As far as I can tell, we don't need managed internet. We'll obviously know when our connection is down, and our existing provider is small enough, that they should also know and be on top of it by the time I call in. Internet isn't our business, so if we're down for a while, it's not a huge loss of business. Also, we've only had one outage (which was followed by a power outage shortly after), in the 3+ years we've been with them.
I've searched Google for the benefits of managed internet, but have really only have found AT&T's whitepapers...which is obviously a sales paper.
Can anyone explain unmanaged vs managed internet? And, while I'm capable of my own conclusions, why a small association would need/want managed over unmanaged.
Personally/Professionally speaking, I don't want to switch. I'm happy with our current ISP, but I feel AT&T may undercut our new quote for our current ISP to get us to switch...
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dbwine wrote: Can anyone explain unmanaged vs managed internet? And, while I'm capable of my own conclusions, why a small association would need/want managed over unmanaged.
I'm sure there are ISPs and carriers that live up to their claims but it has been my experience that managed means absolutely nothing.
I've worked in realms and rabbit holes where there were numerous military circuits which were always "managed". They would be put in for one lame project or another (some I was vaguely aware of) that would never reach completion and never get taken out. You could physically disconnect them (as they weren't being used) for years and nobody cared. You could take the circuit number and call the carrier and they would tell you that you didn't have the authority to disconnect any given circuit. If you asked them who does, well that's confidential and we can't tell you but it isn't you. Numerous dedicated "managed" circuits persisted for many years, sometimes decades with the DSU powered down. Someone, somewhere was paying for them but who ever might have at one time known what it was, where it went or what it was for had long since moved on or even died. These things always died, except for the billing, that was going somewhere and being paid forever, that much they were able to confirm :)
Good question - and one that we get a lot from our Spice clients, but usually asked when a customer is upgrading from a best effort service (Cable, DSL etc.) to Dedicated Fiber. In the AT&T Enterprise world, Managed internet (AT&T EAMIS) is simply referring to a dedicated fiber circuit that they are proactively monitoring for performance SLA metrics (including uptime, latency, jitter, packet loss etc).
So the benefits are just that, the proactive monitoring that allows the carrier's NOC to know of an outage or problem before you do, allowing them to not only notify you (so you and your users know the problem is being worked) as well as initiate troubleshooting and resolve on the engineering side. While it is standard in the industry today for all providers to manage your connection, whether or not you can live with downtime or rely on the NOC to be responsive is really your call.
But you are right to say that you would certainly know when your circuit is down - which is why many businesses combine the managed internet connection with a secondary internet service to create redundancy and resilience on the network - because for them uptime is mission critical. In your case, it's not - so this type of service level may really not be important. Does the rest of your organization feel the same way?
The real issue you will have with AT&T is that you are buying AT&T - direct, from a direct sales person - who will say and do pretty much anything to get you to sign up. You'll read many threads on spiceworks where the pitfalls and woes of AT&T fiber are discussed. AT&T sales process is aggressive, provisioning is convoluted and communication is non-existent. If you do go AT&T, you'll want help from an agency (like CommQuotes!) to help navigate the waters a bit. We install a LOT of AT&T, and most of it is ordered and provisioned through the ACC Business (AT&T Business) Channel - which is only available through the agent channel. It's still AT&T Fiber, engineering, even employees, just streamlined processes, communication and of course better dedicated support than normal AT&T channels. Unless you are looking for AT&T to provide voice service as well (ACC is DIA only), you will want to go this route hands down.
There are also dozens of other providers out there that can use AT&T last mile and give you even better support and service. Lots of options... Although AT&T/ACC 10M Managed fiber for ~$580 (current promo in most markets) is hard to beat.
The fact that you like your ISP is a great thing, and should mean something to your organization, but we know all too well that saving money means everything. The trick is finding a provider that gives you a great customer experience at a low cost.
We are a telecommunications master agency partnered with hundreds of ISP, VoIP and Cloud providers across the globe, all with better than direct pricing and enhanced support/escalation channels. PM me if you want to discuss - and see a few negotiated options (including AT&T/ACC).
We help SpiceHeads navigate and negotiate telecom installs/migrations all day every day. You can also request help on our website: www.commquotes.com/spiceworks and read our spicy reviews here --> Spice Reviews
@Dave, Have Phil price out your options for you and go from there. You will see just about every solution that is available all on one spreadsheet and know any install chargers upfront.
Managed usually isnt worth the extra price and going off your post I dont think you need it.
If your company was very large, with a heavy dependence on internet then yes I can see it being a good option.
However with the wealth of tools available (PRTG,Spiceworks, Solarwinds-most providers are using this, Nagios, etc) and external monitors (uptimerobot, etc) out there you would be able to know and start the reaction before the provider.
The provider is still going to wait a few minutes (15 or whatever) to see if the circuit recovers, then call and confirm that it's out on their end. The only real advantage is it may leapfrog a couple of tiers initiating the repair procedure.
Managed circuits are commonplace in enterprise but in smaller set-ups it's just one more layer of expense....
The real issue you will have with AT&T is that you are buying AT&T - direct, from a direct sales person - who will say and do pretty much anything to get you to sign up. You'll read many threads on spiceworks where the pitfalls and woes of AT&T fiber are discussed. AT&T sales process is aggressive, provisioning is convoluted and communication is non-existent.
Yep, I am pretty much against AT&T just for this reason. If somehow the powers that be decide to go with AT&T after my strong objections, I will be disappointed.
We install a LOT of AT&T, and most of it is ordered and provisioned through the ACC Business (AT&T Business) Channel - which is only available through the agent channel. It's still AT&T Fiber, engineering, even employees, just streamlined processes, communication and of course better dedicated support than normal AT&T channels. Unless you are looking for AT&T to provide voice service as well (ACC is DIA only), you will want to go this route hands down.
Managed means nothing other than you are getting charged more and maybe they soaked you for equipment. AT&T has some nice infrastructure; in the past they were known for charging more than most...
I always deploy my own locked-down routers (plus routing protocol(s) if needed) and maintain them with the help of a few staff members. It makes troubleshooting a lot easier for 99% of the downtime issues that one typically encounters due either to local exchange carrier (LEC) butchering things in the basement/central office or the ISP.
As for who the powers that be select, thank your lucky stars that Enron is gone. In a gig years back I was getting my arm twisted by the CxO's to move all US domestic connectivity to them. Thankfully they finally listened to reason instead of believing marketing hype and plain ole BS : /
I love the story about circuits still being paid for. Finding unused services happens all the time, as firms vendors never give them have that kind of visibility in to the details. (We even had a client who was running unused obsolete services for old main frames on their MPLS circuits.) This story was more diabolical because no one was authorized to do anything about it.
I've also seen how AT&T Wireless will sell more expensive enterprise services which no one actually uses, instead of the regular services customers really want.
We always get vendors to fully explain exactly what they'll be providing and what the features are (and if there's an SLA or other guarantee) and compare it to current business needs and services. With something like Managed Internet there may be no real difference for your organization.
I am currently being told by a third party sales company that AT&T managed service is priced LESS than Un-Managed. I dont want managed, but I dont want to pay more for un-managed. Does this make any sense at all ?
what is at&t managed internet service, what is managed internet service
Source: http://docphy.com/technology/computers/software/unmanaged-vs-managed-internet-service.html
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