Verizon Business Doubles Down on NaaS Solutions to Serve SMEs More Flexibly

Verizon Business is increasingly centring its strategy around Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), according to a recent Omdia report. As big enterprise contracts often mean long cycles and tighter margins, Verizon sees SMEs as a growth vector with more opportunity for flexible, consumption-based offerings.

At the heart of Verizon's NaaS push is its NaaS Management Center, a platform that enables enterprises to consume network services via a digital portal, or directly through APIs. Functions such as billing, orders and change requests are streamlined—allowing businesses to scale connectivity, adjust performance levels and integrate cloud, security, IoT, and AI services more fluidly.

Verizon has also introduced NaaS Cloud Management, which allows firms to manage workloads across multiple clouds, monitor performance, traffic load, firewalls, and establish consistent visibility across all sites. This cloud-management layer can be used standalone or in combination with Verizon's broader NaaS offering.

To support this, Verizon has partnered with HCLTech for infrastructure management, combining expertise to build, deploy, and support NaaS for customers in North America and beyond.

Analyst forecasts suggest significant upside: North America is expected to lead in NaaS adoption in the medium term, and campus-based NaaS implementations globally could fetch around US$609 million by 2027.

Verizon's approach is aimed at making network services simpler, more flexible and consumption-oriented—moving away from rigid contracts. For SMEs—often underserved or constrained by large minimums—this flexibility combined with integrated cloud and security services could be a differentiator. The strategy also aligns with broader trends: rising demand for hybrid work, edge computing, IoT expansion, and AI which all place pressure on more agile network models.