Traditionally, of all managed services options, IT was likely to first consider managed network solutions (MNS). It was a natural evolution, partnering with other outside experts who could manage the day-to-day operations of the corporate network while IT in turn could reduce costs and focus resources toward initiatives driving business value for the organization. Then, as network security threats became a growing issue, more enterprises began adopting managed security services. Yet security has been inherent within managed networks all along, beginning even in the network design phase. More...

We are familiar with the traditional drivers of managed services, the quest for ways to lower costs and outsource routine network management so IT can divert resources to strategic initiatives. Yet companies are considering the talent within the managed services provider (MSP) partnership to be one of the determining gauges as to whether a managed services relationship is fruitful.  

Consider these elements: More...

In the old days, IT professionals were reluctant to outsource or seek a partner to help manage company networks. One of the main reasons was the perception of losing control. Today, managed services are much more pervasive across companies of all sizes and that has a lot to do with transparency and trust.

Interestingly, an online customer portal can help ease the concerns of the biggest companies. IT professionals need to know their networks are secure and in good hands. They need to know when threats arise and when they are abated. They need to know how their networks are performing and how they can be optimized. Essentially, IT needs to know they are benefitting from the expertise and assets of its managed service provider. More...

The best recommendation for any technology is the success of the company using it. We all learn more from seeing how someone else is putting a technology or a solution to work – and seeing real benefits – than we do from all the marketing materials a vendor can throw at us

With that in mind, we recommend you browse on over to this particular case study in the use of Managed Network Services. It's about Excelitas Technologies and how that company's search for a reliable network provider brought it to Sprint.

In a nutshell, Robert Ersoni, Excelitas' IT Director, wasn't just looking for a high-performing network. He wanted visibility into that network and he wanted to offload the routine duties from his staff, freeing them to focus on more strategic objectives. More...

As networks and new technology transform how business is done, the reach of what can be managed (infrastructure, applications, CPE, mobile devices, etc.) has grown, as well as what management really means (outsourcing, hosting, cloud, as-a-service, etc.). Depending on the source, anywhere between 60 and 90 percent of businesses already have a managed solution, with plans to integrate more. And the market continues to expand with a compound annual growth rate of almost 18 percent over the next four years. Why are managed solutions so popular? More...

In case you missed them the first time around, a pair of Stratecast-Frost & Sullivan white papers focused on convergence are resurfacing for a second life.

The papers – Technology Convergence and Information Velocity: the Engines for Business Agility and Workforce Productivity and Simplification through Convergence: Reducing Cost and Complexities – were both sponsored by Sprint, which gave us the opportunity to highlight them before they were made available to the general public. More...

In case you missed them the first time around, a pair of Stratecast-Frost & Sullivan white papers focused on convergence are resurfacing for a second life.

The papers – Technology Convergence and Information Velocity: the Engines for Business Agility and Workforce Productivity and Simplification through Convergence: Reducing Cost and Complexities – were both sponsored by Sprint, which gave us the opportunity to highlight them before they were made available to the general public. More...

Many things contribute to a successful Unified Communications deployment. Engaging end users and business leaders up front in the planning process is important. So is following through with these same people post-deployment, to ensure users know how to use and maximize the solution. Considering the dynamics between legacy and new equipment is yet another element. 

When it comes to UC, however, it is easy to forget that it is the network that makes it all possible. More...

Over the past several decades of working with IT departments, there has always been a percentage that insist, “we don’t do managed services.” I never quite understood what exactly customers meant by that, because I can’t think of a single company that runs its own coal generators for electricity, builds a new building without hiring an architect, takes their company public without hiring an underwriter, or builds their own 10,000-plus nationwide tower network rather than use a wireless carrier. All companies use managed services of some form; it’s only a question of when and where. More...

It’s impossible not to notice the changing role of enterprise IT. While there continues to be a need for network management and expertise, IT is being called both to do more and to do things differently. How we live and work has fundamentally changed; for IT, these changes amount to a 180-degree turn in how they support and lead their organizations.

First, there is no perimeter to protect anymore. It wasn’t long ago that security was all about protecting the perimeter, limiting Internet access, and restricting mobile devices to an exclusive few. The thinking was that if IT could just guard the network perimeter and limit access, the company and its intellectual assets would be safe. More...