Converged Technology Group Asks CIOs: Private, Public or Hybrid? Which Cloud Solution is the Best for Your Business?

ISLANDIA, N.Y., June 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The cloud is opening new doors for CIOs in the ways they are able to deliver mission-critical IT services that affect business outcomes. In today's always-on, interconnected world, nothing is more mission-critical than the way in which IT pros manage their company's network. Through cloud managed networking, many are finding an ability to build and manage private networks from the cloud, giving them the flexibility they need to quickly meet changing business demands, yet remain in complete control of the business' IT assets. According to Converged Technology Group (www.convergedtechgroup.com), an award-winning Managed Services Partner (MSP) serving clients throughout the Northeast, a cloud managed network delivers four key points of flexibility unavailable through more traditional means of network management, as well as a less complex, lower cost network management strategy.

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"Cloud managed networking is about infrastructure management options, and that includes the option  to choose whether that network management is located on premise, in the cloud, or both, and whether it's a capital expense or an operational one," says Scott Nitti, Director of Technology Solutions for Converged Technology Group. "By combining Assist360, our managed services offering, with our relationship with Cisco and our status as a Meraki Elevate Partner, we're able to provide our clients with complete lifecycle services for Cisco cloud infrastructure options – providing the freedom to choose based on business requirements."

Four Points of Flexibility
Cloud managed networking allows IT pros to manage their wireless, switching, security and mobile devices through the Internet, saving time, money, and giving them access to their entire network from a single pane of glass. Converged Technology Group has identified four points of flexibility available with a cloud managed network that may resolve some of IT pros' most pressing pain points.

• Wireless: Cloud managed networking can significantly improve deployment times, reduce administrative complexity, and provide richer visibility into wireless networking performance, and it can eliminate the need for controller hardware.
• Security: IT managers have access to security and application control for their networks via the Internet, giving them a centrally managed cloud dashboard and a single-pane-of-glass view into their network infrastructure, allowing for WAN optimization for performance enhancements, VPN auto provisioning, a firewall that is application-aware, and branch routing for multi-site cloud management across distributed locations.
• Access Switches: It is now possible for IT pros to manage switches from a central location and gain visibility and control across any number of distributed locations through a cloud-based management platform.
• Mobile Device Management: IT pros grappling with mobility issues can centrally manage mobile devices via the cloud, remotely deploy applications to their employees' mobile devices, and enforce the company's own policies and security restrictions from a single dashboard location.

Combining cloud-based networking with the right managed services enables effective operational support for IT spanning private, public, and hybrid cloud-based infrastructures.

"Customers have choices today that they didn't have before," Nitti says.  "Now they can choose to build and manage their infrastructure on premise or they can choose to move away from that capital expense and locate their network management function in the cloud. In either case, they can choose to outsource the management. This gives clients the ability to move forward with their plans now rather than being constrained by a lack of options for implementation, and it means they can make use of existing technology, building on what they have today to go where they're headed tomorrow."

More Information:

• Explore a series of webinars about Cisco's Meraki cloud-managed edge and branch networking solutions here: http://ow.ly/xr7y6.
• Learn more about Converged Technology Group's cloud management solutions here: http://ow.ly/wy6vP.
• Find out how managed services like Converged Technology Group's Assist360 can support IT infrastructure, changing cap-ex costs to more affordable op-ex costs in the process, then download a free eBook, "The Five Hidden Costs of Uptime," here http://bit.ly/1h7NecD.

About Converged Technology Group
Converged Technology Group is an award-winning Managed Services Partner (MSP) focused on improving IT performance and lowering the cost of technology support for growing businesses in healthcare, financial services, education, retail, legal and other cutting-edge industries. Located in Islandia, NY, and New York City, Converged Technology Group provides network infrastructure, unified communications, virtualized data center, cloud solutions and managed services to multinational enterprises. The company provides business-critical uptime all the time, and helps clients design, implement and operate their IT infrastructure, communication and computing systems for the greatest return on their IT investments. For more information on Converged Technology Group, please contact us at 631-468-5728 or [email protected], and visit our website at www.convergedtechgroup.com.

Media Contacts:
Anthony Malley
Director Business Development & Marketing
Converged Technology Group
631-468-5728
[email protected]

Lisa Hazen
Account Manager
Communication Strategy Group
631-239-6335
[email protected]

SOURCE Converged Technology Group