Outsourcing of Network Management Receives Mixed Review

March, 2003

Network Management is one of the most critical functions performed by the IT organization. Because of the dependency organizations now have on their network infrastructures, providing a consistently high level of service in this area is an absolute must.

In today’s complex network environments, providing the level of network management services required to keep a network running on a 7×24 schedule can often overwhelm an IT organization. Because of this, many companies have opted to outsource network management to a variety of service providers that specialize in this area.

Computer Economics recently surveyed network management outsourcing trends in midsize to large IT organizations. The results of that survey indicate there is growing interest in this strategy. However, organizations that have turned over network management to a third party provider have experienced varying degrees of success.

Survey results indicate that 28% of the companies polled are currently using a third party to manage their network environments. Almost half of the companies that responded are considering this strategy, while close to one-quarter of the companies polled are not interested in pursuing this concept.

Our survey results also indicate that nearly one-half of those companies that are currently involved in a network management outsourcing agreement are very satisfied with their providers, while almost one-third have experienced negative or marginally satisfactory results.

The results of the survey are shown in the graphs below:

What is Your Network
Management Outsourcing Strategy?

prmar03 graph - Outsourcing of Network Management Receives Mixed Review

Currently using a service provider = 28%
Currently considering using a service provider = 48%
No plans to outsource this function in the foreseeable future = 24%

Figure 1. 

How Satisfied Are You With  
Your Network Management Provider? 

prmar03 graph2 - Outsourcing of Network Management Receives Mixed Review

Figure 2

 

March 2003