Managed WAN services: Who you gonna call?

WAN stands for wide area network, right? Since that’s the case, Current Analysis Research Director Brian Washburn believes in going wide or going home if you’re looking for a managed WAN services provider. When it comes to breadth, depth and reach of services, Washburn looks to the biggest global carriers, like AT&T, Verizon Business, Orange Business and BT Global services, if you’re talking worldwide presence, along with consulting, professional services, global networks and service personnel on-the-ground presence.

Of course lots of smaller telecom service providers offer managed WAN services well, and Washburn notes Qwest, Sprint, Global Crossing, New Edge Networks and MegaPath. In the “rising star” category is PAETEC. Notably absent on his list are cable companies, even though they serve smaller businesses well with managed router, managed firewall and managed VPN offerings. Go figure.