With pressure mounting for IT departments to cut costs, maintain performance and build a flexible infrastructure, Asia-Pacific CIOs are increasingly looking to outsource their network infrastructure to managed service providers.
Roundtable participants, representing network service providers, managed service players and infrastructure providers, sat down over breakfast to discuss the thriving market, and the technologies and trends that are shaping it.
Infocomm infrastructure and service providers today face unprecedented challenges.
Disasters and pandemics have caused businesses to review their business continuity plans and existing services with infrastructure providers. The global economic downturn has brought many customers back to the table, rethinking how they could reduce costs and realize greater returns from infocomm investments.
With costs and efficiencies under the spotlight more than ever before, these turbulent times offer greater opportunities for managed service providers.
Cloud computing
Key issues discussed included the need for standards to measure and ensure the quality of managed services, the role of governments in regulating and/or liberalizing the industry, as well as how to ensure resilience in the event of disasters and pandemics.
One of the chief benefits of managed services is of course the immediate savings on capex. However, most participants noted that, while that's the value proposition, the reality is usually much more complicated.