OUTSOURCING: Red Hot Now

A couple of years ago, networking speeches would often see the audience paying little attention. The attitude was very lackadaisical. Not any more of those “who cares” attitude today. Networking is central to business.

Networking: A Major Outsourcing ActivityConsumer 

Takes Control



Today, businesses are revolving around the Internet and customer is calling the shots setting his own rules. It is increasingly a buyer’s market today. Networking has been instrumental in this power shift. And corporates, in order to respond to this need, have to change the existing business models to increasingly put the technology platform in this networking-centric world. Productivity and profitability for major corporations around the world are network-centric. And networking platform is being seen as interactive. The connectivity is two-way communication with the customer now–to broadcast to and receive feedback from the customer. The networking-centric business models are just around the corner.

Networking, Not a Cost Controller



A couple of years back, networking deals were merely an exercise in cost-cutting. However, the trend seems to be changing. It is topline revenue-driven and an advanced networking platform is being seen as an investment for increasing revenues. This is a sea change in belief. Especially in the service industries today networking is given emphasis as part of the business models in order to position connectivity as a fundamental element. And corporates have either realized or increasingly realizing that improved connectivity with suppliers and across business units would be the order of the day. This demand for flexibility and information exchange is driving the market towards networking. 

Prescription for 24/7/365 Uptime 



Today, when a system goes down, an organization is no longer competing on level ground and can lose customers and revenues too. People, internal and external, these days want their computer systems always up. It is mandatory to have systems working non-stop. 

The reason for the downtime plague is that technology is changing very fast and networks are becoming more powerful. Companies must realize that neither the operating systems nor the databases themselves cause the problem that results in downtime. It is the end user’s interaction with them that can cause a system

failure. The existing network platforms need significant upgrades and companies do not have enough skills internally to run the legacy platform and, at the same time, create new networking-centric platforms. That is why outsourcing networks and

networking management is very important. Networking must be seen as end-to-end and not part-to-part and companies need to focus on their core competencies, trying to outsource the functions that do not form their core activities. 

Furthermore, in today’s environment, it is not acceptable to manage infrastructure in a reactive manner. Proactive management can avoid catastrophic failures by fixing problems when still small. It is like going to a doctor, who knows your case, who has been conducting frequent check-ups, and keeping you healthy. The focus is to keep connected the

customers 24/7/365 with hassle-free experience–i.e., allowing the communication in such a way that it is a seamless offer to the client.  Why Outsource Networking?



Take a look at this situation. The Cyber Media branch office has about 50 people in Bangalore. And most of you know its business–information dissemination. What is the key to success? Providing quality information. This any body knows can be done equipped with people–the knowledge workers. And what they need is resources for seeking information seek and transmitting it. Networks play an important role in this process–rather lack of a sturdy and robust network is a handicap. Having 50 nodes as standalone is no use. These nodes shared and connected to other locations and the head-office, where the entire
critical functions are done, is of utmost importance. This is to score on not only meeting the deadlines exercise, but also investing time on other activities. 

The strength and power of the networks are something that no one is denying. But what if the network is not up 24/7. Though we may not require this feature at this point of time, imagine the network being down for two hours every day in a typical 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. schedule. How do you handle this downtime? To have an own network engineer/expert all the time is one option. But the issue is–is it necessary to have a full-time engineer? What if the network is performing well, and the engineer has no other work after a period of time? Does he not get bored and is there a way out to give this engineer food to quench his research

attitude (the basic urge in a technology guy)? 

The other issue could be the management, if all things go well, may not have the justification for having an

engineer (the simple rule being that God is better remembered only in crisis). The other issue could be having an engineer or your own networking team. Bit would it justify the investment protection? Last but not the least it is not easy to get an engineer in a user organization. In India, at least, the engineer would love to work with a hardcore technology company rather than a user organization of these technologies. 

The other option is to take the services of an expert organization for these functions and do things that you have been doing, more appropriately and innovatively.

Ours is a 50-node network and a branch office, we are not into many

difficult processes to grapple with and decision as to going for outsourcing or having an in-house Communication 



Information System (CIS) group is easy. Imagine what would be the situation in organizations that are in manufacturing, services, banking, and other sectors. The magnitude of the problem extrapolates infinitely that of ours. Research has shown that corporates are investing heavily in IT infrastructure. This includes two levels–the network and the
systems/applications/databases. So what do they do? Have in-house or outsource? Being networked means the cost of deployment is not only expensive, but also it takes time. It is to be remembered is that the cost of downtime is much more important and expensive and seeing the network up and running is today’s Return on Investment (RoI). And strangely, because of this lot more time is spent by the corporates on networks than on businesses. So the issue is what to outsource and what to retain and what are the factors that need to be considered in deciding a solution. 

Better Network Control, Performance



The objective of the companies in going for outsourcing should be getting more control over the networks along with improved performance and higher reliability. They could achieve that by going for new Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and performance reporting capabilities.  Service Level Agreements 



While many of the networking experts are already offering comprehensive, published, SLAs in the managed network industry, more and more would begin offering soon. Furthermore, today one may face up with the issue of if there are enough number of companies specializing in this kind of services. This continues to be an issue, but there are companies that can offer true end-to-end implementation, performance, and operational SLAs, which encompass transport, equipment, and integration activities on customer sites. What has to be worked out is that in the unlikely event that customer network performance falls below agreed upon deliverables, these operators will apply credits for applicable service charges for the affected sites. The companies going for such services need to set individualized performance metrics, based on specific customer network designs (dependent on hardware, dial-backup, configuration, and transport service designs). 

Performance & Analysis Reports



Having standard performance reports to know the utilization and network health updates is another way to have check on the performance. The network consultants, besides providing the training, can observe the
network environments and requirements, perform a technology assessment, identify issues, outline a

strategy and make recommendations to improve network performance. 

Harnessing Network Performance 



If one is looking to put the business on the road to improved network performance, then look for powerful solutions to meet unique business needs. Some of the objectives that need to be kept in mind for doing this include:

• Are you looking for assistance to manage communications complexity? 
• Are you required to save your
  
  company money? 
• Does your company need to generate more revenue? 
• Do you want to ensure your company is operating its network most effectively? 
• Is security a concern for your
  
  business? 

Today, the pressure is on doing more with less and the expectations are also very high. There are new choices and technologies that help you to buy, sell, and offer service and choosing the right tools to help better manage communications. Also the multi-protocol, multi-network environment compounds the problem further. So going for more integrated and more manageable networks that would help in better business productivity and profitability becomes an issue and finding ways to satiate this becomes a key area. Using networks in the most cost-efficient manner possible will be important to save money. Companies can analyze reports regularly to track the

network usage and, based on the usage, can consider adding more dedicated

access facilities to some of the company’s locations to decrease other costs. All this and more are necessary in enhancing the overall business performance.