10 key questions to ask your managed network provider
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The document outlines 10 key questions to consider when selecting a managed service provider for network services, focusing on critical areas such as network resilience, security, performance, scalability, connectivity options, and support. It emphasizes the importance of due diligence, considering factors like track record, security, services offered, and overall investment in network infrastructure. The summary highlights that not all networks are created equal, underscoring the necessity of thorough evaluation of potential providers.
10 key questions to ask your managed network provider
- 1. STUART WILLIAMSON / SENIOR PRE-SALES CONSULTANT/ NETWORK SERVICES / Next Generation Networks: 10 Key Questions To Ask Your Managed Service Provider
- 2. INTRODUCTION • Robust access to corporate resources anytime, anywhere • Flexibility is required now more than ever • Acquiring and retaining the skills and systems to run a network is challenging
- 3. QUESTION 1 / TELL ME ABOUT YOUR NETWORK • How resilient is your network ? – What is the topology of your core network? – What design is used for site resilience? – What service level agreement is available?
- 4. QUESTION 2 / WHAT HAPPENS IF...... ? • How Do You Ensure Business Continuity? – How do you continue to operate if ...? – Do you have a BC policy in place? – Do you have more than one data centre I can use?
- 5. QUESTION 3 / HOW IMPORTANT IS SECURITY TO YOU ? • Describe the care you take with my data and systems - Are formal security policies in place? – Is strong authentication used? – What physical security measures are in place?
- 6. QUESTION 4 / HOW DO YOU GUARANTEE NETWORK PERFORMANCE? • Describe the network performance I can expect ? – What types of QOS are available? – What if I want to upgrade bandwidth? – Is your core network scalable?
- 7. QUESTION 5 / HOW SCALABLE & FLEXIBLE IS YOUR NETWORK? • Describe how your network can change as our needs change? – Do you have a cloud strategy? – Can I host applications in your data centres? – What other services do you provide?
- 8. QUESTION 6 / WHAT CONNECTIVITY OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE? • Describe how my locations will connect to the core network? – Do you have multiple access providers? – What is the range of bandwidth options? – Is network coverage confined to UK only?
- 9. QUESTION 7 / DO YOU HAVE 24/7 AUTOMATED MONITORING TOOLS ? • Describe the tools used to monitor the network? – Which tools and vendors are used and for what purpose? – What types of reports are available? – What percentage of faults are fixed without us knowing?
- 10. QUESTION 8 / WHAT SELF SERVICE OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE? • Describe what ‘self-service’ options are available to me? – Is there a customer portal I can use? – Can I request ports online via the portal? – How can I interact with the support team?
- 11. QUESTION 9 / WHAT IS YOUR COMMITMENT TO SERVICE AND BEST PRACTICE? • What demonstrates that you follow best practice methodologies? – What formal certifications and training do you have? – Are procedures documented for me? – How much have you invested in the systems and networks?
- 12. QUESTION 10 / WHAT LEVEL OF SUPPORT DO YOU OFFER? • How pro-active are you in detecting and rectifying faults? – Do you have your own 24/7 network operations centre ? – Is the NOC staffed 24/7? – Is the NOC in the UK ?
- 13. SUMMARY • Not all networks are built or operated in the same way • Due diligence is essential when choosing your service provider • Track record, security, coverage, services, investment, roadmap... the list is a long one but one worth doing
- 14. STUART WILLIAMSON / PRE-SALES CONSULTANT / NETWORK SERVICES THANK YOU /
Editor's Notes
- #3: Access to corporate resources anytime, anywhere: The need to access corporate resources from anywhere is becoming a key aspect of everyday life. Employees are often required to be away from their normal place of work. Visiting other offices, visiting clients, visiting partners, working from home or working from a hotel room. Wherever staff are they now expect to be able to access their information and systems on a 24/7 basis. Flexibility is required now more than ever: As we move deeper into a recession economy organisations are looking for ways to adapt. Often there are takeovers, mergers or worst of all closures. Having a network topology that is flexible enough to cope with the changing nature of business operation is important. Adding new sites, moving data to other sites, consolidation of systems into data centres, enabling disaster recovery all these issues require a network that is flexible to cope. Acquiring and retaining the skills and systems to run a network is hard: If you were to build and operate a network to meet these requirements; the resources required would be expensive as well as hard to secure and retain. To deliver a 24/7 monitored and managed service backed up by a service level agreement would be too much for an internal department. The only option for many is to use the skills and resources of a managed network services provider. But who do you trust with this task? How do you assess the skills and services being offered? What questions should you ask any prospective managed service provider? This presentation discusses 10 key questions that can be used to help you make the right choice
- #4: How Resilient Is Your Network ? There are a number of elements to consider when looking into the service provider’s ability to deliver a robust service that will be there when you need it: What is the topology of your core network? If the network has multiple point of presence they should have more than one link to other points of presence. There should be no single points of failure in the design of the core network. Redundant, hot standby equipment should be ‘designed-in’ to cater for a hardware failure event. Dynamic routing protocols should be used to ensure that in the event of a failure the network can re-route traffic around the problem. What design is used for site resilience? What service level agreement is available?