Monday, 14 December 2015 Blog ehdf

Managed Network Services Set for Exponential Growth

A recent study by MarketsandMarkets predicts the global Managed Network Services market will grow from $29.47 billion USD in 2012 to $58.39 billion USD in 2018. Industry experts attribute this predicted growth to a greater awareness amongst businesses about the critical nature of their networks and leveraging outsourcing as a tool to increase performance, reduce downtime and improve technology and virtualisation management. Also, Managed Network Services are gaining momentum because of advancements in cloud computing, big data and mobility services.

Why partner with a Managed Network Services provider?

Manpower and maximising business productivity and continuity are the main challenges that both the enterprise and the SME sector are faced with in their IT requirements. With evolving needs and limited in-house IT professionals and skills, companies are moving towards engaging the services of Managed Services Providers (MSP) who have the ability to provide different models in IT services. With fixed in-house IT departments, the team may not be able to cope with high peak activity and on the other hand, lower workload may not justify the manpower spends. MSPs therefore provide a great amount of flexibility to ensure that the IT functions are economically run with high levels of technical expertise.

Benefits of Managed Network Services

Managed Network Services offer companies multiple benefits which is leading to its exponential growth in the UAE.

At the strategic level, it allows companies to focus and leverage their resources towards their core business activities, rather than spending too much time on operational activities. At the operational level, it offers the skills and expertise of a service provider to competently manage complex data centre requirements. And, at the financial level, Managed Network Services reduce total cost of ownership and provide the benefit of a subscription based OPEX model.

This means that companies can continue to focus on their strategic business objectives; relocate funds on developing new applications and innovation; and indirectly win access to skilled resources, latest technology and best-in-class IT infrastructure.

Top factors to consider when choosing a Managed Network Services provider

– Physical Location of the Data

– Location of users accessing the service

– Latency / User Experience

– Reputation / Domain expertise of the Service Provider

– Standards & certifications

– SLAs (Service Level Agreements)

– Quality of Services (Service availability, redundancy)

– Customer support services

– Pricing and flexibility in plans

– Scalability (options to upgrade, downgrade)

– DR plans available (Multiple DCs, etc.)

– Security (Infrastructure, Customer Isolation)

– Data privacy (Identity, access control, authorization & authentication)