What is a managed network, and is it right for your business?
Router, internet, wifi, security: in many businesses each part is handled separately. A managed network brings it all together with one provider. What does that mean, and when does it pay off?
In many businesses, the network has grown over the years. The internet provider supplied a modem, someone added a router behind it, the wifi is from another brand and nobody quite remembers the firewall settings. As long as everything works, that is not a problem. But when something goes wrong, the search begins: is it the connection, the router or a setting? And who should you call?
One provider for the entire network
With a managed network, one provider is responsible for all of those parts. They supply and install the equipment, set everything up and keep an eye on it afterwards. For you, that mainly means one point of contact, and no suppliers pointing at each other.
At Source2Cloud, a managed network consists of a few building blocks:
- A managed router at your location, set up by us and managed remotely.
- Static IP addresses that run through our platform. They stay the same, even if you switch internet providers.
- A firewall that only lets through traffic you have agreed with us.
- Monitoring, so we notice when a router or connection drops, often before you do.
When does it pay off?
A managed network is especially worthwhile if your business depends on a working connection but you do not have an IT department that deals with it every day. A few situations where you will notice the difference:
- You have multiple sites that need access to the same files or systems. We can link them into a single network through an encrypted connection.
- You need a static IP address, for example to access an external system, and do not want to be tied to one provider.
- Downtime costs you money straight away. With a backup connection, such as 4G or 5G, the router switches over automatically when the fibre goes down.
- You want to handle small things yourself, like the wifi or opening a port, without making the network less secure.
The goal of good network management is that you notice it as little as possible.
Do you need to switch providers?
No. Our router works with your existing internet connection. Because your static IP addresses run through our platform, they do not have to change if you do switch providers later on.
Curious whether it fits your situation?
Every situation is different. That is why we always start with an introduction, in which we look at your locations, connections and requirements. After that, you receive a clear proposal with no obligation. Feel free to get in touch.