Outsourcing Your Infrastructure

You, as an ISP, would be concentrating more on marketing andlaunching an array of innovative services that give your company the competitiveedge over your competitors. The technicalities of building and maintaining thenetwork, is not your competency. Hence, it is important for you to outsource itto experts.

The networking equipment and services industry is rapidlyexpanding in India. One can find almost all the big names in the threecategories of the industry. Cisco, networking equipment industry’s crownedking, is also the largest networking vendor in the country. Nortel Networks,Lucent Technologies, 3Com, and Entarasys are its befitting competitors in their
specific fortes. To make things even more interesting, new challengers likeJuniper and Foundry Networks are adding India in their sales map.

Among the integrators, global players like IBM, Compaq, andDatacraft pitch their talent and experience against Indian-bred companies likeWipro and Tata Infotech. Also, one can find technology consultants likeCambridge Technologies and Telecompetence in the fray for picking up theconsultancy pie. So, how does an ISP make his choices? Here are some tips.

Single Point of Source

It is better if you make a company provide you an end-to-endsolution, as you have neither the interest nor the time to run around differentcompanies for different networking products or services. By having one companygiving you all products and services through a single point of source, itbecomes easier to pinpoint responsibility.

Non-Proprietary Vendors

It is important that you choose those vendors who havedesigned their products according to industry standards. This is important foryour network’s future. It is also necessary for allowing better choice tosubscribers. Even if the proprietary product is the best in the field, it isbest that you go in for an open platform that allows a much larger array ofaccess devices to talk to the service provider equipment. Especially ISPs goingin for new technologies like Internet-over-Cable, VoIP, and satellite/VSATaccess might need to double crosscheck the equipment for standards adherencebefore buying. If you have to buy a proprietary technology-based product becausethere is no option, make sure that the vendor will provide you a path forupgradation.

Independent Network Integrators

Certain camps of networking have emerged in India. Manynetwork integrators have tied up with networking principals like Cisco andLucent to market a particular brand. In this kind of a relationship, theintegrator becomes obliged to push the vendor’s product in each of itsnetworking projects. While this may be logical for the network integrator whocan specialize in a certain product category, it does not necessarily spell wellfor the long-term prospects of an ISP’s network. The ISP should not face asituation where it would require dramatic changes in the infrastructure becausethe existing products will not talk to new products that support such services.So, insist that the network integrators should provide a cross-vendor design foryour network if it is the best one. It would be even safer to consult atechnical consultant on the choice of products.

Long-term Relationships

It is better that you have partnerships with vendors and integrators ratherthan just having them sell you the equipment and service jus once. Relationshipsgive you a better chance of receiving support from the networking companies. Inshort, ensure that there is always a helping hand nearby in case of problems inthe network. An ISP business is a round-the-clock business and support of thenetwork should be the most crucial part of negotiation with the vendors andintegrators.