With over twenty-two years of experience Xavier Surentherathas, Senior Director, Partner Sales, Park Place Technologies leads and oversees the organization’s sales policies, goals, and initiatives related to the company’s short and long-term sales strategies. He evaluates the effectiveness of the sales team.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) phenomenon continues to sweep across the global IT industry as companies look to make the most of its potential for transformatory change. Despite the numerous opportunities it presents, Generative AI (GenAI) also brings with it a substantially larger burden on IT infrastructure and operations.

In a bid to deal with the additional workload, we are witnessing a trend of increasing reliance on external or third-party services for IT operations. A recent report by IDC reveals that over 70 percent of surveyed companies prefer to partner with third-party maintenance providers in 2024, a sharp rise from less than 40 percent a decade ago.

The effects of increased AI-driven load and rising reliance on outsourced processes are visible in physical sites that are crucial to basic IT operations. These include the likes of data centres and network operations centres (NOCs).

An NOC is a location or site where telecommunications network systems are managed and meticulously monitored, usually round-the-clock. These centres play a key role in providing consistent, reliable, and quick connectivity for IT organizations, aiding business operations by ensuring optimal network performance. Crucially, NOCs are also amongst the very first lines of protection against network failure and potential security threats. They accomplish this by:

● Enhancing network performance through updates and regular maintenance.

● Immediately addressing potential problems that might negatively impact network quality.

● Keeping an eye out for security threats such as malware attacks or breaches.

● Monitoring and managing network user or website visitor count that could become overwhelming.

While NOCs are undoubtedly an integral part of an organization’s attempts to minimize downtime, these locations do involve a considerable amount of monitoring, observation, and management. As a result, a growing number of IT companies are actively looking to outsource the management of their physical sites to external specialist firms. The benefits that companies stand to obtain from this include:

● Cost efficiency, since third-party maintenance firms often offer all-encompassing packages for end-to-end servicing, which works out as the more affordable option.

● Access to specialized knowledge, expertise, and the latest technologies of external partners, which can then be leveraged for better network quality.

● Increased focus on core business functions, since outsourcing base processes frees up internal teams, allowing them to prioritize strategic initiatives rather than devoting time to monitoring routines.