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...

Recently, Sprint asked an outside research and consulting firm to take a close look at Compass, Sprint's online portal for IP/MPLS VPN service. The idea was to get a "second opinion," and we now have it.

The outside firm happens to be named Compass Intelligence (no relation to Compass the Portal), and the paper they generated after looking at the portal can be found here. It's worth taking a close look at, but we'll hit a few highlights for you.

First, if you're not familiar with Sprint Compass, it lets you view, understand, and manage your network configuration and performance. We enhanced it in mid-2012 (see the summary we wrote at the time) with a number of self-service features that support both Sprint Managed Solutions customers and network-only customers.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...

There’s change, and then there’s progress. One just means that something is new and different, but the other means that something has gotten better. It’s in that second category that Compass, our online portal for IP/MPLS VPN service, fits in the wake of a number of enhancements that will help you monitor your network. More...

Like a gathering storm, the cloud keeps getting fuller, more robust, and more capable with every passing week.

Back in March, we unveiled Sprint Complete Collaboration, the hosted, Unified-Communications-as-a-Service offering. Earlier this week, we announced a relationship with CSC that enables Sprint to offer CSC's Infrastructure-as-a-Service solutions to mid-sized and enterprise business customers throughout the U.S. More...

Convergence, says Michael Suby of Frost & Sullivan, is about transformation and possibilities. A number of current technology trends leverage the power of convergence and point the way toward further possibilities in the future.

In the fourth in a series of Sprint-sponsored convergence white papers, Suby addresses three of those trends: Device proliferation and personalization, cloud computing, and social networking. More...

How do you know if you're a good fit for a hosted Unified Communications solution? Well, Michael Suby of Frost & Sullivan has half a dozen questions you can ask yourself about your company to find out.

Suby moderated last week's Sprint-sponsored webinar on hosted UC, which also featured Paul Seibert, who heads network operations for Snelling (the staffing people) and Intrepid USA Healthcare, and Craig Safir of Sprint. If you missed it, you can access the archived version. More...