Network Infrastructure

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Several organizations have home-grown networks and systems. Even organizations with staffed I.T. departments sometimes get caught up in one area of their infrastructure while other areas suffer. Here are some of the types of issues that organizations typically face with their network infrastructure:

• Networks tend to grow organically rather than methodically. That is, their growth is compelled by their environment, not by a carefully staged and managed strategic plan. While all support operations should be responsive to overall changes in an organization, if unchecked, that response can be dangerous.
• Many early signs of instability are often ignored because they deal with end-user complaints rather than true operations. Yet, rising numbers of calls about problems with file sharing, Internet access or e-mail corruption should not be taken lightly. Often, they are indicators of more troublesome underlying problems. Support must be trended and analyzed for underlying root causes that are more serious than a single call might indicate.
• When local IT personnel’s time and energies are increasingly devoted to security, normal operations will be short-changed. Within firewalls and other protections, growing numbers of employee probes drain operator, management and human resource cycles. Outside the security perimeter exists a constant demand to identify, obtain and install security patches to both operating systems and individual applications. When this evolves into a full-time job, other functions will necessarily be ignored.
• When an industry comes under the purview of new, expansive regulatory compliance requirements, the demands of meeting new certifications can be overwhelming. Rather than maintaining a well-run network, operators will find themselves drawn into deciphering the implications of often vaguely worded regulations. For example, industries ranging from finance and credit to medical services are racing to catch up with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
• Intra-organizational changes can have profound effects on network operations even though these may not be immediately apparent. Introducing call-management systems that digitally record and store online every incoming and outgoing call to the customer-support department, or driving customer calls to Web-based help or ordering systems, can change the entire mix of network support activities. Extra-organizational changes like acquiring and integrating new firms into a single coherent and efficient organization also can put enormous demands on network operations.

Outsourcing your infrastructure needs to I.T. by Design can help with these and other types of issues. Once the day-to-day network services are outsourced, internal staff are free to concentrate on strategic company IT projects, rather than reactive infrastructure-management activities. Also rather than having to "pipeline" expertise (one person knows Cisco, one knows Citrix, etc.) with no backup or redundancy, outsourced providers can offer consistent technical depth and breadth. Increasingly, risk minimization is a driving business strategy for outsourcing. Service-level agreements offered by most outsourcing companies keep cost risk at bay. Managed services keep downtime and lost productivity risks to a minimum and mitigate the chances of liability due to the compromise of client or corporate data.

If network services are not a core competency of your organization, why invest substantial sums to build and maintain this capability?