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How IT Managed Services Have Evolved To Become The Comprehensive Industry We Know Today

Sitting at your desk right now, surrounded by the tools you need to do your job, it’s most likely pretty hard to remember a time when your day-to-day life wasn’t directly tied to the use of various technologies. Emails, texts, presentations, excel sheets, video calls etc. etc. the list goes on and on. Tech plays an integral part in how we communicate, interact, relax, learn, and most notably here, how the world does business.

The majority of companies would be unable to function without the use of such technologies. However, it really wasn’t too long ago that all this modernization of business became the norm. If you need evidence of that, just reference this classic. Even with the surge of technology in the workplace being relatively recent, the way we manage and maintain our IT has undergone multiple evolutions over the past couple decades.

In The Beginning….
As businesses began to embrace the use of new communication platforms and technology in the early 90’s, they quickly realized that someone would have to maintain these systems. Thus, IT as we know it was born.  The typical model for IT during this period was known as the practice of “break it, fix it.” As you probably guessed, this method involved addressing problems only as they occurred. If something broke, it was time to fix it. Companies would call their IT representative, usually someone from the manufacturer that made the broken system, and the manufacturer would then send someone to fix it. This method was sporadic, unpredictable and often times very costly.

IT Enters The Managed Services Realm
Throughout the course of the 90’s, break it, fix it was the status quo of the IT industry. As the new millennium dawned on the horizon, technology in the office place was quickly becoming more complex and widespread. As a result, the break it, fix it model was not only unable to keep up, but also becoming financially irresponsible for businesses. Having a large, unexpected IT bill hit your budget without foresight is enough to make any accounting department scream. Not to mention the detriments of long periods of downtime and waiting to have someone come in and fix an issue in an economy that was becoming faster paced by the second. The reactive process of break it, fix it could no longer sustain itself with a proactive world.

Here is where we begin to see a shift towards the managed services model of IT. Companies that were previously running on the break it, fix it method began to see the benefits of having flat rate fees that guaranteed a certain amount of on-going service. Regularly scheduled service days became the norm, allowing for the identification of issues before they became critical. Think of this as a hybrid approach. IT was becoming more proactive, but if a problem arose outside of your scheduled visit or pre-arranged contract, it was back to the old ways of break it, fix it. Much of the early 2000’s used this approach, but with technological advances occurring at exponential rates, this hybrid method was never going to last for long.

With wireless and eventually cloud technology becoming more prominent in the early and mid-2010’s, full 24-hour IT managed services became the solution to the bottleneck slowdowns occurring with the old ways of managing networks.

Modern Day Solution
Nowadays, through Cloud technology, large and small companies alike benefit from the use of off-site managed IT services. Whether you’re a start-up that can’t afford a full-time IT staff, or a top player in your industry that wants your tech department to focus on larger picture business initiatives, you can leave the server management and operations to a third-party expert, knowing issues will be actively identified and resolved.

Utilizing managed services instead of the antiquated method of fixing problems as they arise allows your business to plan ahead, both financially and technologically. No more one-off solutions with unexpected fees. No more patching holes while the ship is still sinking. No more downtime while you wait for help. Managed services incentivize solving underlying problems by actively searching for issues and long-term strategies for your IT. Rates are fixed, response time is instantaneous, and plans are catered to your company’s individual tech needs.

iConvergence Managed Services
Managed services through iConvergence gives your company 24/7 access to a complete and experienced IT team.  Infrastructure management, help desk support, cybersecurity prevention & monitoring ensure your network is protected, backed-up and operating at full efficiency. Our Virtual CIO enables your business to strategically plan, budget and carry out smart practices across your network, so you can quickly adapt and implement the latest technologies to keep your company at peak performance. iConvergence ensures that your business’s network is efficient, productive and able to advance with the ever-changing world of technology. Reach out to iConvergence today to learn more and give your company the competitive edge in IT.

IBN has been a big topic of conversation in the last two years—the question is, what is it, and how will it help your business?

In the last few years, there has been a lot of buzz around intent-based networking. The term isn’t new, but Cisco renewed a relatively idle conversation in 2017 at Cisco Live, the annual gathering of IT professionals.

Since that time, there has been a good deal of confusion surrounding intent-based networking (IBN) and how it is different from SDN (Software Defined Networking). Adding to the confusion, vendors have started to re-brand existing solutions as ‘intent-based’ making it difficult to differentiate between marketing hype and fact.

Given the confusion, you might be wondering what IBN truly is, and how the technology can help your business.

Network engineers today are expected to manage an expanding number of connected devices, and this number is only going to grow. According to research conducted by Statista, by 2020, the installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices is expected to rise to nearly 31B worldwide. As this number grows, complexity and risk grow alongside it. Through digital transformation, businesses managing networks using traditional methods are finding it a challenge to keep up with agile competitors, and as a result, they are inching closer to full-scale disruption.

Cisco’s intent-based networking solution—the Network Intuitive—provides contemporary businesses with the tools needed to deploy a network able to scale from thousands to millions of connected devices, and can learn continually, adapt and automate critical operations, keeping businesses secure in the face of an evolved threat landscape. Intent-based networking is essential for companies wishing to reach digital maturity.

The primary goal of the intuitive network is to transcend the management of individual devices, moving into a globally managed policy, controlled from a single location that runs through the network. This technology makes use of machine-learning and advanced automation to control networks, representing a significant transformation in the enterprise. It’s taken years to arrive at the point where machine-learning algorithms are mature enough to make IBN a reality—that time has come.

Cisco’s transformational Network Intuitive, built around Cisco’s Digital Network Architecture (Cisco DNA), enables the scale, complexity and security, needed in this world of connected devices.

The three essential components of the Network Intuitive:

• Encrypted Traffic Analysis: an innovation from Cisco giving businesses the ability to leverage the network to uncover hidden threats in encrypted traffic.
• DNA Center: Cisco DNA Center is a centralized management application, which simplifies processes enabling IT to move with velocity. DNA Center uses automation to cut costs, assurance and analytics to improve network performance, and security to eliminate risk.
• Catalyst 9000: Cisco’s most advanced series of switches, purpose-built for full fabric control with Cisco DNA Center, delivering industry-best performance. This powers Cisco’s Network Intuitive.

Intent-based networking is an altogether new approach to managing networks. Cisco’s Network Intuitive gives your business the tools to allow you to eliminate wasted time and money operating your network and gives you the agility your business needs to reach digital maturity.

If you’d like to learn more about IBN, IT modernization, and how iConvergence can help guide your business to digital maturity, get in touch or leave a comment below.

2018 was a big year at iConvergence! Let’s take a look back at some of our favorite blogs from the year.

2019 is right around the corner, but before we pop the champagne at midnight, we wanted to say goodbye to 2018 by reviewing our five favorite blogs of the year, in no particular order. Without further ado, let’s dive in:

Crossing the Digital Divide with Connected Education
The way our children learn is changing as classrooms enter the digital realm, but there is still a long way to go in making sure all students have access to the technologies that help educate the country’s youth. Here we explore how Cisco’s Connected Classroom aims to change that.

Collaboration Tools Are Transforming the American Workplace
The American workplace is changing. Collaboration tools like Cisco’s Webex Teams are making remote work more accessible and productive than ever. In this blog, we look at why over 170 U.S. companies are choosing to operate with a completely remote workforce, and why their employees are happier for it.

SaaS Tools For Work Are Awesome – How Do We Secure Them?
As utilizing SaaS tools like Google Docs, Office 365 and Salesforce become routine in the modern-day workplace, making sure they are secure and protected against hacks is more critical than ever. Here we see how Cisco Umbrella was explicitly designed to help your business protects its employees and their data from those trying to steal it.

Reasons to Modernize Your IT Infrastructure for the Digital Era
The world is entering the digital era, whether or not your company is ready. This blog lists five significant reasons it’s time to take IT modernization seriously. Putting together an end-to-end plan to ensure your business will thrive regardless of what the future of digital disruption holds is essential. If you’re looking to gain a competitive edge, boost your revenue or merely have the peace of mind that your business’ technology is secure and adaptable, then this blog is for you.

Digital Transformation Has Arrived, But Will Your Company Change?
Last but certainly not least, we have our blog that examines digital transformation, the impact it’s having on everything from banking to ordering a pizza, and whether your company will thrive by embracing this wave, or lose relevance by pushing it aside as a passing trend. We also offer helpful advice your business can use to better address the adjustment to the digital world. This is a must read for any executive wanting to stay competitive in the modern economy.

There you have it. Now we can put a ribbon on 2018 as we look forward to what 2019 has in store. We’d like to extend our warmest of thanks to the friends of iConvergence, our loyal customers, and all our colleagues that helped make this past year so enjoyable. The future is looking bright, and we can’t wait to see what exciting developments the world of technology will bring us next.

As the threat of digital disruption places increasing pressure on IT systems and organizations, companies, regardless of scale or industry need to consider an end-to-end strategy for upgrading and managing technology.

Louisiana’s businesses, now, more than ever before, are facing critical IT modernization challenges, from retailers needing to digitize the customer buying experience, to companies refreshing legacy applications and hardware, or transitioning to cloud-based technologies, virtual machines, or microservices to deliver software—businesses in the region are in the midst of transformation (or should be).

In the past, companies have implemented a progressive approach to modernizing IT environments, opting to address the most immediate pain points and subsequent issues as they happen. Today, however, the increasing threat of digital disruption is facilitating the need to modernize systems end-to-end, with the broader view in mind.

Creating a holistic plan of attack related to modernization will transform the way your company thinks about IT. Taking this approach makes IT a critical organizational component, helping to drive business outcomes and making IT leaders partners—not just service providers.

5 Reasons every business in the Gulf Coast region must Modernize IT.

Facilitate your migration to the cloud
To digitally transform and earn the competitive advantage and agility needed for success in today’s business environment, many companies have migrated critical business components and applications to the cloud—to do this your overall IT infrastructure must modernize.

Earn a huge revenue boost
Senior IT decision makers see modernization as a catalyst for enhanced financial performance, with the power to boost revenue by an increasing percentage year over year. On the flipside, most senior IT leaders believe failing to modernize IT infrastructures will negatively impact the long-term growth of businesses.

Gain the competitive edge your business needs to earn success in today’s world.
Applying an end-to-end approach to IT modernization will provide your business with the agility necessary to gain a competitive edge in the digital world. Legacy systems were not built to solve the growing requirements of the digital business and taking an incremental approach to modernization is not only too slow—it is too risky.

Your business needs new techniques and technologies to facilitate a cloud approach.
To earn the benefits of using modern software engineering techniques, like DevOps, agile application development, and a cloud approach, your business needs to work with a partner skilled at building and managing a contemporary IT infrastructure. Modern software engineering techniques and tools will lead to improved overall business performance at all levels.

Earn the peace of mind that comes with knowing your business is secure.
Every business leader knows their data and systems are under threat, and it’s not a matter of if, but when, an attack will occur. Modernizing your IT infrastructure is the first step toward improved cybersecurity. Legacy systems create massive vulnerabilities for your business. By applying an end-to-end approach to modernizing IT, and partnering with a managed services provider to oversee the strategy, implementation and maintenance of your environment, you will not only earn a competitive advantage—you’ll be able to get some sleep.

If you’re not there yet, don’t worry—you’re not alone. Less than 35% of the businesses in our region have implemented a modernized IT infrastructure or have created a strategy to modernize. At iConvergence, our expertise, knowledge and experience make us the ideal partner to build a roadmap to IT modernization, and whether you go all-in on the cloud, or opt to take a hybrid cloud approach—we can plan, build and manage your infrastructure, end-to-end.

Is your business primed for success in the digital era? Find out; take the iConvergence Digital Readiness Assessment.