In today’s dynamic IT environment, NOC (Network Operations Center) support is a must. It helps with maintaining the network’s stability, performance, and security. As your MSP expands business, the complexity of managing NOC for multiple companies increases. Thus, the need to make strategic decisions that benefit the business and customers arises.
One such decision is to outsource NOC support. The approach is ideal whether you are expanding, optimizing, or building your current NOC support. Even though several MSPs think the opposite and prefer in-house NOC monitoring and management, outsourcing can be extremely beneficial.
Outsourcing your NOC support and maintenance to a white-glove service provider offering round-the-clock support bridges the operational gap and offers several benefits. These include better operational efficiency, reduced downtime, improved security, leveraging modern technology/software for enhanced service efficiency, resource management through accurate KPIs and metrics, and reducing the burden of MSP’s in-house employees, ultimately leading to better productivity and outcomes. Additionally, it will allow the MSP and its employees to focus on developing and expanding their business while their operations are taken care of. Lastly, outsourcing also eliminates the worry about scaling resources up and down depending on the requirements.
The decision to outsource your NOC support is especially correct in case of the following:
- Increasing IT support workload
- Increasing pressure on the technical team
- Increase in downtime and stacked up customer support tickets
- Increasing need for employees to work post office hours
To help you make an informed decision, this blog highlights factors you need to consider when outsourcing NOC support and the benefits of 24×7 NOC services.
Outsourced NOC Support: Factors you Must Consider When Deciding
Relative Costs
A lot of times, MSPs struggle with high platform acquisition, integration, and implementation and staffing costs. It is especially true when the need to hire arises due to temporary requirements. Thus, calculating the in-house cost and comparing it with outsourced services becomes essential. In most cases, the outcome is in favor of outsourcing since it offers access to better service at comparatively lower costs. Cost-effectiveness is primarily due to economies of scale. Moreover, outsourcing eliminates the need to worry about sudden expenses due to changes in requirements or technical issues.
Speed to Market
Given the limited resources and flexibility an MSP has when it comes to in-house operations, it can take up to months to achieve complete operational control and maturity over NOC. This can significantly increase the time it takes for the business to establish itself in the market while planning expansions. Factors like resource scarcity and lack of expertise/ training can delay it even further. On the contrary, outsourcing is the one-step solution to take care of all the needs and factors affecting NOC operations, support, and maintenance.
Access to Expertise
Building, monitoring, and maintaining NOC demands skills and expertise. Finding talents that can help develop NOC’s operational framework and maturity can be challenging. It will consume a lot of time, effort, and money. Outsourcing NOC eliminates this hassle by providing real-time access to resources, expertise, and technology required to keep the network up and running.
Outsourced NOC Support: Benefits of 24-Hour Outsourced Support
MSPs often consider it unnecessary or expensive to outsource their NOC support and maintenance completely. However, the benefits it offers overshadow the expense you need to bear. Of all the benefits, some of the most important ones are:
Enhanced Operational Efficiency
Outsourcing your entire NOC support frees your employees from the burden of looking after even the slightest errors, allowing them to focus on more valuable tasks. Moreover, you will not need to worry about operational efficiency and scaling the resources depending on the customer support requirements. The outsourced organization will have all the experts and necessary skills to meet various support demands of your clients across industries.
Improved Service Quality
A team of expert technicians possessing the necessary skills, training, and knowledge will naturally result in better service quality. It is also one reason why most MSPs choose to outsource their operations. Moreover, outsourcing NOC support and maintenance ensures prompt availability and quick response time, leading to efficient support operations.
Access Advanced Technologies
With the increase in business, the pressure on your in-house NOC team will increase, too. As a result, you might have to invest in infrastructure, recruitment, and technology. However, considering the workload and stress, the chances of them leveraging the technology or software at their best are reduced.
The best solution is to outsource your NOC support. The team will entirely focus on maintaining your NOC, ensuring that customer requests are quickly and effectively solved. Moreover, they will have all the latest technologies, software, and skills that they will use to benefit your business and customers.
Machine learning and automation are constantly improving, which can lead to increased efficiency, operational dividends, better reporting, and enhanced communication. Since this is a huge investment requiring money, time, and effort, it is not recommended that MSPs try to build such infrastructure in their internal surroundings.
Saves Considerable Costs
Outsourcing NOC support to a trusted service provider will save you more than you can imagine. This is because customer support requirements fluctuate a lot, and to meet those requirements, you might have to employ more people. Many MSPs refrain from hiring due to the tentative nature of requirements and budget constraints, ultimately burdening the existing employees, which leads to stress and inefficiency.
On the contrary, when you outsource NOC support, all the fixing tasks are taken over by experts who will ensure you meet the requirements efficiently. Moreover, depending on the requirement, they can scale the resources up and down. Thus, eliminating the woes of hiring, onboarding, and training new people ultimately saves considerable time, effort, and, of course, money.
Value Added Resources
Apart from carrying out routine support and maintenance tasks effectively, the outsourced NOC support service provider will bring much more. While the value addition can be subjective, we, as a leading white-label service provider, offer the following:
- Capacity management
- Change management
- Continual service improvement
- Incident and problem management
- Root cause analysis
- RMM optimization
- Vendor liaison
Conclusion
The final call regarding outsourcing NOC support is yours. However, please note that choosing 24/7 outsourced NOC support will deliver better efficiency and quality at reasonable prices, benefiting both your business and the customers.
At Infrassist Technologies, we provide 24/7 proactive support and monitoring, ensuring that all support queries are addressed. To learn more about our NOC services, click here.