As critical communications networks become more complex, and reliability becomes increasingly important, having the right team in place to monitor and manage the system should be a top priority. Whoever is managing the network must be available 24/7 and be able to quickly and efficiently recognize, diagnose and resolve potential issues in a timely manner to ensure communications reliability.
And as a mission-critical organization scales and evolves, it is likely at some point there will need to be an internal conversation around ongoing management and maintenance of the critical communications network asset. Specifically, “should we keep this in-house and continue to invest in growing our own team of specialists, or do we seek a specialist partner to manage our network, allowing us to focus instead on our core business?”
Why choose managed services for critical communications?
A managed service, such as the one offered by Tait, includes the proactive monitoring and management of another organization’s critical communications system or network. This type of service offloads some, or all, of the ongoing work to maintain a communications network’s performance to a responsible partner. There is usually an agreed and documented SLA (Service Level Agreement) between the two organizations that details expected levels of service delivery and timeframes for resolution of any issues.
Choosing a managed service offers a range of benefits including:
- Immediate expertise and insight: The right provider brings knowledge, experience and tools to make an immediate impact. There is no need for continuous investment of time and money to build and maintain this capability in-house.
- Ability to focus on core business priorities: Staff previously assigned to manage critical communications systems can be reassigned to more direct business priorities.
- Strategic resilience: Managed services typically include 24/7 monitoring, proactive maintenance and ongoing system updates and insights that ensure the system remains at peak effectiveness. It provides additional resilience and reliability of your critical communications network, meaning it’s always available for your team.
- Cost predictability: The annual cost of a managed service is negotiated and agreed in advance. You can budget and plan your resources with confidence, knowing your critical communications network will be looked after.
- Fulltime monitoring and support of the network: Experienced industry professionals who understand mission critical systems quickly identify and resolve issues at any time day or night, ensuring a more robust, reliable network.
- Ongoing maintenance: Managed service providers should be able to offer preventative maintenance as part of their service, recognizing the critical part this plays in ongoing system reliability.
- Scalability: Managed services supporting critical communications networks can typically be quickly scaled should a customer’s requirements increase dramatically, either through growth or acquisition, without the need to recruit and train additional support staff.
Why choose to keep systems management in-house?
If you choose to keep the monitoring and maintenance of your critical communications network in-house, you’ll require a dedicated IT or support team, along with other in-house systems. There are benefits to having this team in-house, including:
- Institutional knowledge: An understanding of all internal systems, how they work together and organizational priorities. Internal teams are aware of organizational goals and can align technology decisions and available resources with these.
- Staff trained in company culture: In-house staff understand specific ways of working and interacting with colleagues. They also understand, and are often accountable for, escalation protocols and processes during potential system outages.
- Responsibility for a broad range of systems: Organizations typically rely on a complex set of information and communication systems to operate effectively and efficiently. However, internal technical staff often work across these multiple systems and are usually generalists in critical communications systems. It is also critical that proactive maintenance is part of this critical communications system oversight to ensure ongoing reliability.
- Physical location: Dedicated IT staff may be in, or close to, the physical location where critical communications network key equipment and spares are stored, facilitating fast replacement of faulty equipment.
A reliable, well maintained critical communications system reduces load on your team during times of extreme stress
If you're planning a migration or upgrade to your system, be sure to consider both options. Increasing in-house resource and expertise and partnering with specialist critical communications support teams each have advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to consider both carefully alongside your organizational goals.
Regardless of which option you proceed with, ensure you clearly document your expectations and expected escalation processes to ensure you have a mission critical system that your entire team can rely on in times of emergency.
If you are growing and are considering partnering with a managed services critical communications provider to reduce the load on your team, while strengthening your critical communications system reliability, let’s talk to see if our Managed Services could be a good fit for your team.