Outsourced NOC vs In-House NOC: How Outsourcing NOC Benefit You?
A network operation center also called a NOC, is a location from which IT technicians provide support services for remote monitoring and management software. In the growing managed IT services industry, NOC teams play a significant role. They are tremendous service delivery drivers for countless managed services providers. The technicians monitor and manage endpoints, resolve issues that come up and take steps to prevent problems and keep the systems running smoothly. NOC teams play a vital role in high-level security activities, provide backup as well as help with disaster recovery efforts and ensure MSP customers have 24/7 uptime.
An Important Service
NOC monitoring services are essential for the smooth operation of many commercial and industrial facilities. They work behind the scenes to keep vital systems running flawlessly and are a mere phone call away should technical difficulty disrupt the services of MSP customers. NOC as a service is responsible for keeping countless businesses safe and functioning properly night and day. The technicians that man these centers are specially trained professionals who monitor infrastructure health and clients’ environment security and capacity. They must understand and focus on the slightest fluctuations in the systems they monitor, identify and categorize their severity and alert type to make sure everyone is safe and connected.
Networks Operations Center: Asset or Liability
With the right team of professionals working with you, a network operations center can be a valuable asset. There is a growing demand for NOC monitoring services from commercial and industrial companies from coast to coast. Once companies have the technology and the trained staff, all they have to do is advertise their network monitoring services and do a good job to build a lucrative business. By offering NOC outsourcing services, the company can continue to attract new customers and as long as they continue to provide timely, high-quality work they will continue to be an asset.
But is some cases owning companies offering NOC monitoring can become a liability? Taking on a growing number of customers requires the company to increase the amount of personnel on their staff. Plus, the need to add more, newer and better technology and expand and improve their infrastructure and rising salaries needed to attract the best workers to maintain the quality of the managed NOC services they offer can lead to escalating operating expenses. There is also a rising price of insurance and a host of other costs to consider. Unless the NOC has competent leadership and management, it can become a liability.
What is an Outsourced NOC Monitoring?
Outsourced NOC monitoring services mean hiring someone else to perform the tasks required by a facility. This may include everything from installing the equipment to maintaining it to providing emergency response services. Outsourcing allows a company to outsource its entire network operations center without having to hire additional employees. It also gives them access to a larger talent pool and a broader range of technologies than if they were to attempt to operate a full-fledged NOC themselves.
In-House vs. Outsourced NOC Services
Having a reliable, top-quality NOC is vital for the survival and growth of many companies. To ensure they are getting the dependable NOC monitoring they need, companies have to do a cost-benefit analysis to decide if it is better to build and run an in-house NOC or go with outsourced NOC support services. This can be a difficult choice. While having a NOC in-house offers the company control of the operations, it comes with an additional set of costs and responsibilities. Companies must decide if the control and assurances they gain by having an in-house NOC are worth the additional time and money it takes to maintain it.
While the benefits of having in-house NOC are clearly evident and very valuable, for some companies the responsibility for maintaining it can be too much. Having to search out and hire the best staff, regularly upgrade and replace the technology being used and ensure the NOC is properly managed can take away from a company’s ability to focus on its primary mission and core competencies. This added distraction and cost is what often drives companies to seriously consider eschewing an in-house NOC and instead of going with outsourced NOC services. It’s an important decision many high-tech companies are forced to make.
How Outsourcing NOC Operations can Lower Costs and Boost Effectiveness
NOC technicians must constantly spend time researching anomalous activities they observe on the network and making technical adjustments to be prepared to respond should emergency situations arise. This can require an extensive array of expensive, cutting-edge technology that an in-house NOC would rarely use. It’s these types of expenditures that make NOC outsourcing a very attractive and cost-effective option. Companies offering outsourced NOC support services can recoup expensive expenditures on technology from fees from their clients. An in-house NOC must simply absorb those costs.
The high fixed infrastructure and labor costs associated with maintaining an in-house NOC can make it near impossible to maintain a growing, profitable business for a company that doesn’t offer NOC as a service. Paying for outsourced NOC support services offers a high ROI in the time and money it saves and the value of the technologically advanced 24/7 services provided.
Third-party NOC companies are well-versed in NOC best practices and function as an extension of the workforce of the companies for whom they are a managed services provider. This frees those companies to focus their staff on high value, income generating projects.
A Valuable Silent Partnership
Outsourcing NOC service provider companies with dedicated, highly-skilled NOC technicians using boundless resources to provide 24/7 network monitoring, proactive solutions, problem resolution and world-class support. By outsourcing their NOC services, everyday NOC IT maintenance tasks are carried out by a team of specialists working on their behalf. For a flat monthly fee, companies have all the NOC resources they need without the responsibility of having to manage them.
