The Argument for Physical NOCs

It is my opinion that the virtual NOC came about primarily due to cost. Mostly smaller MSPs, trying to compete with larger service providers, would look at a virtual NOC as a critical advantage in that strategy.

First came the removal of the service delivery infrastructure from the MSP's environment into the cloud, compared to the telco and "traditional MSP" model of housing all the monitoring and management systems within the NOC environment. The next change was the de-centralization of the NOC team members. De-centralization was done, in my opinion, mostly to cut down on the costs of physically securing and constructing costly NOC facilities.

We have written extensively about the differences between NOCs but the purpose of our discussion today is the advantages organizations (such as IBM Australia) are recognizing be having employees back in the office. For MSPs with virtual NOCs, there could be disadvantages to having NOC teams working remotely (i.e., remote workers vs. having multiple NOCs in different geographic locations).

IBM Australia's stated reasons appear to be mostly for the benefit of the employee. Being isolated comes with a price. Lack of human interaction, nobody to talk to or collaborate with, all can weigh on a person. The added pressures of working in an isolated home environment can lead to shorter careers with the MSP, increased employee dissatisfaciton, and ultimately poorer customer service.

“Everything in moderation, including moderation.” Oscar Wilde may have been on to something here. MSPs need to come up with a reasonable solution for dealing with keeping NOC team members productive and happy. Despite what some employees may think, working from home may not be the best solution.

What are your thoughts?