Hosted Solutions 101 – Making an Educated Decision
Part I of a four part series...
by Scott Kinka, Sr. VP – Network Services, Evolve IP
Technology Times, September 2008
One in 5 Enterprise firms already use managed services for their network and telecommunications needs. Over the next five years the market is expected to reach $4.3 Billion with the majority of that revenue skewed towards companies with fewer than 100 employees. Within this explosive growth, Hosted solutions are expected to take center stage.
Perhaps you've thought about outsourcing some portion of your IT budget to a managed or hosted provider. But why? What would the direct and indirect benefits be to your business? And what portions of your current IT budget should you focus on first?
First, let's define exactly what a hosted solution is. Generally, a hosted solution involves your business utilizing the resources, servers and software of a service provider in their network or data center. These services may be accessed by your business over the Internet or via a private connection or VPN to the service provider.
In every case, your business gets the benefit of having the technology managed 24X7 by an expert technical staff in their environment while avoiding the capital associated with purchasing (and managing) on-site equipment or software. This enables a higher level of service than onsite personnel who may be focusing only a portion of their time on that specific item, and allows your business to refocus the time and energy of those resources to projects that can help the business generate revenue instead of keeping the business’ infrastructure running.
What types of hosted solutions are available?
Hosted Telephony services generally include all of the features (plus additional advanced features) of an onsite phone system coupled with local and long distance calling and often include telephone handsets and Internet connectivity. These providers initially focused on consumer products with best effort quality delivered over the Internet (such as Vonage or Skype), but a new crop of business-class players that include dedicated connectivity and ensure Quality of Service has emerged.
SaaS / Hosted Applications - Software as a Service companies offer software solutions that are accessed remotely and therefore eliminate the need for a business to have software installed on their network. An added benefit of SaaS is that the software is generally available anywhere in the world over the Internet. SaaS includes various types of applications such as Hosted Messaging services like Exchange, Hosted CRM Tools like Salesforce.com, and Hosted Data Backup solutions that enable businesses to back up critical data to the provider's network while allowing them to restore to any location over the Internet.
Hosted Security Services enable businesses to outsource everything from spam and virus protection for email to advanced Firewall and Intrusion Prevention services. Capabilities differ based on what type of connectivity the provider has to the customer location. These hosted services can offer businesses more than just the opportunity to outsource; they add a layer of attention to one of the critical issues facing businesses today, constant, vigilant and expert protection to constantly changing security threats (a skill most businesses do not keep in house).
These outsourced solutions also help support businesses in dealing with legislation and regulations such as HIPAA, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, PCI and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.
Managed Network Services can include connectivity between locations, management of on site devices such as routers, switches, servers and even desktop and laptop computers. The service provider is generally responsible for around the clock uptime, management, monitoring and reporting on the elements in the customer’s network.
The decision to outsource any of these services to a hosted provider is not an all or nothing proposition. Because of the network-based delivery of these services, they are particularly well suited for selective outsourcing which enables businesses to choose those areas of the most need or to augment existing staff in areas where they are missing certain skills.
What value can a Hosted solution bring to your business?
Aside from the previously mentioned, capital expenditure avoidance, skills augmentation and increased level of service, Hosted solutions can offer additional benefits:
- Scalability: Since hosted solutions take advantage of large systems owned by the provider, your business will not have to select hardware or software with growth (or reduction) of your workforce in mind. No reason to throw out any equipment because you need to get a “bigger boat”.
- Mobility: Services located in the provider’s network are intrinsically prepared to support a distributed work force at multiple locations or at home.
- Manageability: Hosted providers focus their energies of ease of use because they must support a wide range of customers. As a result, many Hosted Solutions are easier to manage than on site equipment or software.
- Upgradeability: When the provider adds new features, you get them. No upgrades, no fees, no problem.
We’ll be focusing on additional benefits in the coming months, including Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery through Hosted Services and going “Green” with Hosted solutions. We’ll also provide a roadmap to explain the economics of hosted solutions so you can evaluate the full TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) to see if these solutions are right for you.
Between the economy, the environment and the increasing complexity and risk of technology, the time to evaluate Hosted Services is now. Stay tuned in the coming months for more information on how to evaluate these services for your business.
Scott Kinka is the Senior Vice President of Network Services for Evolve IP, a provider of hosted solutions and managed technology that is unifying and simplifying the way businesses communicate. For more information, please visit www.evolveip.net.
Read part II of the series; The Economics of a Hosted Solution |
