Do you remember a time when computer networks were simply useful tools for businesses? Back then, we relied on standalone computers, fax machines, and overnight mail for document delivery. It seems like a bygone era, but you might find yourself longing for those simpler times when your network crashes and remains unusable for hours. Today, local area networks (LANs) are as indispensable as electricity, while wide area networks (WANs) are as crucial as roads and highways—we simply cannot function without them.

Large corporations deemed “too big to fail” often receive financial assistance. Similarly, networks that have become essential need a different kind of safeguard: an infrastructure that continuously monitors their operation and takes immediate action at the first sign of trouble.

You might believe you have everything under control internally, with your IT team monitoring the LAN around the clock and even off-duty staff receiving alerts when issues arise. However, what about the connections that extend beyond your premises? Who is responsible for overseeing those?

Let’s consider an example of a network that has become indispensable. Imagine your medium-sized business has expanded significantly, transforming into a major corporation. You now have operations across numerous states, with separate facilities for headquarters, staff, engineering, manufacturing, warehousing, and field offices. Despite this growth, you still aim to operate as a unified company, maintaining a sense of virtual co-location. To achieve this, you’ve implemented a comprehensive corporate network, which has become essential for daily operations.

It’s likely that your extensive network is the result of adding components as needed. You might have point-to-point connections, virtual private network (VPN) links, connections with varying speeds from headquarters to each facility, and a centralized routing system handling a massive volume of traffic. While functional, this setup might not be as streamlined as a network designed from scratch today. Managing this network likely poses a significant challenge for your headquarters staff and presents a potential disaster if centrally located equipment fails.

So, how can you ensure the reliability of your network despite its growth? Hiring additional staff might seem like a solution, but it can be difficult in challenging economic times. What if you could divide the workload, enabling your key personnel to focus on their areas of expertise while outsourcing the rest?

This is where managed network services come into play. These services are designed for the WAN portion of your network, which you have limited control over. Instead of simply ordering lines and addressing outages as they occur, consider leasing a managed line. This allows the service provider to guarantee the line’s integrity from end to end.

Managed service providers achieve this by controlling both the line and the terminating equipment. This often involves installing a provider-owned and monitored router equipped with the appropriate interface cards. By managing the edge connections on both sides, service providers can monitor and diagnose issues to ensure optimal performance and reliability.

A more comprehensive service that offers this level of management is the Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) network. It’s a private network that uses specialized equipment called tag routers. MPLS can be used for point-to-point connections or a complete mesh network connecting all your locations. The service provider takes on the responsibility of managing the lines and routing, relieving you of this burden.

But is outsourcing to managed services as expensive as hiring additional in-house staff? Generally, it’s not. Managed network service providers specialize in maintaining highly reliable WAN connections. You might discover that managed services cost the same or even less than managing everything internally. To be certain, it’s wise to request competitive quotes for managed network services tailored to your business locations.