NOC As A Service: Streamline Network Operations in 2024
Introduction on NOC As A Service
For starters, NOC As A Service (NOCaaS) – the acronym stands for Network Operations as a Service. It’s a transformational approach to managing and optimizing network and IT operations. It enables the outsourcing of niche handling of network monitoring, daily network operations and management capabilities to specialized and experienced teams. This allows internal staff to shift their focus from perpetual infrastructure upkeep to mission-critical business initiatives that drive growth. The sheer complexity of managing today’s networks makes this degree of lifting a tall task for the main Telecom/ISP company alone. The acronym NOCaaS stands for Network Operations as a Service. It’s a transformational approach to managing and optimizing network and IT operations. Think of NOCaaS as having a dedicated team of experts handling your network round the clock, ensuring its seamless functioning
This article is aimed at Internet Service Providers, Data Telecom and Cellular Operators, but this equally applies to the Network Operations Centers (NOC) of small, medium and large corporations and enterprises which also include Software MNC companies. They also have very large IT requirements, plethora of telecom, network and IT equipment which overwhelms the in house IT team. The CTO and the IT manager can get tensed at simultaneous ongoing network outages and other plaguing issues
Unlocking Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings with NOCaaS
Transitioning to Network Operations Center as a Service (NOCaaS) represents an opportunity for organizations to streamline operations, cut costs, and refocus valuable resources at growing their own business and focus on their niche domain. Partnering with a NOCaaS provider can optimize workflows, boost productivity, and simplify the management of complex IT and Telecom environments.
By leveraging NOC infrastructure and expertise, organizations can rapidly scale capabilities while only paying for what they use – an appealing model that amplifies speed and flexibility. The versatility and variability of NOCaaS fits the shifting dynamics of modern IT ecosystems beautifully. And of course, enhanced efficiency and optimized resource allocation ultimately translate into hard cost savings over time. Most companies can expect a significant return on investment within a few months through lower overhead and staffing burdens. The payoff period only shortens as operational scale and complexity increase.
Why Outsource NOC Operations?
NOCaaS is becoming the future of Network Operations just like outsourced Software Developent succeeded. Myriad circumstances motivate enterprises and ISPs to outsource NOC functions to managed service providers. NOCaaS especially benefits companies lacking specialized internal networking talent yet recognizing networks’ foundational importance in digital business. Small and mid-size organizations rarely staff fully-capable 24/7 NOCs financially and find outsourcing a practical option to reinforce network resilience. However, even some large enterprises now engage external NOC servicing to augment internal teams and optimize network management ROI.
Enterprise networks grow exponentially more complex by the day. From cloud migrations integrating SaaS platforms yet on-premises infrastructure remains, to mobile devices and Internet of Things endpoints flooding the network edge. Network operations centers shoulder great responsibility ensuring optimal uptime despite dizzying intricacy. NOC outsourcing to managed service providers gains momentum as enterprises recognize substantial return on investment from leveraging providers’ expertise.
As enterprise network environments snowball in sophistication, even some large organizations struggle internally supporting the 24/7 vigilant infrastructure monitoring, rapid mitigation coordination, and continual optimization needed. Internally-staffed network operations centers strain with round-the-clock demands, yet frequent talent shortages and budget constraints throttle centers’ efficacy. NOCaaS, or Network Operations-as-a-Service, offers reprieve.
Several key drivers compel network operations outsourcing:
Cost Savings
Internal staffing, tooling, and training demands for highly-available network monitoring amass substantial expenses. NOCaaS reduces costs through providers’ economies of scale. Productivity Lift – Experienced NOCs proactively optimize changing network needs and speed incident response through defined playbooks. This productivity gain concentrates internal effort on higher-value tasks.
Flexibility & Adaptability
Since the NOC service providers and Managed Service providers only focus on Network, IT and Cloud Operations their capabilities, skills and abilities are perfect for managing a 24/7 NOC. Also the biggest USP of oursourced NOCs is their flexibility to workdays be it festive off, weekends or nights. They even adapt to one other falling sick by swapping shifts or working overtime
A great option for small ISPs and SMEs
Many SME enterprises, regional ISPs or small ISPs in urban areas catering to corporate customers do not have a 24/7 contact center or NOC. Their staff just works 9 to 5 and their IVR call asks the customers to call the next day. Even so, the emails are answered the next day keeping the customers off worried about their service
Criteria for Selecting a NOCaaS partner
Partnering with external NOC service providers grants enterprises’ operations leadership confidence that highly-skilled engineers watch their network even overnight and weekends. Monitoring network and device health proactively, NOC technicians catch problems early before business disruption. Swift issue identification also enables faster mitigation minimizing downtime severity when outages eventually occur. Furthermore, mature service providers’ rich monitoring toolsets and defined workflows sharpen efficiency.
Industry Experience
Industry Experience obviously matters the most. After all, this is technical stuff and not just the NOC service provider, but its engineers should have relevant industry experience. The NOC service provider serves customers within your vertical market and understands associated customer priorities and criticalities
Skills, Capabilities and Expertise
The NOC service provider should have abundance of skilled and capable NOC engineers and have expert Tier-1 and Tier-2 support network engineers. Their skill and expertise translate to higher uptimes and better customer experiences.
Dedication and Integration
The NOCaas provider’s engineers should be dedicated to just you as a customer and be fully integrated with your existing in house NOC and/or other teams such as Accounts, Presales, Field Engineering, Facilities, Projects, Service Delivery, Billing etc.
Delivery models
The NOCaas provider’s offerings should align to your environment complexity and budget through co-managed, fully managed, or hybrid approaches. They should either be able to work as a standalone NOC or a NOC which works with your in-house NOC in a Follow the Sun model
FAQs
- What distinguishes NOCaaS from traditional in house NOC team?
The NOC service providers are mostly outsourced to dedicated NOC managing companies (managed service providers) who are focused and versed in 24/7 network operations. They are flexible to rota changes and internally adjust any sick or sudden leaves. Not to forget, the NOC engineers from such NOC service providers work the night shifts, weekends and festive days without any issues - Can businesses and ISPs of all sizes benefit from NOC services?
Yes, absolutely. “Scalable” is the term. NOC service providers such as Quadrang Systems can hire, train and groom plenty of NOC and Network engineers for big projects - How do NOC service providers ensure data confidentiality/security across different customers?
NOC service providers like Quadrang Systems have separate NOC engineers for different companies who work on separate unrelated projects and are dedicated only for one project during their tenure. The employees sign and agree to documents and agreements to maintain confidentiality, secrecy, confidentiality and non-disclosure - How quickly can NOC services be integrated into existing operations?
It depends whether the company already has an in-house NOC that they wish to expand or opt for new NOCaaS outsourced NOC team. Generally new NOC teams take 1 to 2 months from training to get working in 24/7 and from 3 to 6 months for full operational efficiency under a Team lead and 24/7/365. For companies who want to expand their in-house NOC, it happens even sooner - Is NOCaaS a costly investment for small ISPs/SME businesses?
Not at all. Cost efficiency and affordability is the focus of any outsourced NOC. NOCaaS offers cost-effective solutions, allowing even ISPs/SME businesses to enjoy the benefits of robust network operations without breaking the bank. In fact, the cost savings compounds and grows exponentially as companies outsource other teams with NOC like Service Desk, Tier-1, Tier-2 support, Projects, Presales and Service Delivery
Conclusion
To conclude, organizations looking to move the needle on efficiency, costs, profitability, and innovation would do well to evaluate Network Operations Center as a service. By letting world-class NOCs remove network complexity burdens, internal teams can get back to growing the business more effectively. The potential benefits are too great to ignore. CxOs and Leaderships love outsourced NOC as it delivers financial benefits like operational cost reduction. Significant productivity improvements also result from relying on specialized NOC teams versus internally struggling meeting 24/7 network vigilance demands. Furthermore, optimized network performance and security postures directly translate to improved customer experiences – driving revenue and brand reputation gains.
