Aryaka Expands Network-as-a-Service, SASE Options

Managed network provider Aryaka has significantly expanded its network-as-a-service (NaaS) offerings, adding the integrated secure access service edge (SASE) technologies that it acquired from Secucloud as well as a new private Layer 3 routed network.

Called Aryaka FlexCore, this network will enable users to build connections among their sites using their private core of choice, based on performance or cost considerations, as well as criticality of sites and applications.

Aryaka can offer these more diverse services by using its network of points of presence (PoP), which now number 40 and are often located near the major cloud providers. It can operate as a private backbone for Layer 2 (Ethernet) or Layer 3 (IP) connectivity, as well as provide security services such as SASE from the cloud. This will expand the company’s addressable market with wider pricing models, addressing the needs of organizations such as small and medium businesses (SMBs).

Aryaka also introduced AppAssure, a software capability that delivers deterministic visibility, observability, and control to 3,500+ applications.

Why Layer 3 and SASE?

Aryaka was among the first independent providers to build a NaaS to deliver SD-WAN services, which became popular as a way to connect branches with networking services that were much cheaper than leased lines or connections based on Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), which for many years was a common private network connection offered by traditional service providers.

Aryaka’s expanded offerings will compete with the proliferation of “overlays” and other NaaS offerings that use IP transit and the Internet to build virtual networking services. By offering its own private Layer 3 network to customers, Aryaka argues that it can offer service level agreements (SLAs) and better network performance.

SASE is an area that has been heating up lately, because it integrates cloud-based security offerings with networking services, a combination that Futuriom research has determined is highly valued by end users.

New Pricing Model

Aryaka did not announce its pricing publicly, but it said the new services will expand its addressable market. The private IP network will enable customers to use IP networking to build secure private networks with competitive pricing. Arayaka calls the new approach “T-shirt” pricing, with standardized tiers. All services will also include options such as bursting and network reallocation.

The new tiers include the following:

• Aryaka Prime EZ: New managed SASE offering delivered initially over the L3 private core. Built with the acquisition of Secucloud, it is tailored for small to medium enterprises. The initial capabilities include secure web gateway, firewall as-a-service and web filtering capabilities, all delivered and managed via Aryaka PoPs.

• Aryaka SmartConnect Pro: Managed SD-WAN optimized for performance, uses the L2 private core and easy consumption model, geared for mid-to-large enterprises that require high performance networking and global application predictability.

• Aryaka SmartConnect EZ: New managed SD-WAN optimized for cost, uses Aryaka’s L3 private core and easy consumption model, geared for SMBs that are looking for something better than the managed SD-WAN and Internet available from traditional telcos. Offers attractive cost points and the ability to move to the SmartConnect Pro or Prime EZ offering in a graceful manner.

Playing the Insurgent Card

In a launch event on Tuesday, Aryaka CEO Matt Carter took a shot at the established telecommunications companies – saying that people just don’t like them.

“Telcos compete on complexity. People don’t like working with them. They feel like they don’t have another option. That’s an opportunity for us. We compete on simplicity.”

Aryaka lined up several customers to back this up, including representatives from TDM and HMSHost:

“Traditional carrier-led approaches to managed services are just not meeting the needs of today’s cloud-first enterprises. They’re not delivering the innovation or flexibility that IT requires, as well as a sub-par support experience. Aryaka’s new offers create additional relevancy for us.”

-- Robert Bowling, founder and CEO of TDM

“We’re using the Aryaka managed solution to successfully interconnect our near and far-flung locations. Aryaka delivers the global and cloud application performance and support we need in order to deliver a top-notch experience for our associates and guests."

-- Ard-Jan van Amerongen, international IT security director at HMSHost International.

Overall, Aryaka's announcements solidify it as one of the leading alternative MSPs. Identified as one of the leaders in cloud infrastructure in our 2021 Futuriom 40 report, Aryaka sits among a group of companies doing interesting things in the NaaS and SASE market, including Alkira, Cato Networks, Cloudflare, Packet Fabric, and several others.