Many enterprise IT organizations today are wrestling with how best to migrate from their legacy dialup and frame relay networks and gain the maximum benefi ts of broadband virtual private networks (VPNs). Inevitably, they discover that the highest overall network performance at the lowest cost can be achieved by leveraging and combining available broadband access technologies such as DSL and satellite. And that by choosing the managed services path, valuable IT staff can be freed up to focus on strategic business tasks while a trusted partner runs their network. Furthermore, such a partnership means that new broadband VPN developments and features can be more rapidly assessed and implemented, ensuring continuous improvement in network performance and sustained viability.
As a leading managed network services provider, Hughes is continually building on the strengths of its HughesNet Managed Services offering and recently introduced several new capabilities, namely proactive fault management and performance management.
Proactive Fault Management
As businesses grow, they become more dependent on their networks, which means that maximum uptime takes on ever greater importance. Fault management, whose goal is to detect, record, and resolve network problems, has always been part of HughesNet Managed Services. The new proactive fault management capability provides improved monitoring and fault correlation for more rapid fault detection and isolation. When combined with automated trouble ticketing and enhanced help desk support, this new capability allows Hughes support staff to rapidly correct network faults without requiring enterprise help desk intervention.
Enterprises can also obtain detailed dashboard and network map views through the HughesNet Customer Gateway online portal, providing their help desk personnel with a birds-eye view into the network and assisting in rapid trouble resolution.
Performance Management
The objective of performance management is to measure and track various key elements of network performance, ensuring optimal network operation. Hughes’ new performance management capability provides deeper visibility into networks with historical and realtime reporting—at site, network, and application levels. Through the HughesNet Customer Gateway portal, enterprises can access company-specific network reports that analyze peak usage times and application effi ciency to help facilitate capacity planning and deliver real-time usage analysis. These flexible tools and reports help enterprise administrators gather and analyze real-time data on variables of interest, identify performance thresholds, and improve performance.
According to Sampath Ramaswami, senior director, services development and marketing, North America, for Hughes, “Enterprises are under enormous pressure to increase network uptime and improve performance. Our new enhanced management features allow IT managers to quickly understand what is going on with their applications, how they can better utilize their network, and how to improve the network’s performance to better meet their business needs.”
For more complex performance issues, the Hughes Professional Services Team can be employed to perform in-depth network and application assessments, provide recommendations for improving performance, conduct site-by-site analysis, generate trend data, and provide extensive troubleshooting support.
Increased uptime and greater network performance are high on the list of requirements for enterprises. With the help of HughesNet enhanced management functionality, both existing and new Hughes customers can stay focused on their primary business operations, confident in the knowledge that the network is functioning like a fine-tuned machine.