Managed Services
Simply defined, the term “managed services” refers to a burgeoning business trend in which companies outsource some or all of their critical but non-core IT management functions. For example, a widget manufacturing company may choose to focus its resources on its core competency (e.g., making widgets) and outsource IT functions like security, LAN/WAN support, monitoring network infrastructure and system administration.

Why do companies decide to outsource?
Outsourcing allows a company to focus on its core competencies – the revenue-generating functions – rather than devote limited resources to peripheral support functions. For most companies, the technical staff is a non-revenue-generating support group with significant overhead (e.g., salaries, expenses for continued education and benefits). Additionally, companies may find it difficult to recruit and retain qualified technicians due to the high cost of maintaining a competent IT team. Consequently, many companies don’t have the highly skilled technical support they need to ensure system/network performance, scalability and security. Other companies only have limited technical needs, requiring IT staff a few hours a week or a couple of hours a day. Outsourcing is a way to handle these issues. The META Group completed a study that found that 35 % of global IT organizations outsourced to a managed service provider in 2000.

Not all managed services are alike.
Many companies claim to provide managed IT services, but if you look closely at the specific services they offer, it’s clear they’re actually providing partially managed services. Some provide monitoring, others provide reactive support, and yet others state they provide administration of applications. CyrusOne offers a full suite of managed services in conjunction with a robust data center and highly reliable network on a 24 x 7 x 365 basis.

What kinds of managed IT services do companies outsource?
They fall into three basic groups:

1) Security: Many companies think because they have firewalls and virus protection they have taken the necessary steps to secure themselves from hackers and other security breaches. Not true. A managed services provider can provide the necessary level of security through regularly scheduled security policy reviews. More importantly, managed services providers employ skilled technicians who analyze and interpret systems logs and files, audit traffic patterns and maintain security patches.

2) Monitoring: Many companies don’t have the staff to monitor their own systems 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A managed services provider has both the technical staff necessary to monitor clients’ systems 24x7x365 and the capability to solve the problems they detect. Monitoring services are applied to the following network components:

• Hardware (node up/down, interfaces, CPU utilization, memory utilization, hard drive, etc.)
• Operating systems
• Applications
• Databases

3) Management/Maintenance: While some managed services providers provide monitoring, professional services, proactive analysis and system optimization, others also include full support of hardware systems. If a device fails, they send either a replacement device already configured to the customer’s system or a technician who is able to repair it. Essentially, these firms operate as an extension of the customer’s company and become their technical staff.

What are the benefits of managed services?
They are considerable:

Infrastructure.
Hardened facilities, redundant power, Internet connectivity and 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring/management capabilities provide the necessary environment for managed services providers to manage a company’s IT infrastructure. A state-of-the-art data center like CyrusOne provides N+1 redundancy at all levels along with the full range of managed IT services:

• Multiple power feeds from multiple power distribution units make power issues a thing of the past.
• UPS and generators ensure power problems outside the data center don’t impact the customer.
• Multiple self-healing SONET rings and metro fiber connections mean a fiber cut won’t impact a customer’s access to the Internet or other network.
• Multiple network providers guarantee there is always a path out of the local area.
• Round-the-clock monitoring/management means there is always a skilled technician available to swap out failed hardware or take care of administrative tasks.

Software/Technical Expertise.
Monitoring and management software is expensive and so is the expertise needed to correctly implement it. A technician must be familiar with the product and network management protocols and standards to provide any real benefit. In many cases, improperly configured network management tools do more harm than good, increasing the number of false alarms or failing to identify actual problems.

Service and Support.
Most companies require round-the-clock monitoring but don’t have the budget to hire the necessary personnel. Would this even be the best use of a company’s dollars? Would a technician that is hired to work nights be productive – actually bring the company value? If a problem occurs at 3:00 in the morning, would the technician have the necessary skill set to troubleshoot the issue before users needed to access the network? Outsourcing provides smallto medium-size companies 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring services and access to a highly skilled technical support staff.

Are managed services very expensive?
Quite the opposite – managed services are actually a money saver. A recently completed Yankee Group study found that a company choosing managed hosting over colocation-only solutions can cut its total operational and infrastructure costs from $800,000 a year to $300,000. Why so much? Because managed services providers use their equipment, softwareand personnel to support multiple customers so no single company absorbs the full cost for those items.

What’s the bottom line?
Managed services allow a company to focus on its core competencies, thereby maximizing productivity and profitability. A business cannot focus on its core competencies if power issues have brought servers down. Remote business units cannot support customers when Internet connectivity is down. A superior managed service provider is one that considers the complete technology infrastructure – power, Internet connectivity and physical security. In sum, outsourcing allows large and small companies to address all their technical needs. Companies with small or no IT staffs have the same system administration, security and performance requirements as companies that can afford large IT staffs. Companies that employ managed service providers gain access to expertise in security, database management, performance tuning, LAN/WAN management and system administration.

CyrusOne provides custom data center solutions used by the most demanding and successful companies. Its 65,000 square-foot Enterprise Data Center in Houston and its highly trained technical team offer businesses local and customized hosting, colocation and management services within a secure, redundant environment. For more information, on CyrusOne, please visit www.cyrusone.com or call 713-821-1260.