In an interview with TimesTech, Lalit Chowdhary, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Lightstorm, shares insights on how their Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform, Polarin, is transforming network management. From simplifying multi-cloud complexities to optimizing AI and edge computing, Lalit discusses the innovative solutions Lightstorm offers, including faster data center connectivity and enhanced scalability, ensuring enterprises are ready for the future of network infrastructure in Asia.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: How does Lightstorm’s Network as a Service (NaaS) solution is simplifying network management and addressing the network complexities in multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments?
Lalit: Lightstorm’s Network as a Service (NaaS) solution, Polarin, simplifies network management in multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments by addressing complexities with agility, scalability, and efficiency. Through Polarin, Lightstorm also offers a first-of-its-kind optical layer NaaS solution, enabling businesses to provision high-bandwidth, low-latency connections across data centers (DCs), clouds, CDNs, and IXPs within minutes.
This drastically reduces the provisioning time traditionally required, making it easier for enterprises to connect in Layer 1, 2, and 3 between their various cloud resources. With Polarin, businesses gain comprehensive network visibility via a Single-Pane-of-Glass, allowing them to monitor and manage network performance efficiently. This reduces costs and ensures scalability, aligning network usage with precise business needs. Polarin’s agility, combined with the robust security of a private network, ensures that enterprises can seamlessly integrate networking with their cloud environments, enhancing operational efficiency.
TimesTech: How is Lightstorm optimizing network connectivity for AI and edge computing, and what role does NaaS play in this?
Lalit: Lightstorm is optimizing network connectivity for AI and edge computing by enhancing infrastructure to meet the dynamic demands of AI workloads and edge networks. AI requires high-performance, low-latency, and scalable networking, which Lightstorm supports by leveraging its robust fiber network and introducing solutions like Polarin Network Edge (PNE). PNE brings together compute, internet, and private network resources at the network edge, allowing businesses to process data closer to its source, improving performance.
Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) plays a crucial role by enabling businesses to flexibly scale network resources and access a range of virtual network functions, streamlining the management of core infrastructure. This setup ensures seamless connectivity across data centers, disaster recovery sites, and multiple cloud platforms.
In the context of AI and edge computing, NaaS supports scalability and adaptability, providing elastic connectivity that AI applications require to manage large datasets and intense processing tasks. By minimizing latency and maximizing performance, Lightstorm’s infrastructure is well-suited for the emerging demands of AI and edge computing ecosystems, ensuring faster, more efficient data processing closer to the source.
TimesTech: Multi-cloud strategies introduce significant network complexity. How is Lightstorm helping enterprises manage this, and what are the key benefits of solutions like Polarin?
Lalit: Multi-cloud strategies indeed bring complexity, especially with network management and performance. Lightstorm simplifies this with Polarin’s Cloud connectivity offering
Polarin, a Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) platform, eliminates traditional network bottlenecks through features like zero-touch provisioning and real-time network visibility. By using Polarin’s Virtual Router capabilities, enterprises can instantly stitch together connectivity between multiple Public Clouds and data centers in a matter of minutes. This solution offers enterprises with the ease of operating their network as one single interconnected fabric with multiple endpoints, instead of the legacy approach of connecting each of these links manually.
TimesTech: How is Lightstorm’s DCI platform helping enterprises achieve faster data center connectivity, and can you share a few case studies?
Lalit: Lightstorm’s Polarin DCI and Polarin DCI Wave solutions are revolutionizing cloud and data center connectivity for enterprises by enabling faster, more efficient connections. The platform automates optical and packet network connectivity across 60+ data centers in India, using robotic automation and software orchestration for seamless provisioning. This eliminates manual setup and significantly reduces provisioning time, allowing businesses to connect to the cloud within minutes. Additionally, Polarin’s NaaS platform supports multi-cloud and hybrid environments, providing flexible connectivity with major cloud providers like Azure, AWS, Oracle, and Google Cloud. Enterprises can also manage and monitor their data flows through a centralized portal, enhancing operational efficiency.
Case Study: Banking and Financial Services
A leading financial services provider in India, faced challenges in managing network delivery time, resilience, and connectivity for its large-scale operations. Seeking a robust solution, the financial institution picked Polarin to meet their DC-DC and DC-Cloud connectivity needs. Polarin’s NaaS platform provided quick turnaround time, low latency, 100% uptime in metro cities, and transparent pricing, making it the ideal choice for enterprise. Polarin’s solution was deployed in January 2023, addressing critical network requirements and enhancing their ability to scale as needed. More details of this BFSI case study can be found here.
TimesTech: What challenges and opportunities do you see for NaaS in Asia, and how is Lightstorm preparing to meet future trends in network infrastructure?
Lalit: In Asia, the Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. The rapid evolution of technologies like AI, ML, 5G, IoT, and edge computing are demanding more network resources which need innovation at scale to keep pace with the changing market dynamics.
However, these challenges also create significant opportunities. The growing demand for flexible, scalable, and efficient network solutions is driving enterprises to adopt NaaS. As organizations increasingly embrace digital transformation, the need for robust connectivity and cloud integration becomes paramount. Lightstorm is strategically positioned to address these needs through our Polarin solutions, which integrate edge computing and network resources, enhancing performance and reducing latency.
Lightstorm is actively investing in its fiber infrastructure, with over 50,000 km of terrestrial and subsea fiber in India, Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region.
To meet future trends in network infrastructure, we are focusing on enhancing our offerings, such as the Polarin DCI Wave, which allows enterprises to self-provision optical layer connectivity in minutes. Our partnerships with industry leaders also enable us to stay at the forefront of innovation. By continuously upgrading our technology and infrastructure, we aim to support the increasing complexities of AI, edge computing, and other emerging technologies with connectivity that Asia and the Asia Pacific region needs.
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