packet networks. As an early pioneer of NaaS, we’re constantly exploring new digital-first features in the platform that solve real challenges for our customers, so we developed Smart Path to meet this need.” He continued, “Businesses will be able to choose the routes that fit their goals while avoiding others; they can boost their network resilience, support data sovereignty and gain deeper insight into the environmental impact of their network services, all in near-real time through their NaaS platform.”
Key Smart Path features will include:
- The ability to meet resilience and data sovereignty requirements via real time route selection
- Real time network orchestration, via a NaaS user interface – enabling new services to be provisioned in minutes
- Instantaneous changes using a live inventory – network routing, bandwidths, contract terms can also be changed in minutes
- Providing visibility of the carbon emissions on individual routing options
Colt plans to expand NaaS with Smart Path available as a feature for customers available in late-2025.
Notes to Editors
A pioneer of Network as a Service, Colt launched its On Demand platform in 2017 to give its customers wider choice, flexibility and autonomy. The solution marked a new evolution for digital infrastructure management, by providing businesses with real-time, self-service provisioning of their network services via either the Colt NaaS portal or APIs. Colt’s NaaS platform has since expanded with innovative new features and capabilities designed to bring simplicity and ownership to global network management. Now, organisations have access through the NaaS portal to
- 32,000 Colt-connected buildings and over 275 cloud points of presence across Europe, Asia and North America
- 130,000 locations served by dedicated fibre (FTTX)
- Millions of locations delivered via carrier partners in over 180 locations with one SLA, one contract and one contact
Colt has secured multiple awards for its Network as a Service platform, most recently securing six wins at the global MEF Naas Excellence awards 2024. These are:
- NaaS Service Provider of the Year – Global
- NaaS Service Provider of the Year – Europe
- SD WAN Service Provider of the Year – Europe
- Best NaaS Vision – Service Provider
- Best Services Ecosystem Automation Platform
- Service Automation Leadership – Europe
Find out more about Colt NaaS here.
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