The benefit of outsourcing is simple: the service provider can perform the function better than you can do it yourself and often at less cost. This is especially true of managed network services.
Even though networks have become a commodity, they still need considerable effort by IT staff to manage and maintain them and to stay on top of the latest advances in hardware and software. The time spent by IT staff performing these tasks could better be used for planning or working on projects that add value to the business.
There are two main risks that outsourcing network management will overcome. The first is the risk of a security breach. A managed network services provider will proactively monitor a network for attacks and other issues 24×7 and has expertise in the latest threats and techniques for protecting a network against them. The second risk is lost opportunity: when IT staff spend most of their time managing a network it gives them less time to plan and to solve business challenges.
When you enter a deal for managed networked solutions, the provider manages all aspects of your network. This offers the following benefits:
• Providers offer the latest network technology for an affordable fee. They have access to more resources and their business depends on being up-to-date with the latest in network advances.
• Finding qualified staff to manage the network is no longer an issue.
• Effective and secure data backups. Providers offer tools for backing up data and it is performed regularly based on compliance requirements. Because the provider is off-site this can also be used to form the basis for disaster recovery planning.
• The provider guarantees reliability of the network infrastructure and 24/7 uptime. An organization no loner needs to be concerned that business will be lost because of network outages.
• An organization’s IT team no longer has to manage the network and can work on improving business procedures and develop strategic initiatives.
Managed networked services provider can also be the basis for a strategy to meet an organization’s expansion needs. Because the cost of services is based on a subscription model where the organization only pays for the network resources it uses, when the time comes to expand they simply request that more resources be added to their network. The scalable nature of the service offering also provides protection at times of business downturns which would be difficult to do with an in-house IT department.
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