Enterprises Pair NaaS and MNS Services

A GTT Communications white paper finds most enterprises combine network-as-a-service with managed network services.

Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Telecommunications

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GTT Communications released a white paper on enterprise adoption of network-as-a-service (NaaS) and managed network services (MNS). The survey, conducted by Hanover Research, found 78% of surveyed enterprises use a combination of both.

Why it matters

Observability gaps and compliance demands are shaping how enterprises adopt NaaS, with 75% citing observability as a barrier. The findings suggest providers will need to address audit evidence and encryption key control to win broader adoption across the United States.

The Hanover Research survey reports that 94% of enterprises value provider-maintained immutable logs and 91% want control of their own encryption keys. The white paper does not specify the sample size or how respondents were selected.

The players

GTT Communications

GTT Communications is a global network services provider that released the white paper on enterprise adoption of network-as-a-service and managed network services.

Hanover Research

Hanover Research is a research firm that conducted the enterprise survey underlying the GTT Communications white paper.

The details

NaaS is defined in the survey as an on-demand cloud-native fabric for provisioning and disconnecting networking services such as SD-WAN and SASE. Enterprises reported using five-year total cost of ownership as the primary metric when justifying NaaS adoption to boards, with 61% of respondents relying on it.

November 5, 2026: GTT Communications releases the white paper on NaaS and MNS adoption.

The Tech Race

The survey's focus on SD-WAN and SASE services places NaaS within the shift toward cloud-native networking that has replaced hardware-centric WAN deployments. The emphasis on observability and audit evidence signals that providers competing in this market must match enterprise compliance demands.

Enterprise IT teams evaluating NaaS must weigh five-year total cost of ownership against observability and compliance requirements. The survey indicates buyers will expect immutable logs and customer-held encryption keys from providers.

The takeaway

Enterprises are building hybrid networking portfolios that combine on-demand NaaS with managed services rather than choosing one model. Providers that offer audit evidence and encryption key control are better positioned to meet the compliance expectations surfaced in the survey.