The new era of networked applications and interconnected business processes yields heightened efficiency and productivity for enterprises. However, these benefits can be realized only with properly managed, scalable networks. Outsourcing network management tasks to a third party allows companies to save time and drive substantially lower total cost of ownership.
moc.cdi.wIDC EXECUTIVE BRIEF ww 510Network Management Services: 4.539A Cost-Effective Approach to .805.Complexity F 002October 2009 8.278.Adapted from 2008 WAN Manager Survey: Topline Results for Managed Network Services 805by Melanie Posey, IDC #217315 .P ASU Managing Complexity in the Extended Enterprise 10710Enterprises across all industries operate in complex and rapidly Achanging business environments and must constantly plan, M ,implement, and execute strategies to grow revenue, improve mahoperational efficiencies, and reduce costs. To achieve these gniobjectives, enterprises are increasingly centralizing, automating, marWeb-/IP-enabling, and internetworking mission-critical processes F tand applications in order to streamline and integrate various eertoperational aspects of the business. At the same time, enterprise S necosystems are increasingly distributed, with geographically eepdispersed supply chains of customers, partners, and vendors, as well S 5as decentralized, mobile workforces - all of which depend on the :srnetwork to conduct business operations. etrauqFurthermore, technology and business requirements are constantly daechanging, resulting in added pressure on the network and those H lresponsible for network management. Ongoing challenges include abothe impact of datacenter consolidation on network capacity and lGquality of service, handling the growth of network-dependent business applications, managing IP voice and video traffic to the WAN, accommodating shifting volumes of end users and remote sites, ensuring regulatory compliance, and providing comprehensive network security.
Given this environment, the responsibilities of network managers have increased exponentially, as have the expectations of those who rely on the network for business-critical communications and application delivery. Inside the networked enterprise, data streams are not just bits and bytes; they are purchase orders, invoices, design specifications, online transactions, and customer service interactions that must flow across the network reliably, securely, and in real time. Network issues that impede access to these applications can translate into diminished employee productivity, disputed production schedules, lost sales, and customer/line-of-business user dissatisfaction.
IDC_841 CM091055 11/09Large companies with the resources to support in-house staff, expertise, and centralized network management systems may be able to undertake comprehensive network management without too much difficulty. For smaller companies, this is typically not even an option. However, regardless of company size, businesses must balance the increasing cost and effort involved in managing the network with other business functions that also require time, resources, personnel, and management attention.
Network Management Services: A Range of Possibilities The new era of networked applications and interconnected business processes yields heightened efficiency and productivity for enterprises. However, these benefits can be realized only with properly managed, scalable networks. The challenges involved in supporting mission-critical enterprise networks are prompting enterprises to look at alternative delivery models that can help achieve consistent, reliable network performance in a cost-effective, process-driven manner.
For example, the third-party service provider or outsourced approach to network management allows companies to offload responsibility for some of the tasks associated with keeping the network up and running. Specialists with scale, scope, technical expertise, and operational processes can drive substantially lower total cost of ownership and provide enterprises with consistent network performance and management discipline. Figure 1 presents IDC survey research on U.S. companies' top reasons for adopting the managed network services model.
