Procera enables cloud service providers to manage data plan usage effectively using market-proven intelligent policy enforcement solutions.

Cloud-based Service Plan Usage Management

As cloud service subscribers increasingly use bandwidth-hungry applications, many routinely max out their usage allowance. Completely blocking network access is not conducive to maintaining happy subscribers, nor is charging overage fees without proper notification. Instead, cloud service providers need a way to control and manage bandwidth, while providing “maxed out” subscribers with flexible service levels based on their choices.

How can cloud service providers manage network usage without impacting subscriber satisfaction? They need solutions that enable them to:

• Manage bandwidth for individual cloud hosting customers based on their service plan and usage, in real time
• Deliver innovative service plans that give hosting customers greater control in managing their applications and usage
• Provide customers that have exceeded their volume with proactive advice of charge and multiple service options for over-subscription data—rate limited, fee-based, or only allowing certain applications to operate.

The Procera Solution

Procera enables cloud service providers to implement intelligent subscriber bandwidth management with real-time Intelligent Policy Enforcement (IPE) solutions that provide three key use cases:

• Awareness of each customer’s usage against their hosted service plan. Our IPE solution provides real-time awareness of subscribers, service plan, bandwidth usage, application type, peering partner, and more, each with unique volume tracking and allowances that can be separately managed and tracked.
• Control of the applications that are allowed to run over the cloud infrastructure. In order to limit exposure to DDOS attacks and unnecessary bandwidth consumption, customers can limit what applications are allowed to run on their hosted service, and limit the connections and bandwidth for each application individually. The system also supports triggers for alerts when bandwidth or connection totals exceed preconfigured limits.
• Volume-based services, managing available bandwidth in real time based on each customer’s usage. Unlike competing solutions, Procera introduces the concept of a “sliding window” over a specified duration, managing bandwidth according to a customer’s usage patterns over the specific duration. This helps eliminate network traffic peaks, while optimizing bandwidth availability for subscribers.
• Captive portals that advise customers that they have reached their limit and offer the option to accept reduced bandwidth or instantly upgrade their service and bandwidth—enhancing customer satisfaction while increasing incremental revenue. Our IPE solution integrates seamlessly with network event servers, enabling customers to top up in real time, minimizing disruption and promoting subscriber retention.

Learn more about our PacketLogic Intelligent Policy Enforcement (IPE) solutions.