Managed Services
[Notes: Journalists are invited to quote and use information from the backgrounder below but please ensure all comment is attributed to Marino Zini, Business Development Director, Claranet Limited.]
Businesses are becoming more sophisticated and seeking greater value from their service providers.
Many service providers are now augmenting their service portfolio and moving towards a Managed Service Provider (MSP) business model, offering expert IT management and consultancy, hosted applications and Software as a Service (SaaS).
A Managed Service Provider is simply a company that manages information technology services for other companies via the Internet. Claranet, for example, offers a variety of managed services from managed connectivity, complex hosted solutions, information security services and email, all the way to custom application management.
Managed services can be attractive to a variety of organisations, from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to large corporates and public sector organisations. Specialist IT skill is not the core function of most businesses. Managed services reduce the need for expensive, in-house skills and can allow a business to outsource the management of key Internet infrastructure and concentrate on its own skills and market.
The information security landscape is always changing. When an organisation brings in an MSP, they benefit from the provider’s knowledge and expertise. The Managed Service Provider will understand what network or IT solution will be most appropriate for that company’s needs, and will be able to effectively implement and manage the solution.
Outsourcing IT services will save businesses money, resources and will enable them to clearly define a budget for all Internet services.
SMEs have been quick to employ managed services because of the smaller, up-front capital investment and the ease of adding new users. It is also possible for smaller companies to adopt new technologies that would otherwise be too costly for them to implement.
Managed services are also increasingly appealing to corporates. In-house datacentres in corporates are being placed under strain thanks to the power and cooling required for running key applications. Managed services can effectively alleviate that pressure.
Software as a Service is an example of a fully managed application.
SaaS is more than just an application delivered to the end user through a software licence and set of post-sale services. SaaS adds value by providing its capabilities as a set of secure and reliable business services, available through a service or hosting provider.
Through SaaS, providers can offer end-users a variety of service options including database management through SQL (Structured Query Language), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) services and integrating business data and processes through business management systems like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP).
The complexity and overheads in running applications in-house is increasingly pushing businesses towards SaaS. Analysts predict the SaaS industry will be worth $10.7 Billion by 2009. Even Microsoft, whose traditional business model has been to sell licenses to end-users, has acknowledged the shift in attitude to software. Microsoft’s Service Provider Licensing Agreement allows service providers like Claranet to offer their customers Microsoft products as managed services.
Claranet as a Managed Service Provider
Managed services are a very natural evolution of Claranet’s core offering, where service quality is paramount. Claranet’s service contracts are based on industry leading Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
Claranet will manage the technical framework on which the customer's applications will be based. Claranet’s flexibility allows it to support any application that the customer needs us to as long as it is supported by the underlying framework or infrastructure.
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Notes to editors:
Journalists are invited to quote and use information from the backgrounder below but please ensure all comment is attributed to Marino Zini, Business Development Director, Claranet Limited.
For further editorial information or to arrange an interview please email the Claranet press office or telephone 020 7609 1900.
About Marino Zini, Business Development Director, Claranet:
Marino Zini is an information security, managed hosting and Internet specialist. He is an Internet veteran having been involved in evangelising, consulting and delivering projects from the very beginning. He has numerous qualifications and memberships of Internet organisations, combining knowledge, experience, passion and constructive scepticism for all Internet related matters.
Marino sits in various committees including the Technical Advisory Board set up under the UK’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and the Anti Phishing Working Group. He is a member of ISSA, ISC2 and regularly contributes to the Bugtraq vulnerability list.
He has written several papers on information security topics including, High Availabilty Internet architectures, DDoS, software patching, criminal involvement in cybercrime and compliance in IT. He has moderated very successful seminars on various information security issues for the past 8 years. The latest series is called "Zero Downtime? - The Debate" looking at the challenges faced by high revenue web-facing businesses.
About Claranet:
Claranet was established in 1996 as a dial-up Internet access provider in the UK. The company's sustained profitability has resulted in continuous reinvestment, transforming Claranet into a multi-national managed service provider.
Today Claranet provides flexible and tailored network infrastructure that performs to the requirements of its 300,000 customers across six European countries and the US.
Claranet customers have confidence in their connectivity. Customers are served by experienced, innovative and dependable technicians.
Claranet commits to the highest standard of service level agreement.
URL: www.clara.net