PerformanceIT Network Management Service, PerformanceIT, (888) 242-9365, (678) 323-1300. www.performanceit.com
The best MRC rates, low one-time costs and very good service-level management helped iNOC finish a very close second. It was hard to find fault with the Northbrook, Ill., MSP's proposal, with the exception of having to sign a three-year contract. This contract length may not sound excessive, but the other vendors offered one-year or month-to-month arrangements.
The iNOC response was short and to the point, yet quite detailed. The company didn't waste our time with fluff. We quickly saw that pricing was significantly better than that of the other participants--iNOC didn't mince words about the number of FTEs it would offset, offering its own cost analysis. We used the number of FTEs iNOC suggested, which was less aggressive than PerformanceIT's, but we applied our own salary and benefit numbers to maintain our comparison across vendors.
INOC supports the desired availability and transaction times in the stores with a couple of reasonable caveats: First, service for WAN circuit failures is dependent on the availability of the WAN provider. Second, the throughput goal of less than 2 seconds network time needs to be baselined prior to iNOC accepting responsibility. For this baseline, a one-time fee of $12,000 is charged. The one-time service initiation fee to convert to iNOC is $45,800, plus $12,000, for a total of $57,800 initiation.
TacDoh's PoS transactions were specified as a supported part of iNOC's coverage. In addition, it specified that it will manage the Ethernet switches, wireless access points and WAN CPE (customer premises equipment) and circuits in each of the stores. We expected this coverage from everyone, but NetProactive said it wouldn't offer this service, and HCL didn't address this in its response.
For our special gray-area trouble situations, iNOC impressed us with no on-site charges for NTF. Its reasoning, which we liked, was that if it diagnoses problems correctly these types of ghost resolutions will be kept to a minimum. If an on-site error turns out to be caused by a WAN service provider, iNOC reduces its normal $150-per-hour fee to $125.
Subsea cable alternatives can provide a level of comfort for those concerned about disruptions. Realistically, they will continue to play a small, but critical role in the short term.
Maintaining existing network infrastructures often incurs huge technical debt before newer technologies are adopted over time.
Amid ongoing regional uncertainties, telecom infrastructure in the Middle East has expand to include terrestrial low-latency network infrastructure, which offers resilience and agility in navigating political complexities without relying solely on undersea networks.
