IT 101: What does my IT department do, and why would I be interested in Network as a Service (NaaS)?

These days most companies have their own IT department. IT people handle anything from connecting printers and resetting passwords to installing firewalls and fighting malware attacks. They are responsible for making the technology work today and planning for tomorrow. With technology constantly changing and new equipment needed, it’s a lot for an in-house team to keep up to date. We expect more and more from our IT departments with each passing year.

Usually, the IT department staff consists of one head CIO/CTO person with a few senior level direct reports with a few more layers underneath them. Oftentimes the organization branches out into specializations, like wireless or security, and within each division there are experts at the top with novices at the bottom. Many times, there is a separate small group or individual person in charge of the help desk in which any employee can call and ask for basic computer help. These people are responsible for making all the technology work at a business.

There are many different physical components of IT. There is the overt hardware that all employees know about: computers, printers, phones, etc. Then there is hardware that is a bit more behind the scenes. Servers, routers, and firewalls make up the network equipment. These are used to store data, make computers communicate with one another and the Internet, and to keep the company safe from viruses and hackers. WiFi access points, usually installed on the ceiling, round out the physical pieces of business technology.

The software part of business technology is comprised of the computer software we all see like Microsoft Office and Adobe licensing, but it’s also choosing the correct code version and virtual firewalls for the behind-the-scenes equipment. The hardware running the network often needs software updates to keep up with security issues. There is also cloud based computing that many businesses are increasingly leveraging and having to integrate with older, onsite, IT.

Traditionally, businesses purchase all their IT equipment and maintain the staffing required to design, install, and maintain the network. When equipment needs replaced and upgraded, oftentimes expert consultants are called in to help design and install new gear. These experts are expensive and only temporary.

The problem we now see is that today’s technology is too complicated. When a manufacturer or reseller makes a list of all the gear a company needs to upgrade their network, creates a network design to show where everything goes, and then gives the general instructions on how to implement the new components, most of the time it’s just too complex. Upgrades never seem to go as planned because old equipment is unpredictable and doesn’t always connect to new gear the way it should. The in-house IT staff often isn’t fully prepared to know all the caveats and niche problems that can arise. As an IT expert, it’s often difficult to recommend the most advanced solution for a company because we know that it will be too complex for standard IT departments to maintain long-term.

This is where NaaS comes in. NaaS is an outcome-based solution for technology in which a regular company gets the power of Fortune 100 IT without the staffing and budget of Google. A NaaS subscription provides your business with all of the best networking hardware, software, and engineering. Unlike traditional IT where different pieces of technology are hodgepodged together, NaaS is a simple, cutting edge, alternative that works.   

When you pull back the curtain of the NaaS solution offered by MOJO, you see a team of expert engineers who have been helping major corporations run their technology departments for years. A team of engineers who are constantly in the bowels of the internet and know the most advanced solutions to problems of all sizes. These engineers have decades of experience and are on top of the latest security threats facing businesses. As a team, they design and implement a customized solution for any sized business, and best of all, MOJO NaaS is offered as a convenient subscription service. Close back those curtains and all you need to worry about is what technology messes your business needs cleaned up and resolved.

Network as a Service is the future of IT. The ROI simply isn’t there anymore for most companies to completely handle their IT needs. Handing off some, or all, of the IT to a partner like MOJO will get companies back to focusing on their business sales and productivity.