Step into the workday of an IT manager for any multi-location enterprise and you may wish you hadn’t. It’s not an easy job. Faced with pressure to provide every site, rural and urban, with access to the same company-critical applications, these folks spend their days managing complex, disparate, and often patchwork networks. And if that isn’t enough, they face pressure to provide nationwide coverage and uniform reliability, while delivering greater bandwidth at lower cost. Sound impossible?

For many IT managers, it’s a constant struggle. The quest for the right network service plan, or combination of plans, presents a web of frustrating choices, complex management tasks, and major expenditures of time, people and money. Consider DSL. Securing nationwide coverage could easily require contracts with 30 different vendors. Not exactly the picture of efficiency. Unfortunately, one-stop shopping for broadband hasn’t been a real option for IT managers—until now.

In June 2005, Hughes Network Systems introduced the ultimate in convenience, reliability, and ubiquity of service plan options—under the single umbrella of DIRECWAY^® Unified Broadband. This one-stop, end-to-end managed network service combines satellite and terrestrial platforms to provide the optimal network for a particular customer’s business strategy. Finally, there is one single enterprise-grade solution that covers all the bases, both today and well into the future as the business grows.

And yes, it’s affordable. DIRECWAY Unified Broadband means availability and affordability of broadband access everywhere, whether at HQ and remote branches, or for telecommuters. Costs can be justified for large offices with hundreds of people, through to medium and small remote offices alike.

What Businesses Really Want

Price isn’t the only concern for customers. Ask any IT manager (who has two seconds) and they’ll tell you they want a network that is scalable, secure, and simple to manage—with service levels they can count on. DIRECWAY Unified Broadband is an enterprise-grade solution that speaks to customers’ needs.

“DIRECWAY Unified Broadband introduces the simplicity, convenience, and availability enterprise customers have been waiting for,” said Mike Cook, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Hughes’ North America division. “As the name implies, it unifies multiple access technologies and service providers into a single network with one interface and one service agreement. Businesses across North America will finally be free to focus on their core objectives—not having to manage multiple vendors and technology options.”

A true turnkey managed VPN solution, DIRECWAY Unified Broadband lets businesses select and tailor enterprise-grade service levels to match their requirements. Customers can choose between standard access and managed network offerings, with either private network or Internet topologies. The comprehensive service includes ordering, provisioning, installation, maintenance, and customer support.

Whether built with DSL, satellite, other technology, or some hybrid, each network is fully scalable to efficiently support the introduction of new applications and shifts in customer strategy. DIRECWAY Unified Broadband delivers the precise services required to keep track with business growth and changing objectives. This results in a network that is as agile and flexible as the business itself. What more could a large enterprise want?

The Best of Both Technologies

DIRECWAY Unified Broadband means networks are tailored to the requirements of the enterprise. Satellite broadband brings the advantages of ubiquity, highly efficient multicast and broadcast delivery, plus long-term cost effectiveness. On the other hand, DSL terrestrial transport offers an efficient environment for certain latency-sensitive applications.

When the two technologies are deployed together in a load-sharing or backup configuration, network availability of nearly 100% can be achieved.

The DIRECWAY Unified Broadband suite of services combines all relevant satellite and terrestrial transport options, thereby enabling the network to be optimized to the cost and performance targets of the enterprise, while still retaining the benefits of a single vendor solution.

Changing the Vendor Paradigm

“DIRECWAY Unified Broadband is as much a mindset as it is a service,” said Cook. “It’s about giving customers the right broadband solution for their business, no matter what pieces are required to put the end result together. Business can turn everything over to Hughes and concentrate on their own goals.”

But what drove HNS, a leader in satellite network technology, into the terrestrial world? “Hughes has been managing satellite enterprise networks for Fortune 500 companies for over two decades,” said Cook. “Today, more enterprise locations are under Hughes management than any other managed network provider. So DIRECWAY Unified Broadband is a natural extension. It simply turns what we’ve been doing into a packaged service and builds upon our experience in managing mission-critical networking.”

Of course, HNS will continue its focus on developing satellite technologies and expanding its leadership in the satellite market. “But we’re always on the lookout for new ways to give our customers what they need, using satellites and beyond,” added Cook.

DIRECWAY Unified Broadband also leverages Hughes’ extensive experience in program and network management, with integrated service management, 24/7 proactive network monitoring, dedicated program management support, nationwide on-site maintenance, turnkey nationwide network deployment, and comprehensive service level agreements. Put simply, DIRECWAY Unified Broadband serves up the best new way of doing business in an affordable, tightly bundled package.

“Hughes is an essential strategic network partner for any enterprise. DIRECWAY Unified Broadband allows us to provide exactly the right cost-effective solution to the enterprise and to continue to ensure that the network keeps pace with the changing needs of the business. For Hughes, the scope of our service offerings just got a lot bigger. Our market opportunity just got a lot bigger and we look forward to being able to provide many more services to existing customers.”