Differences Between Managed Help Desk & External NOC services

Many people use the terms NOC and help desk interchangeably, but it is important to know that they are not. The two often work with IT staff within the company, but there are important differences between the two.

Managed Help Desk Solves Individual User Problems

Simply put, the help desk service is focused on the end user. They work directly with users to resolve technical issues when they arise and turn the help desk into responsive support. Communication is often started by clicking on the support icon, sending an email or calling.

The help desk performs a series of managed service tasks, such as:

• ·         Account rights and access management
• ·         Overcome software and hardware problems
• ·         Detection and removal of malware / viruses
• ·         Email / document retrieval
• ·         Printing problems from installation to output
• ·         Password issues: everything from forgetting to expiration
• ·         Account management for new or retired clients.

The MSP (Management Service Provider) acts as a help desk and can provide on-call assistance for troubleshooting. Or the help desk takes the form of an internal group whose job is to answer questions and answer support tickets.

Background NOC service operations subcontracting

Helpdesks focus on users, while NOCs focus on networks and systems. They act as a kind of mission control center, monitoring and managing the network, including performance and backup processes. The NOC works behind the scenes in a much more proactive way by monitoring infrastructure and responding as needed with Level 1 remediation. The goal is to resolve network problems before the end user fails.

Some specific tasks that allow the NOC to release personnel include:

Management and operation of NMS (Network Management System). NMSs need to keep up as networks change. If the NMS does not match the environment, the problem may happen.

24/7 monitoring and alerts. Alerts can be issued by email or emergency call to a designated engineer, depending on the escalation plan. Similarly, the best NOC alert system filters out annoying alarms when the system detects anomalies that are the result of routine network operations.

Make sure you have enough bandwidth for your application. Bandwidth monitoring is essential. You can lose clients if you experience latency delays or even failures. This is doubled for VoIP providers whose customer satisfaction depends on providing the necessary bandwidth for the service.

Validation of business processes. NOCs can monitor network outages and availability, as well as more. Validate your system and validate again to find a NOC where you can deploy your application at a rate that ensures your system is running at peak performance.

Record monitoring and event management. NOC provides real-time visibility into event logs, servers, and network infrastructure to detect problems before they occur. They work to resolve performance and availability issues before they affect your business.

Level 1 repair fixes issues like restarting app, mounting disk, vendor / vendor ticket open etc. Monitoring your network can be a daunting task until your business is alarmed by disasters and strikes and can stop terribly. This is where it maintains the NOC.

When considering the option of outsourcing or doing your own internal monitoring, consider all actual costs. Also, remember to consider the potentially disastrous costs associated with NOC guaranteed outages.

MSP and NOC Services: How to Get 24/7 Coverage without Adding Staff

Larger MSPs can provide 24/7 service and support. They have their own Network Operations Center (NOC) or already receive these services subcontracted.

Not everything is so lucky. Some small MSPs can only handle trouble tickets and other tasks during business hours. This is bad enough for local clients in the same time zone. They always want to fix their system. This is a situation that is not possible for geographically dispersed clients. Limited service times can severely limit expansion capabilities.

Often the answer is to "rent" a NOC service, leaving your IT staff unavailable for hours. While third-party providers offer NOC services to MSPs, many MSP solution providers also offer them. The advantage of the latter is that NOC services are tightly integrated with already dependent MSP solutions like RMM and PSA.

And due to tight integration, customers are not aware of the difference between a noc support and its staff. With the proper use of NOC, it seems like a much bigger company, with much more staff around the clock.

 NOC Services

NOC services are specifically designed for  MSP customers. Here is a short and dirty explanation. "If you are expanding your business and don't have the right staff to serve you, or if you want to serve your customers 24 hours a day, NOC Services can help you. NOC Services is designed to scale quickly. It will extend the existing in-house staff to provide the supervision and management services necessary to satisfy customer demand. "

This service is specifically designed for customers so you can get your MSP up and running quickly.

Here are the immediate benefits:

• ·         Scale quickly without costly overhead
• ·         Meet and exceed expectations for service level.
• ·         Free up staff and focus on new ways to add value
• ·         Full control over end user interaction.
• ·         Improve profitability with 24/7 service
• ·         Access to the suite of best practice monitors and troubleshooting methodologies

Virtual Surveillance: Front-Line Defense

NOC Services functions as an extension of its staff, except that it does not take vacations. Like your technician, this service monitors customer systems to ensure they function and run correctly.

If problems are found, the service can handle alarms, filter false alarms, and troubleshoot based on predefined workflows and best practices.

This is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, MSP will register with the NOC service to meet your business needs. You can also combine end users into one of three tiered service levels.

You can also customize monitoring thresholds and set notification and escalation policies. Full control over usage, data collection, especially end-user interaction.

Build Or Rent A NOC

As mentioned earlier, large MSP stores often have their own NOCs. So should we build or choose a NOC service? Everything is different

NOC services is an important business and economic decision. "It is important that MSPs constantly evaluate the most valuable services and identify which services they outsource or perform in-house. Essentially, MSPs are in charge of deciding whether to outsource or not. You should receive the same evaluations that your clients receive.

NOC services focus on basic RMM functionality and helpdesks. "The idea of ​​fully outsourcing the NOC and help desk should only be done under appropriate circumstances. For example, it is highly unlikely that a small MSP will need NOC business hours or weekend / holiday support. But you cannot do it yourself. "

And MSP should never say. "But planning not to have a NOC or help desk is a completely different situation. That is the essence of MSP. If you do not plan to develop your own monitoring, administration and help desk functions, we question the real purpose and value for our clients. NOC is a service delivery engine for the practice of MSP.

5 Myths About Outsourcing NOC Services

There are still many misconceptions about outsourcing. This is mainly related to the idea of ​​offshoring, but it is very different. Off shoring is the sending of work from a particular area of ​​business to another country. For example, offshore operators can be used for design, content, accounting, or customer service. This model works for many companies, but we have not considered it here.

In most cases, outsourcing means giving remote third-party responsibilities, such as accounting, cleaning, or technical support. The company is in the same area as you. They do not work in their physical office. Chances are, you've already outsourced some services, and network monitoring doesn't have to be any different. We partner with the Network Operations Center (NOC) and choose to hire a specialist within the organization to handle specific needs: network monitoring. Outsourcing can solve many problems, and you can count on cost savings, increased productivity, assurance that your software and technology are up to date, and an experienced noc team dedicated to success.

Despite the proven benefits of outsourcing NOC services, some skepticism persists. We expose 10 myths that you can believe and can limit your IT department.

Myth 1: Outsourcing Is Expensive

For a company's IT needs, there are rare scenarios where it's cheaper to do it internally. You will need to purchase equipment, purchase software licenses and maintenance subscriptions, and pay for the installation of this infrastructure. Next, you'll need to hire and pay for a trained IT team. This is a large amount of initial investment and time for what a third-party NOC offers as a basic service.

Outsourcing is no longer the domain of medium to large companies. Increasingly, large-scale operations are outsourcing their IT needs to specialized professionals who can focus on this aspect of their business and keep the rest growing.

Myth 2: All NOC Are Equal

This idea is completely false. The NOC depends on the history and offers of the company. Some NOCs are developed as a service provided by MSP and ISP. That is, they offer many different services, but may not be specialized or specifically focused on network operations center services. It may also be limited to a particular type of system or manufacturer. Other NOCs are completely independent companies that specialize in this area. These providers have ready-to-use customization options to meet the unique needs and challenges of your business.

Either way, NOC partners can identify inefficiencies in their current setup and provide solutions so they can continue to loop with frequent updates, clear communication paths (email, text message, phone, etc.). You can, AND transparency.

 Myth # 3: Data Cannot Be Trusted By Third Parties

Data security is a legitimate concern for companies that store confidential information, customer records, and financial data. Security is the starting point for any company that outsources. Experienced NOC services cannot continue to do business if they cannot provide a secure environment for your data.

NOC partners built their business around procedures to protect information from security breaches and cyber attacks. And if you are concerned about all the data you are monitoring, your data will remain completely separate from the data of other customers you have. If you are still not sure, ask your networks operations provider how to protect your network. This makes it easy to share only the data you need to provide the service.

Myth # 4: Having a Remote Team Means Giving Up Control

Do you insist on managing the daily activities of your external cleaning team? No We did a thorough research, analyzed which companies performed the services we needed, and interviewed them to determine which was the best. The same process is used for NOC partners. Review all of these offers to see if it can be flexible to meet your needs, how long you've been in business, and make a phone call. They will be happy to discuss what you are looking for and suggestions on how they can help you.

You don't have to manage your NOC on a daily basis, but you can request regular communication to keep it 100% transparent and up-to-date, especially if something goes wrong. Set up a runbook with the appropriate protocol for all problems. You can also provide an Internet portal where you can check the status of your network at any time.

Myth 5: All NOCs are Abroad

Many NOC service providers are located abroad, but some are not. If this is a deciding factor for your business, don't worry, you have a choice. You can find the best NOC here in America. These NOCs operate in your country, and probably your time zone as well, giving you peace of mind with qualified hands who are familiar with your country's regulations and can easily communicate with them at any time.  

NOC VS IT HELP DESK: Which One Should I Choose?

Technological efficiency has a great impact on your business. You also need to ask yourself if you manage IT technology in the most cost-effective way. Ultimately, you need a solution that helps you maximize your ROI with the best features.

The evolution of managed services has allowed us to minimize costs while improving IT support and infrastructure with 24/7 resources. That is good

IT Help Desk / Service Desk

Imagine an IT help desk as a typical customer service desk that your company calls to solve problems. The IT Help Desk is a great external resource for solving simple problems like resetting passwords.

Unlike NOC, IT help desks are not designed to monitor network surface threats at all times, but when a customer reports and reports a problem, the problem is solved.

NOC (Network Operations Center)

Also known as network operations centers, NOCs tend to take a more practical and practical approach to protecting their networks. NOC is a fully managed and expert external IT team that actively monitors the network for threats, performs regular system maintenance, and also acts as a service desk for internal resources.

The noc support works in a hierarchical system, making it suitable for complex problems. NOC IT specialists can remotely access the entire network and even visit the company on site. 24/7/365 NOCs generally monitor network and system security, performance, and backup processes.

The outsourced NOC services flexibly extend the ICT environment through highly skilled technology and support, and expand capabilities with on-demand enterprise IT services. Only a fraction of the cost of building your own 24/7 virtual NOC.

Which One Should You Choose?

24/7 IT helpdesk

You already have internal IT and are looking for a help desk to solve a simple problem. This frees up internal resources and allows you to focus on other priorities.

The productivity of the internal IT team is hampered. Internal teams can fall behind in solving many simple problems that lack the ability to adequately monitor and protect the network.

The budget is low. If your budget is tight, a help desk can top a NOC. Even if you don't have an internal IT staff, you can pay an external helpdesk to fix a minor problem.

Network Operations Center

Very  little internal IT support. Leaving your network administration to another employee with minimal IT knowledge puts your company's IT landscape at risk. By outsourcing the management of cybersecurity infrastructure, this burden is relieved from internal employees.

24/7 support is required. If you have important data on your business network, you can't afford to experience network downtime in a matter of hours. Hackers always keep in mind that not everyone offers IT support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The outsourced NOC services help accelerate innovation, support critical services, and deliver the experience users demand.

We want to combine low-level equipment and support to solve more advanced network problems. NOC combines a low-level help desk IT solution with advanced network protection and maintenance. NOCs are more expensive, but they can save money for internal IT employees in the long run.

Network Operations Center (NOC) Design Best Practices

The Network Operations Center (NOC) forms the central location of a data center for monitoring work on medium or large networks. In it, NOC engineers monitor and respond to network problems. NOC services form an important link between detecting network problems and implementing the solution (usually a technician is dispatched to a remote site).

Many network operations center (yes, the word "center" is redundant, but useful to understand) are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, but not always. Some companies are in a period of transition of growth. Its network is large enough to justify an investment in the construction of the NOC center, but it cannot justify the cost of staff outside normal or even extended business hours. . In this case, the company uses overtime alarm notifications (via email or phone) to alert on-call technicians of alarms on the network.

At the heart of the noc team is one (or more) central master console. This console accepts input from a few, hundreds, or thousands of remote devices on your network.

When building a NOC from scratch, avoid some common pitfalls that negatively affect performance.

You must work hard to be able to consolidate all the alarms on your network into a single integrated surveillance system. Otherwise, personnel requirements increase due to difficulties associated with alarm monitoring. If you have never experienced the need to monitor a large number of incompatible surveillance systems, you really cannot understand how tedious it is. You must turn your head, learn many interfaces, and struggle to link related alarms from different systems (divided by device compatibility rather than logical division like geography).

You should also make sure that the center console you implement in your networks operations can filter out unwanted alarms. Each network has an adequate number of alarms to log, but does not actually require operator response. The more they are included in the NOC, the more often the NOC technician will be trained to ignore the warning message. A good center console can hide unimportant messages from staff and show truly important messages at the top of the list.

To better understand what CBs need, it is helpful to review the sample kit. I like to use the T / Mon LNX center console. This is because it contains many of the concepts just described.

The most useful thing about T / Mon is that it can know many protocols (both newer and legacy). The count at this point is actually approximately 25, allowing the T / Mon to avoid the multiscreen headache described above. All alarms are likely to be centralized in a central system, allowing the computer to do busy work rather than personnel.

T / Mon intelligently filter incoming alarm messages, allowing your staff to focus on important alarms. You can configure a simple rule that T / Mon will use to decide to show / hide each new alarm message. T / Mon logs all incoming alarms received in the Network Action Center, so you can see all the alarms received after the incident.

When choosing a NOC center console, it is also important to choose a console that has a convenient and intuitive interface. Don't waste time trying to figure out what an alarm means when staff can react to it. Every minute you waste your NOC monitoring, you pay more, and you're more likely to miss issues that can extend network security downtime.

T / Mon contains a pair of interfaces that comply with this standard. The most used within the NOC is the T / GFX software. This was done in Microsoft Windows and used a MapPoint map as the background for the alarm. Reminders are displayed on the actual geographic map rather than a non-visual text message list, so staff (even if not well-trained) can easily see where the alarm is occurring. I will. This is especially useful if you are trying to interpret the root cause of a large number of simultaneous alarms. Knowing that alarms are concentrated in a single area makes it very clear where the problem lies.

However, there are cases in which you do not participate in the NOC. Sometimes you have to go outdoors. You can access the T / Mon Web 2.0 interface from anywhere you have a PC workstation, including laptops at remote sites with LAN access. This web interface is designed for quick alarm review and is color-coded rather than a geographic map.

Of course, the best thing about the alarm interface is that you don't have to install any software to use it. Just enter the IP address of your T / Mon in your web browser and press "Enter". After a page has been loaded for a few seconds, T / Mon no longer needs to refresh the page. This is a feature of Web 2.0 technology. The page updates automatically, but traditional update is not required. Always have current alarm data.

Why Is It Important For Companies To Use A Network Operations Center (NOC)?

IT outsourcing. It is a "thing". It has also proven to be a great advantage for companies that need to access a wide range of talented people outside of the hassle of hiring. Outsourcing of applications / web development, business processes (BPO) and infrastructure maintenance has become "business as usual" for many companies. However, there is a new acronym, NOC outsourcing, in the field of outsourcing.

What is the NOC?

NOC is short for Network Operating Center. This is a normal internal IT function that consists of all activities aimed at maintaining smooth infrastructure, systems, and network operations.

Ensuring the best NOC performance is not an option for Managed IT Service Providers (MSPs). Otherwise, you run the risk of losing your business due to SLA breaches. But, as we all know, with Remote Monitoring Management (RMM) software, things can go wrong day or night. This often means putting team members "on call" during non-business hours. Not the best "privilege" for employees, is it? Also, ensuring the provision of noc support services without interruption 24x7 is costly.

Advantages Of Adopting NOCaaS

First, all companies, regardless of size, understand the important role NOCs play in all functions. Good operation means stability, robust and consistent functionality, and security through continuous monitoring and maintenance of your IT infrastructure.

However, if that infrastructure is moving to the cloud, then monitoring and maintenance will have to change, even in stages. We are not giving up control as much as we need to enter a NOC that supports the transition. And outsourcing that feature has a few distinct advantages:

1. Financial Considerations

There is a continuous flow of new monitoring tools developed in response to new threats and potential problems. Such tools can be a big budget expense, not to mention the training in-house technical staff must take to use them. These costs are often unpredictable and difficult to budget, especially for small businesses. The cost of establishing an internal initial NOC environment is also a great cost. On the other hand, a subcontracted NOC is a known expense that can be budgeted in advance.

Then hire a new employee for the NOC role and you will understand the costs. If we don't add staff, we train existing staff to remove them from other jobs. And of course, if something goes wrong and it's a big event, it's "all decks." And there really is no other option. If you want everyone in your organization to be able to perform tasks, your IT functions should run smoothly.

2. Improve Business Focus

Do you have a business. You want to grow and develop new products and services. In other words, there are projects that involve internal IT staff. If you need to spend time tracking down a problem, you should blur your business functions and solve the problem.

By using a managed service provider focused solely on NOCs, you will be provided with the tools, experience and processes to deliver what you need. That is the only thing they do, and it is a great advantage for you. Alerts, response times, and proactive support to serve users mean less downtime in case of problems.

3. Improved Security And Compliance

Engaging an experienced NOC as a service provider means that all security responsibilities are a major concern. That's good. They already have the talent, tools, and technology to maintain the highest safety standards. On the other hand, there is no need to allocate time and resources on a daily basis to the security “cleaning service”, and staff must be reassigned to more important issues.

The same can be said to ensure compliance with ever-changing regulations regarding customer privacy and data storage rules. You don't have to invest in staff training or infrastructure changes to check all the regulatory boxes.

4. High SLA Level With Less Downtime

Network monitoring is a complex and multifaceted process, often with many unknown loops. For companies, this means that their attention must always have different purposes. Failure to do so risks losing big problems, resulting in increased downtime and violating your service levels.

Choosing to outsource network infrastructure monitoring can offer several benefits at once.

• Scalable access to resources.
• On-demand access to a team of experts with NOC skill sets. You can automate and adjust your NOC settings.
• With 24-hour support, you can operate smoothly at any time.

Why Do Companies Choose NOCaaS Outsourcing?

For most companies, the success of a company largely depends on the proper functioning of its networks and IT systems. To ensure stability, functionality, and security, it is important to have highly available resources to continuously monitor your 24x7 system. Outsourcing network operations center (NOCs) help organizations of all sizes monitor, measure, protect and analyze. Support mission-critical data and micro services, network management, and more efficient execution of business applications.

Why Do Companies Choose Outsourcing?

Companies are experiencing the "cloud effect". More processes are being sent to the cloud exponentially. With this growth, fewer companies are considering implementing FTE in the field to manage IT operations as applications and production environments move to more hyperscale environments.

It is also difficult to secure qualified personnel to manage internal networks operations services. Employees who manage IT operations often spend most of their time tracking problems rather than solving problems for their organization. As a result, the cost of each reported problem is high, user satisfaction is low, and productivity is low.

Outsourcing NOCs can help you lower operating costs, free up valuable internal resources, and optimize strategic workflows and processes while addressing strategic efforts. The following are some of the benefits that companies experience with outsourced NOC or NOC-as-a-Services (NOCaaS).

NOCaaS Advantages:

• Level 1-3 support and escalation management teams assist in incident resolution and rapid communication
• Dedicated and knowledgeable staff reduce ticket volume without adding internal FTE staff
• Automated quality control tests, security / data penetration tests, documented compliance tests
• Reduces the administrative burden and costs associated with IT operations and support
• Greater reliability, greater efficiency and peace of mind for IT executives.
• Monitor and alert with key incident support on demand
• NOC build, operate, transfer (BOT) configuration
• Create NOC response playbook
• Create dashboards of health and business products as needed
• Incorporate AI-driven initiatives for incident response and remediation
• Create a change management process.
• Advise on new or current toolkits to augment the best practice framework

Here Are Some Key Questions To Ask Your NOCaas Provider.

Does the provider have application and infrastructure experience? You want a provider to do the deployment. Otherwise, they lose valuable time as they speed up and spend even more time stopping the fire service on the way. Find a proven provider of infrastructure and application type management, be it a Cisco Contact Center or a VMware Private Cloud.

Can You Grow And Grow To Support Your Business?

There are hundreds of providers out there, and not all of them are created equal. Before choosing a provider to manage outsourced NOC services, make sure they can effectively support your business forecasts for the next two to five years.

Do They Follow The Best Practices Of The ITIL Processes?

ITIL is more than an acronym. A proven way to significantly increase the visibility and control of your IT processes. In a NOC environment, ITIL Incident Management provides a formalized and structured framework for managing service issues. It offers a number of key benefits, including timely resolution of service interruptions, improved operational efficiency, improved visibility of business stakeholders, and consistent capture of incident information. Supports continuous process optimization.

How Quickly Can They Diagnose And Fix Service Problems?

The NOC's objective is to keep critical business services operational. Unless your NOC provider can guarantee service recovery within a well defined and acceptable time frame, you are putting your business at risk. Ask about the provider's NOC platform. If you are using a disconnected set of tools, restoring services can be time consuming.