Enterprise networks are becoming harder to operate just as the business needs them to move faster. As organizations expand their footprint across sites, cloud environments, edge locations and AI-driven workloads, the traditional model of managing WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi, security and operations as separate layers is becoming harder to sustain.
Each additional vendor, tool and contract can add complexity, slow deployment and make it harder for IT teams to deliver consistent experiences across the business. That’s why more organizations are looking for a simpler path forward: a unified network platform to bring connectivity, local networking and day-to-day operations into a more cohesive service experience.
Lumen is making that path easy to access with the launch of Meter powered by Lumen, which gives enterprises a simpler way to buy and operate end-to-end networking. Meter powered by Lumen combines AI-ready WAN from Lumen with Meter’s managed LAN and Wi-Fi platform, now available through Microsoft Marketplace. This path can help eligible Azure customers streamline procurement and use existing Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC) funds toward the solution.
"For too long, enterprises have had to piece together connectivity, LAN, Wi-Fi and operations across vendors and tools. It's an overly complex, outdated model that can hold businesses back when what they really need is more speed and flexibility. With Meter powered by Lumen in Microsoft Marketplace, we’re helping customers simplify the network experience from purchase to deployment to day-to-day management,” explains Lumen VP of Accelerated Growth and Value Jeff Cornwell.
How Lumen and Meter simplify network infrastructure
Unified networking is gaining momentum because it addresses more than day-to-day operations. It is designed to make the full network lifecycle—from evaluation and procurement to rollout and management—less complex.
Meter powered by Lumen brings Lumen enterprise connectivity together with Meter’s managed LAN and Wi-Fi capabilities, giving customers an integrated way to deploy and manage networks across locations. The Marketplace launch builds on the strategic partnership between Lumen and Meter, which was forged to help enterprises reduce the complexity of LAN and Wi-Fi together. Validated, ready-to-deploy architecture helps customers connect enterprise WAN, LAN and Wi-Fi in a scalable operating model.
From layered architectures to platform-led networking
Layered network architectures were designed to solve individual problems across the WAN, LAN, Wi-Fi and security stack. But as enterprise environments become more distributed, that separation can create more complexity than clarity—especially when teams need to manage each layer through different vendors, tools and support models.
When the network operates more like a unified service, it enables IT teams to gain clearer accountability, more consistent experiences across locations and a more scalable way to support growth without adding unnecessary operational burden.
The Lumen Network supports a platform-led model at enterprise scale, with 14 million intercity fiber miles, 2,200 connected data centers and up to 400 Gbps maximum throughput across its network. Recent AI-related connectivity wins with major technology companies further reinforce Lumen as one of the leaders in high-capacity infrastructure for cloud and AI workloads.
How digital marketplaces simplify buying
Service-based network models are changing not only how enterprise networks are operated, but also how they are evaluated and purchased.
In the legacy model, networking decisions often require teams to coordinate multiple vendors, contracts, procurement processes and implementation handoffs before the network can function as a cohesive service. That complexity can slow modernization efforts before deployment even begins.
A more transactable platform model helps reduce that friction by making it easier for customers to evaluate solutions through familiar digital procurement channels. For Meter powered by Lumen, availability in Microsoft Marketplace supports that shift by giving enterprises an easy way to access a unified networking solution through a purchasing path many cloud buyers already use. That path may be especially valuable for Azure customers that already use Microsoft Marketplace to manage cloud purchases, streamline approvals and maximize the value of existing cloud commitments.
Supporting distributed sites and AI workloads
Geographically dispersed teams need operating models that can adapt as users, applications, devices and traffic patterns change across branches, campuses and edge locations. Unified platforms are designed to reduce fragmentation across those environments, giving IT teams clearer visibility and a more consistent way to respond as business needs evolve. That flexibility becomes increasingly important as organizations adopt cloud services and prepare for more data-intensive workloads.
Meter’s enterprise networking model brings hardware, software, operations and support together across firewalls, switches, access points and management tools, reinforcing the value of a more integrated LAN and Wi-Fi experience.
Operational advantages of a unified service model
The value of a unified service model shows up in daily operations: deployment speed, clearer visibility and a repeatable way to scale.
- Fast network deployments designed for less complexity: For IT teams, faster site launches start with fewer handoffs. A cohesive service model can reduce manual configuration, vendor coordination and troubleshooting across separate network layers—helping to accelerate rollouts and lower operational drag.
- Clear visibility across network operations: When teams rely on separate tools, views and workflows, it can be harder to understand what is happening across the network. A shared operating view helps teams identify issues faster, act with more confidence to reduce the day-to-day noise that slows higher-value work.
- Easy scaling as demand evolves: As businesses grow, every new site can add another layer of vendor coordination, configuration work and redesign. A platform-led model gives enterprises a repeatable way to support additional sites, users and traffic as needs evolve.
What unified networking helps businesses achieve
When networking moves from siloed tools and providers to a unified, service-based model, IT teams are able to spend less time managing complexity and more time supporting business growth.
Forrester Research writes that over the last decade or so, “wired management tools were difficult to use and lacked deep wireless capabilities. On‑premises wired and wireless management often added up to very little. In reality, fewer than 10% of networking teams bought network management tools from the same vendor they used for switching.”1 Today, the market has shifted toward unifying data across LAN, WLAN and WAN into a single fabric to achieve autonomous operations and operational value.
Meter powered by Lumen supports these gains by making connectivity easy to buy, easy to operate and predictable to budget, helping enterprises to:
Expand into new markets with less friction
For enterprises entering new markets or adding locations, growth can slow when every site requires a different mix of providers, tools and operating processes. A unified service model is designed to give teams a consistent way to support expansion, built to reduce the infrastructure friction that can delay business momentum.
Adapt fast across distributed operations
Distributed operations need more than point solutions. They need a network model that can keep pace as users, locations, applications and traffic patterns change. By bringing the network experience into one service-based model, organizations can respond more quickly to evolving business needs.
Support cloud and AI initiatives with confidence
Cloud adoption and AI initiatives depend on a network foundation that is consistent, resilient and easy to manage across locations. Meter powered by Lumen helps organizations create that foundation by connecting enterprise connectivity with managed LAN and Wi-Fi capabilities that can support dynamic, data-intensive environments.
Reduce complexity, cost and IT burden
The business value also shows up in how teams spend their time and budget. With fewer vendors, tools and customer-managed integrations to coordinate, IT teams can focus more capacity on strategic priorities. The model can also support more flexible budgeting by replacing upfront infrastructure costs with a flat, predictable OpEx model, while preserving the option for capital leasing when that better fits a customer’s financial strategy.
Explore Meter powered by Lumen in Microsoft Marketplace
As business operations expand to more locations and applications, networks need to be easier to deploy, manage and scale. Lumen and Meter help customers move from disconnected network layers to a service-based approach that brings enterprise connectivity, LAN and Wi-Fi together.
With Meter powered by Lumen, that model is easy to access. Customers can discover, evaluate and purchase the solution through a familiar digital procurement path, while Azure customers may be able to align eligible purchases with existing cloud procurement strategies and pre-committed funds.
If your goal is to modernize networking without adding more operational complexity, the Marketplace launch creates a streamlined path from exploration to purchase to deployment.
Start building a network foundation that’s easy to operate today—and ready to support what comes next. Learn more about the benefits of Meter powered by Lumen.
¹Forrester Research, Networking vendors are finally starting to build platforms—not just dashboards, May 2026.
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