Network managers don't mind getting the user's eagle eye

More and more network managers are having their performance assessed against end user experience through the use of internal service-level agreements (SLAs).

Research by analysts Spikes Cavell has found that corporate network services are increasingly being cross-charged to user departments rather than coming from a central IT budget.

The vital nature of the network - and the fact that end users are paying for it - means those users are more likely to keep a close eye on network managers' performance.

The survey of 200 network managers revealed, however, that industry professionals are not averse to scrutiny.

Of those surveyed, 43 per cent had a formal internal SLA, and of those that didn't, 47 per cent welcomed the idea.

"Network professionals can no longer live in an ivory tower. They must look at what end users want," said Judith Budd, an analyst at Spikes Cavell.

The survey also revealed that many network professionals are avoiding outsourcing in order to provide better service and maintain control over their networks.

Elements that are most likely to be outsourced are time- and labour-intensive tasks that involve peaks of activity while adding little value.

Examples of this include maintenance and installation on the local area network, and maintenance, installation, upgrades and problem identification on the Wan.

Only 11 per cent of the survey's respondents would never consider outsourcing in any form. Of the remainder, 42 per cent cited costs, and 25 per cent skills, as the deciding factor in choosing between insourcing and outsourcing. A further 19 per cent of network professionals cited 'relative quality of service' as the key concern.