Virtela Predicts “More For Less” Will Boost Managed Services Adoption In 2009
Vendor Neutrality, Global Footprint and Mid-Market Focus
Drive Virtela Momentum
DENVER, December 10, 2008 - Virtela, the global
network solutions company, predicts a significant increase in the
adoption of managed services in 2009, particularly within the
mid-market, as companies face tighter headcount and capital
constraints in a down economy. Reflecting this trend, Virtela's own
business continues to grow, evidence that managed services like
Virtela's offer the ideal combination of flexible best-in-class
services with a lower total cost of ownership that gives companies
"more for less."
"Our business is thriving because we're delivering services that
help both customers and partners get more for their strained
budgets," said Steve King, president and CEO of Virtela. "The
economic climate has increased the rate of adoption for managed
services even beyond what we anticipated for 2009. Because we give
companies the best network performance available while eliminating
the need to invest in expensive hardware or internal IT experts,
our model is a perfect fit for businesses weathering the
recession."
More businesses are turning to managed services to meet their
"more for less" needs, and industry research confirms that growth
in the adoption of managed services will continue at a steady pace.
For example, Forrester Research "sees late 2009 to 2017 as an
innovation and growth cycle, where business will rapidly invest in
new and innovative technologies. This increased investment and
innovation will prompt buyers to consider managed options - giving
them more nimbleness and breadth to try a variety of
solutions."
Virtela's Business Model Fuels Company Growth, Market
Acceptance
With a unique asset-light model that leverages both partner
infrastructures and proprietary Regional Policy Centers (RPCs),
Virtela delivers the fastest, most reliable and flexible network
services at prices companies can afford. As a result, Virtela has
experienced record growth in 2008, with new orders increasing by 40
percent year-to-date compared to the same period last year and the
third quarter marking the largest sales quarter in the company's
history.
"Globalization has led to market conditions that are primed for
managed service providers because organizations need seamless
network connectivity across the globe, but they can't afford to
invest in hardware and staff to manage and monitor the networks on
their own," said Bill Dodds, Virtela's vice president of sales and
marketing. "Virtela has more agility because we don't use just one
single provider, carrier or technology vendor. We can offer more
competitive and flexible solutions in more locations to meet and
surpass market demands."
"While nothing is immune to the current economic environment,
we're seeing resilience in the demand for managed services that's
expected to accelerate after the current economic downturn," said
Mark Winther, group vice president of worldwide telecommunications
at IDC. "Companies just don't have the internal resources to deploy
all the newest technologies internally or to extend, manage and
monitor them globally. As a result, providers like Virtela are well
positioned to help companies scale and flex with business
volumes.We are going to come out of this downturn with a much
stronger managed services value proposition -- companies will not
go back to the old way of deploying networks."
Opportunities and Predictions for 2009
Virtela sees its focus on underserved markets as a key business
differentiator and will continue that focus moving into 2009. Large
carriers continue to focus their resources on Fortune 100
companies, while openness to managed services within
multi-nationals outside this space continues to grow given the
ability to manage network costs more effectively and mitigate risks
associated with technology decisions.
"These mid-market multinationals don't scale as readily as major
global corporations, so outsourcing their IT needs is even more
critical and they have less support from within the organization,"
said John Powell, Virtela's vice president of global channels.
"We're offering this underserved market the same superior solutions
and customer support that our Fortune 100 customers receive so
every customer gets the best value regardless of the price they are
paying."
Moving into 2009, Virtela predictions include the expansion of
managed services into regions of the world that have been largely
overlooked in the past, including the Middle East and Africa, and
the continued development of enterprise services around
in-the-cloud computing. The company also expects a heightened
industry focus on improving green communications technologies -
telepresence, for example - enabling providers and customers to
come together around a common carbon-reduction goal. With its
asset-light model, Virtela will deliver the new technologies,
extended global reach and competitive price points that
organizations need to drive business growth in any economic
climate.
About Virtela
Virtela, the world's largest independent managed
services company, offers award-winning managed services
including MPLS and IP-based Virtual Private Networks (VPNs),
Security, Remote Access, and WAN/LAN Device Monitoring and
Management, to some of the most competitive multinational companies
in the world. Offering services in 190 countries, Virtela
integrates and manages best-of-breed service providers through
partnerships with 500+ carriers, to address the unique needs of its
customers. Virtela is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, with
Global Network Operations Centers in Denver, Mumbai, India and
Manila, Philippines. For more information, please call +1 (720)
475-4000 or visit www.virtela.net.
Media Contact:
Jane Morrissey
Virtela
720.475.4012 (office)
303.808.7671 (mobile)
jmorrissey@virtela.com
Susan Wise
Greenough Communications
(650) 646-3268 x11
swise@greenoughcom.com