How to choose an Internet service provider

Finding the right service provider can be challenging, so businesses need to understand how to choose a network service provider.

Finding the best provider for SD-WAN, SASE, MPLS, content delivery network (CDN), 5G, or any other network service can be a difficult, frustrating, and tedious process.

Here are some tips for selecting a network service provider that can help enterprise IT leaders navigate each stage of the process.

Create an internal team

Rob Long, partner at technology research and advisory firm ISG, recommends first creating a stakeholder team to examine available options, then documenting a clear vision and consensus strategy based on network service and performance goals.

Amit Dhingra, executive vice president of network services at NTT Corporation, recommends breaking down silos and uniting business and IT teams to support the company's goals in order to achieve the expected return on investment. He said, "Aligning all parties is critical to finding the right partner that will help the company develop, manage and improve the network."

Develop a broad set of priorities

As the number of options continues to grow, the selection of network services is becoming increasingly complex. Between delivering applications through the cloud, and supporting hybrid or remote work on mobile devices that require anytime, anywhere access, enterprises need network service providers that can adapt to their needs at any time.

"Secure, dynamic, experience-first networks are critical to business success," said Karen Falcone, senior director of product at Juniper Networks. She added that accurately assessing network priorities is essential to selecting the best network and vendor. Falcone said the top three priorities should be user experience, security and cost.

She also stressed the need for resilient security, advising that “network planners must introduce strong security systems and practices, such as zero trust principles, to protect data privacy.”

Falcone added, “Balancing security and usability requires a delicate balance, as too many devices interfering can hinder the user experience and undermine network performance.”

“Start with an exhaustive list of end-to-end use cases and outcomes that you want to accomplish over the next 12 to 36 months,” advises Arun Santhanam, vice president of telecommunications at Capgemini Americas, a business and IT consulting firm.

Determine specific technical standards

One reason an enterprise might want to work with a service provider is the expectation that they can provide cutting-edge cloud-based technologies that may be beyond the skill or experience level of internal staff. These include:

• Automation: Automation has become a key feature of networks over the past few years. For example, ask your vendor if you can use automation templates. "When your business needs to quickly and correctly configure and deploy thousands of routers, templates can greatly reduce human error," Falcone said. "With templates, additional configuration, deployment, updates and ongoing management of routers, services and policies are automated and accelerated."
• Visibility: An effective network service should also provide visibility across the entire network and allow for deep insight into details. Network visibility is critical to effectively troubleshooting day-to-day issues. It also allows network administrators to save IT resources while giving team members more time to focus on long-term projects and building critical infrastructure strategies.
• Scalability: Evaluate the initial rollout and how the service will scale as enterprise needs grow. “Dig into features that can help you deploy and scale the solution faster,” Falcone said.
• Artificial Intelligence: “Enterprises are increasingly looking to AI-driven network technologies to quickly troubleshoot and resolve issues.” However, it’s important to remember that not everything marketed as AI is created equal. “It’s important to dig deep into the AI ​​components of the solutions you’re evaluating. Specifically, look at the maturity of the tools and their real-world operational performance,” she said.

Don’t simply rely on vendor promises. “Define the specific features that rely on network providers and test as many use cases as possible with multiple providers in a controlled lab environment to determine which is the best fit,” Santhanam advises.

Don't rush, but don't put it off either

For many new users, evaluating all the different network platforms and services can be a confusing and time-consuming process. The market is evolving rapidly, and providers are always offering new service plans and bundles. For some businesses, there may be a temptation to move too fast to reap the benefits, while for other businesses that typically move slowly, there may be a case of "analysis paralysis."

Kevin Koke, president of business development at CC3 Solutions, a telecommunications services provider, said the biggest mistake he sees network leaders make is rushing into deployments due to the need to replace obsolete equipment, suddenly available funding or some other organizational factor, such as a merger or acquisition. "It's better than ever to plan technology purchases before you need to deploy them," he said.

Long agrees. He says companies should come up with a detailed, well-thought-out list of preferences and allow vendors to come up with a proposed solution that puts the best foot forward for the vendor.

But the process doesn’t end there. He noted, “Once there are solutions to consider, enterprise customers can adjust their needs after several rounds to match what the market offers. Each iteration allows providers to adjust and fine-tune their solutions based on the customer’s increasing specificity about the best work.”

On the other hand, with so many network options available, it's easy to get lost in research. Koke suggests simplifying the issue by setting criteria to limit the choices. "Choosing between private or public, shared or dedicated, wired or wireless -- all of this depends on how the network is designed and what equipment is needed," he said.

Long cautions against doing too much upfront research until the end goal is set. He advises new adopters to determine precisely the number and type of endpoints they need to serve, then determine what kind of connectivity and hardware is needed to support each location.

A practical approach is to proceed in two steps. First, narrow the field to a carefully selected group of suppliers that closely match their scope, goals, and budget. Then, conduct a more in-depth evaluation of these finalists.

Building working relationships

When working with a network service provider, be sure to leverage the power of collaboration. “The confidence, credibility and rapport built between your stakeholders and the vendor will prove invaluable and lead to more informed decision making,” Long says.

While it’s important to lay out criteria, goals and outcomes, it’s also important to give service providers a chance to demonstrate their capabilities. “It provides a deeper level of trust and understanding between enterprise customers and suppliers early in the procurement process,” Long said. “It also opens the door to powerful technologies and capabilities that might otherwise be overlooked if the enterprise simply issues a narrowly defined solicitation.”

When creating a network operations strategy, it's also important to decide the exact role the service provider will play. Does it make sense for the enterprise's IT team to manage the service, or would you prefer the service provider handle the management responsibilities? Perhaps a hybrid approach is most appropriate.

Additionally, Falcone advises making sure your service provider prioritizes digital transformation and is focused on meeting the needs of today’s rapidly evolving networks. “A good service provider will recommend the most innovative solutions and technologies to meet your network needs,” he says.

Negotiate with service providers

Admittedly, cost is a major consideration when searching for the best network technology. Pricing varies widely and depends on speed, range, and many other factors. Santhanam advises, “The best way to negotiate price levels is to pay for features used, not for anticipated needs. Avoid long-term contracts.”

Joe Andrews, vice president of CC3 Solutions, said the two most critical factors in a successful negotiation are understanding where the market is headed in terms of price and service levels, and identifying alternatives.

Develop a long-term transition plan

A common mistake is to ignore or underestimate the need to forecast long-term network needs. "While a particular technology may meet current network needs, one must consider whether it can keep pace with increasing network complexity and growing infrastructure," Falcone said.

Once a network service provider is selected, determining a transition plan is critical. “Our research shows that most relationships that begin without a strong, sound transition plan end within the initial [service] term,” Long said.

The transition plan should define the responsibilities of both parties. It should include when the new service will be launched, what the business needs to do to prepare, metrics for measuring performance and costs, service level agreements, management responsibilities and reporting.

In terms of relationships, it should identify which people will stay in touch to ensure that both parties remain satisfied with the relationship over time.