Service providers offer a variety of options for managed services. The following describes the first of the top three most popular managed services, and the associated options, to help you determine which services would be most useful for your company.
Businesses gain both tactical and strategic advantages when adopting IP Virtual Private Networks (VPN). In the short term, they benefit from cost-effective, secure network connectivity to branch offices and secure access to remote workers, teleworkers, and global partners.
In the long term, they position themselves to take advantage of new value-added, IP-based applications and to support more users and applications at a lower cost.
Choosing a Best-Fit IP VPN Solution
Cisco commissioned the Yankee Group to describe the decision-making process that enterprises used to select one of three broad types of IP VPN managed services (click on image to enlarge).
You can use the decision tree to determine which of the three options for managed IP VPNs is most appropriate for your company:
- Network-based IP VPNs – Service provider provides complete management services.
- Managed CPE-based IP VPNs – Service provider installs and manages the equipment on the customer premises and provides connectivity.
- Do-it-yourself IP VPNs – Business installs and manages the equipment; service provider provides connectivity.