One network, one chain

One network, one chain:
why Wifinity and NL-ix joined forces

NL-ix and Wifinity recently joined forces, with Wifinity becoming a reseller of NL-ix Sovereign Internet. It is a partnership that brings together two parts of the network that have traditionally been treated separately: the enterprise network and the Internet behind it.

So what makes that combination interesting? And what does it mean for organisations that increasingly depend on the Internet for everything from cloud applications to communication with customers and partners?

We spoke to Peter Kort, CTO at Wifinity, about why the company decided to add Sovereign Internet to its proposition, how its customers' needs are changing, and why Wifinity believes the network should no longer stop at the Internet connection.

When Wi-Fi becomes the network

For most people, Wi-Fi is simply there. You arrive at the office, connect your laptop and get to work. If it works, nobody thinks about it. If it doesn't, someone gets a call.

That is where Wifinity started.

The company helps organisations design, build and manage reliable wireless and network environments. What began with Wi-Fi gradually expanded into switching and broader network management. Customers increasingly wanted Wifinity to take responsibility for more of the infrastructure behind the wireless network.

And that raises a logical question: where does that responsibility stop?

Until recently, the answer for Wifinity was quite clear. Wifinity managed the customer's network, while the customer arranged the Internet connection with another provider.

From a technical perspective, Wi-Fi and the Internet are two different things. From a user's perspective, increasingly, they are not. If the Internet doesn't work, the Wi-Fi doesn't work. And if the Wi-Fi doesn't work, the Internet doesn't work.

The cloud made the Internet invisible

There is a paradox in the way we think about the Internet. It has become critical to almost everything we do, while at the same time becoming almost invisible.

“We always draw it as a cloud,” Kort says. “And then we are satisfied.” That familiar cloud was useful. It simplified things. You did not have to think about what happened inside it.

But the Internet is not a cloud. It is a global system of thousands of independently operated networks. And as organisations increasingly use the Internet to connect employees, applications, cloud environments, partners and suppliers, what happens inside that cloud becomes more relevant.

The result is that the old distinction between “our network” and “the Internet” becomes harder to maintain. What we have traditionally treated as something outside the network is increasingly part of how the network actually works — yet for many organisations, that part remains largely invisible.

Make the network simpler — and let the Internet do more

“Wi-Fi is actually the motorway towards your cloud services,” Kort says.

That changes the role of connectivity. It is no longer just an access service sitting at the edge of the organisation. It has become part of the infrastructure that everything else depends on.

But security is still often thought of and discussed at the edge of the corporate network. Who is allowed onto the network? Which device can connect? Which firewall rules apply?

“We used to do everything in the local network — security and all kinds of things,” says Kort. “But we need to rethink that traditional way of thinking, and look at the corporate network and the Internet as one chain. And when you can see that as one chain, it also allows you to set up that chain differently.”

Wifinity sees an opportunity to simplify the enterprise network by looking at the entire chain — from the customer’s network to connectivity and the Internet — as one whole, and taking more responsibility for it.

The goal isn't less security. It is less complexity at the front, while making the connectivity behind it more controlled and secure. That is where Wifinity sees an important role for Sovereign Internet from NL-ix.

Bringing the Internet into the network

Sovereign Internet does not mean disconnecting from the Internet. It means making smarter use of the Internet.

The idea is relatively simple: instead of treating the Internet as one big, uncontrollable cloud, organisations can make more deliberate choices about how traffic moves through it. The Sovereign Internet proposition is designed to give organisations more control over how their Internet traffic flows, without replacing the Internet itself.

Where possible, traffic between networks connected to NL-ix stays within the trusted NL-ix backbone. Traffic only leaves that environment when the destination network is outside the connected NL-ix networks. This reduces unnecessary exposure to unknown networks and gives organisations more visibility into where their traffic is going.

For Wifinity, that fits naturally with the direction in which its own services have developed.

NL-ix provides the underlying Internet connectivity and interconnection infrastructure. Wifinity brings the customer relationship and knowledge of the enterprise network.

The technology behind that chain may be complex, but for the customer, that means they don't necessarily have to become experts in the underlying technology themselves.

The total proposition becomes much simpler: one network, one chain, more control — and fewer parties to manage.

The Internet becomes part of the managed network

For Wifinity, becoming a reseller of NL-ix Sovereign Internet is therefore less about adding another product to its portfolio and more about completing a chain that customers increasingly expect it to manage.

Wi-Fi led to switching. Switching led to network management. Network management led to connectivity.

And connectivity is now leading to a different conversation about the Internet itself.

“The customer wants the chain under control,” says Kort. “Traditionally you had the back end of the chain — the telcos and so on — and the front end, the IT suppliers. But actually, it is all coming together.”

That may be the bigger shift taking place: The Internet is no longer just the thing beyond the corporate network. It has become part of the network.

And once it becomes part of the network, it becomes something organisations can no longer afford to treat as a black box.

“For NL-ix, this partnership is about making the Internet a more deliberate part of the enterprise network,” says Frans van Westen of NL-ix. “Wifinity is a natural partner to bring that closer to the customer.”

The question is no longer simply whether the Internet works.

It is where the traffic goes, what it depends on, and how much of that journey you actually control.

For Wifinity and NL-ix, that is where the partnership starts.