MANAGED SERVICES FOR NETWORKS DECISION MAKING GUIDE. Brought to you by Extreme Networks

Transcription

1 MANAGED SERVICES FOR NETWORKS DECISION MAKING GUIDE Brought to you by Extreme Networks

2 Overview FACT Big data, Internet of Things, BYOD, and cloud-based applications are putting increased device diversity, performance and availability stressors on the network. These technologies will only become more pervasive, requiring greater network monitoring and management expertise and staffing just to keep the network running. FACT Most of your employees expectations of network performance and health will escalate bigger demands requiring fast response times and maximum uptime. How will your IT department address these challenges? FACT 57% of companies believe that the answer to these challenges lies in outsourcing network monitoring, management and support rather than hiring and training new IT staff*. For the network, this means using a provider with specialized, high quality network monitoring and management services with skilled experts to monitor network events and alarms and manage the network performance and health. Most CIOs now want more from their outsourcers than just a quick boost to the bottom line. They want partners that can help them innovate, give them more business flexibility, and deploy scarce IT resources where and when they re needed. The magic of outsourcing is giving us the ability to focus on those areas where we can be truly great, says survey respondent Robert Isherwood, CTO at ad agency 22squared. INFORMATIONWEEK 2012, STATE OF IT OUTSOURCING Outsourcing the monitoring, management and support of your network infrastructure simplifies the complexity of managing today s networks. Providing a lower cost alternative to traditional in-house network management, while saving on staffing and training costs, enables your IT staff to focus on strategic, revenue-generating tasks that differentiate your company. *Source: InformationWeek, 2012 State of IT Outsourcing **Source: InformationWeek, Outsourcing s New Reality: Choice Beats Cost Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 2

3 Costs to Consider There are many web sites and tools that can help you estimate the cost of hiring and training your own IT staff versus outsourcing. Here are some factors to consider: HIRING Salary and benefits for one IT engineer (one example says the fully burdened cost of an engineer is $132K). Recruiting fees, your employees time away from the business while interviewing and discussing candidates (estimated at 80 hours total per hire). Hiring costs start at $30K depending on the number of interviews. Cost of the time (and work not being completed) between identification of the need and the actual hiring and productivity of the new employee. TRAINING Costs of training Average IT networking course costs $3750 per seat and is 3-5 days long. Productivity a newly trained IT staff member will not be fully productive in the business for at least 90 days. Salary paid while new staff member is in training and coming up to speed. The average tenure of an IT engineer ranges from months. What do you do when this person leaves after all of these costs have been incurred? TOOLS Software licenses and equipment to enable networking monitoring and management start at around $30K and can escalate quickly. Support can start at around $10K, depending on the number of devices, and many support costs recur annually. Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 3

4 Why Outsource Network Management?* Strategic use of in-house talent on revenue-generating initiatives Ability to deliver on projects outside of in-house expertise IT staff augmentation (7x24) and rapid scalability Access to industry-specific expertise Cost savings (network monitoring, management, and maintenance) Better alignment between IT staffing, budget, and business needs Move IT spending from a capital expense to an operating expense Before making the decision to outsource, dedicate resources to datadriven decision-making and finding solid, valid, verifiable metrics that can be used from very early on in any outsourcing project to periodically assess progress, and if necessary, reassign tasks. INFORMATIONWEEK 2012, STATE OF IT OUTSOURCING * Source: InformationWeek 2012, State of IT Outsourcing Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 4

5 Ask Yourself Are you looking for cost-effective ways to monitor, manage and support the impact of IoT, BYOD, Cloud applications and site expansion on your network? Would you like to reallocate staff to focus on strategic, revenuegenerating initiatives rather than on tactical network monitoring tasks? Do you need to augment in-house expertise gaps as your network complexity increases? What happens to your network when your IT staff goes home or leaves on vacation? Do you prefer a more proactive approach to network performance, health, and support? Do you need more quantitative network performance metrics? Does your network monitoring and management need to scale quickly as you add, change, or subtract devices and locations? Is your IT staff expertise keeping up with the rate of change of technology? Does your IT department have the tools, infrastructure, and processes to monitor and manage the network today and in the future? Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 5

6 Features to Look for in Managed Services Extreme Networks believes customers want options. Here are examples of two ExtremeWorks Managed Services for networks offerings. EXTREMEWORKS MONITORINGPLUS With all of the cloud-based applications and big data stressing your network, how proactive are you today in ensuring maximum network performance and uptime? That s why we include the following in our monitoring service: Proactive problem notification regarding network performance and health A scalable, flexible staffing solution to your network monitoring needs 7x24x365 network monitoring expertise Cloud-based storage of network configurations so customers can restore previous network configurations with ease Customer access to network reporting via a Managed Services Gateway Extensive cloud-based dashboard that provides instant visibility to network status Comprehensive support offerings for Extreme Networks devices, including technical phone support, software updates, and advance hardware replacement, with onsite options. Includes Next Business Day support by default. Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 6

7 EXTREMEWORKS RESPONSEPLUS If you want to take management of your network further, then consider ExtremeWorks ResponsePLUS. In addition to providing all of the features of MonitoringPLUS, you ll have the additional management benefits of: Accelerated problem detection and resolution of Extreme Networks supported devices, including updating configurations and software or making hardware changes A designated Service Manager to manage problem resolution support An inventory of Extreme Networks devices to have a better understanding of assets and their configurations for better network performance and health Semi-annual service reviews to discuss the status of network performance and health vulnerabilities and suggested improvements You can have it all. Lower cost. Flexible resource management and use. Fast and easy remote site additions and changes. Lastly, you ll have proactive management of your network s performance and health, resulting in increased productivity and efficiency. Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 7

8 NEXT STEPS Have Questions? Need More Information? Extreme Networks channel partners are focused on their customers needs for better, more reliable network performance and health. To get started with your Managed Services conversation, find a solution provider in your area or send us an at servicemarketing@extremenetworks.com. Learn more about Extreme Networks Managed Services offerings and how they can give your business a competitive edge. Phone Extreme Networks, Inc. All rights reserved. Extreme Networks and the Extreme Networks logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Extreme Networks, Inc. in the United States and/ or other countries. All other names are the property of their respective owners. For additional information on Extreme Networks Trademarks please see company/legal/trademarks/. Specifications and product availability are subject to change without notice Network Managed Services Decision Making Guide 8