Control online operations

An extranet is a controlled network path for external parties you do not own, such as suppliers, B2B customers, contractors and acquired businesses. With Alkira, each external party lands in its own isolated segment with access limited to explicitly shared applications. Partners cannot scan your network, access users, move laterally or connect to other partners.

Extranet is a strong fit for enterprises that manage a growing network of external partners, suppliers, B2B customers or acquired businesses. You may benefit from an extranet solution if you frequently onboard and offboard partners, are preparing for an acquisition or divestiture, need to isolate third parties, are struggling with overlapping IP address ranges, or manage dozens of one-off VPN connections without centralized visibility and control. It is typically led by network and security architecture teams and M&A integration leaders.

A partner connects to an Alkira Cloud Exchange Point over their existing broadband using an IPsec connector, landing in their own isolated partner segment. Applications reside in a separate production segment, with cloud workloads connected through cloud connectors and data center routes delivered through Lumen connectivity. No access is granted by default. Applications are exposed only through explicit, least-privilege policies. No hardware needs to be shipped, installed or managed at the partner site.

A VPN connects two endpoints and SD-WAN connects sites, but they do not inherently govern what external parties can access once connected. An extranet adds centralized control through per-partner segmentation, least-privilege access policies and lifecycle management, making onboarding and offboarding more consistent and repeatable. When compared to software-only vendors, the difference is this: Lumen owns the fiber and the control plane and stays cloud- and carrier-agnostic.

Several Lumen services work together to deliver an extranet solution. The control plane is Alkira, which provides segmentation, policy, service insertion and visibility. Beneath it, Lumen® NaaS (Network-as-a-Service) delivers the connectivity: Ethernet Fabric Connect and Multi-Cloud Gateway provide private paths to data centers and cloud resources, Lumen® Internet On-Demand delivers programmable dedicated internet access, and Cloud Interconnect enables private cloud circuits. Partners typically do not require Lumen service at all and can connect over their existing broadband.

Overlapping IP address ranges is one of the most common challenges during mergers and acquisitions. This solution accommodates overlapping address space rather than requiring it to be remediated first. Each segment maintains its own routing table, and network address translation resolves conflicts when routes are selectively shared between environments. As a result, organizations can connect and isolate acquired entities in days and operate both environments in parallel without waiting for a re-addressing project before traffic can flow.