QUALITY OF SERVICE AND MANAGEMENT ARE TWO CRITICAL ASPECTS OF ANY VOICE, DATA OR SECURITY NETWORK
Most organisations are under pressure to do more with less: the number #1 challenge on the CIO menu is reducing costs. The network is increasingly important, more business-critical applications are being deployed, users expect better performance and yet there is less funding for network upgrades and enhancements. According to IDC, IT as a percentage of operating expense fell by up to 25% in 2002 compared to 2000, and less is being spent on the network compare to twelve months ago.
Achieving these often conflicting demands – a improved network productivity and reduced costs – requires a focus on two network fundamentals:
Quality of Service, which ensures that the network functions reliably and key applications perform effectively (see article contributed by Cisco on page 4).
Network management involves monitoring and managing the various elements of a communications network – voice, data or security – both reactively and proactively.
Quality of Service
Network quality of service is greatly influenced by the original design and implementation of the network – it is one of the reasons that implementations of performance-intensive applications (such as IP Telephony) may require a network refresh to operate effectively. On an existing data network, there are some basic (and cost-effective) measures you can take, including running the latest firmware and/or IOS versions available for each device and undertaking regular network audits that pick up any issues that impact cross-network performance. If adding a new application, review the queuing and QoS policies on each device.
One question that we are often asked by customers is: “how can we reliably measure QoS?” Meeting user expectations is a common CIO challenge, but user perceptions do not always equate with reality. Performance is dependent on not just the application, but the location (of the user) and time. Traditional measures of network SLAs and uptime do not measure the performance as experienced by the end user. There are tools, such as Packeteer, that are designed to measure, report on and influence the performance of individual applications. As well as assisting companies to implement in-house bandwidth management systems, we’ve developed a managed service that monitors application performance. Our NetManage/Applications service shows customers exactly how an application is performing on a network, including database performance, transaction times and the effect of an application on the operating system.
NetStar’s Global NetCentre facility provides proactive, integrated management of data, voice and security infrastructure:
NetManage/Data: Monitoring and management of the LAN or WAN, providing proactive identification of potential problems and fast resolution of any issues.
NetManage/Voice: Management of voice applications, with browser-based tools for performance graphs, status, alerts and Call Accounting
NetManage/Security: On-site managed firewall and/or IDS service, with real-time reporting and comprehensive incident analysis
NetManage/Applications: Monitors real-time performance of specific applications across the network, from server to end-user, with “traffic light” display of any sites performing below pre-set thresholds
NetManage/Servers: NT and Unix server monitoring and performance reporting
Network Management
Management of the IT infrastructure is increasingly accepted as a necessity. At its simplest, a network management system monitors the status of network devices, from one to thousands of sites. The next level of network management focuses on delivering service level management, defined by Gartner as “the ability to measure and monitor network service performance”. This is where most of the real business impact is achieved.
IDC predicts that security management and network management will be in demand over the next two years. Whether inhouse or outsourced, proactively managing the network environment enables significant reduction in downtime, which translates to higher levels of productivity and more time for MIS staff to focus on core applications. One of NetStar’s customers was able to demonstrate a reduction in network downtime from over 1,600 hours in 2001 (across 50+ sites) to an estimated 198 hours in 2002. This 800% improvement was achieved by building a consistent network infrastructure and implementing effective network management.
Outsourced security management has experienced rapid growth, driven by the need for better protection and detection systems, complexity of the technology and requirement of 24x7 coverage and response. It’s not unusual for over 1,000,000 “events” (incurred over 2-4 weeks) to generate 300 alerts and one “escalation” where some form of action or intervention is requires. Sifting through automated port scans and interpreting the data is not a skill every company will want (or can justify having) in-house. A managed security service also provides automated reports that summarise large quantities of data and recommendations.
Insource or Outsource?
In the case of security, access to skilled expertise around the clock is a compelling factor for outsourcing. For networks, building a 24x7 facility staffed by multi-skilled engineers may be a prohibitive cost. Management of a PABX and voice applications – including occasional Moves, Adds and Changes – may be more cost-effective to outsource, compared to having people performing these functions within the organisation.
There are many other factors than cost-reduction and access to expertise that are driving outsourcing of infrastructure management:
no single point product performs all network management needs, which means integrating multiple vendors’ products to get the desired results
purchasing a network management “framework” often involves re-engineering the organisation – this complexity results in as many as 70% of such installations failing to meet user needs (Gartner).
on average, in-house development projects take 43% longer and cost 109% more than outsourced ones (IDC).
Why NetStar? While we understand technology, we prefer to talk business. All of our network management services match our customers’ business needs, by using a policy-based system where SLA and response levels are based on the business criticality of each device. This ensures that any issues or outages are managed in accordance with the impact they have (or will have, where we identify potential problems) on the customer’s network. This approach is taken regardless of the type of network – we provide integrated data, voice and security support and management.
We provide a single point of contact for multi-vendor support provided, by highly-trained engineers. Calls are answered directly by engineers (typically within 30 seconds), and our Global NetCentre is the highest rated support centre by Cisco’s own Technical Assistance Centre (TAC).
Most importantly, we’re helping over 300 customers support or manage their network more effectively. We’re helping Tyco deliver its core business application more effectively (see page 7). Energy Australia moved from an outsourcing contract to a selective sourcing arrangement, working with NetStar to manage their LAN/WAN. We recently won a contract with Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu to support their IT infrastructure, including network management. And we partner with ABB to manage their Asia-Pacific network.
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