Challenges
Despite the growing hype and popularity of NMS, the industry faces a number of challenges in managing networks, and one of the key challenges is change execution.

Enterprises today are required by law to observe industry regulations and adhere to corporate policies that control access to customer and corporate financial data. These enterprise networks must adapt to market changes quickly while simultaneously remaining in compliance, in control, and in the position to be audited.

Another biggest challenge is security. Network admission control (NAC) is one of the strongest requests our customers are demanding. Even though a genuine user can be identified by an authentication system like our access control server (ACS), the access device (eg PC) could be infected if it hasn't been installed with the latest security patch or anti-virus software.

Cost reduction and risk management are the traditional challenges that a service provider faces while managing the networks. Along with this 'infrastructure' is always a very important aspect that needs to be kept in mind. Complex network technology to keep up with business requirement has made it mandatory to make sure that infrastructure is always on. Also one of the key challenges is to monitor the network for performance when networks are becoming more complex.

Some of the best practices that network managers have adopted is using 'Automation' whenever applicable, have a one-point graphical view of the network which is being managed, and use good network management tools to predict potential issues which may arise-network imbalance and data influx.

 Outsourcing the network management has also resulted in the service provider owning or sharing the control of network, which has resulted in losing the technical know-how of network management in the long run.

Outsourcing NMS
Costs of maintaining and managing internal support departments is growing and there is an increasing openness to the idea of outsourcing the support function' NMS with respect to the outsourcing business in network management is a growing industry and India is certainly taking the lead in the offer. 

Outsourcing network management and control systems requirements has enabled enterprises to grow and focus on core businesses. Most organizations today go for the managed services partner that can provide customized services with state-of-the-art tools for managing network.

Outsourcing NM to another company has its pros and cons. For smaller companies lacking the IT resources and expertise it is certainly an attractive offer. New companies can enjoy the benefits of very high-end technologies almost immediately without the need to build a large IT department. The biggest benefit is that the organization can expand since it can focus on its core business. Organizations are able to grow their revenues since network management is a key element for growth. With reduced bandwidth prices and easy availability of bandwidth, organizations are also enjoying the benefits of reduced transaction costs.

But for companies where network continuity is critical then there may be a trade-off.  An enterprise may find short-term cost saving in outsourcing their IT and NM to other companies but there is certain risk in doing so. It is always hard to ensure network continuity and quality in an outsourced network.  When network continuity is critical outsourcing might not be the right option. It is also expensive when you have to change network requirements frequently. 

Points to Remember
Like all business decisions, outsourcing the network is a trade-off. Enterprise should map the pros and cons with their companies' nature of business, business development roadmap, customer's expectations and their own culture.  Don't just look at the short-term savings.

The network is perhaps the most important productivity tool in an organization and it handles almost 100% of any organization's business communications. Loss of network connectivity means loss of business opportunities.  Network availability is very critical to enterprise in any discipline.  Speed of recovery is very important and business decision makers should keep that in mind. Security is another issue. Unlike physical security issues; network security issues are somewhat more difficult to track and the consequences can be very tragic.

The decision of managing networks internally or outsourcing is not really the issue; very few organizations can afford to maintain human, material and knowledge resources to manage their networks with the same expertise and quality levels of organizations that specialize in managing networks. The issue is usually whether to let the management be done remotely, or keep it onsite, or a mixture of both. Some organizations are still not comfortable with letting third parties take control over their networks remotely; we address their issues with an onsite formula, which may be not as cost effective as remote management but equally sturdy at the service level. Other organizations are happy to have non-critical parts of their networks remotely managed, while opting for an onsite model for ensuring optimum performance of critical applications.

Future view
Network management is critical to any organization, what needs to be kept in mind is that network managers implement (or outsource) management technologies that help them automate mission critical functions. A sound network management system or service provider enables and organization to invest time in innovative job function and growth.

Sonia Sharma
sonias@cybermedia.co.in