Managed network services are becoming more common. While their adoption rate in the United States falls short of that in Europe, revenue from managed data network services is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of almost 5 percent between 2004 and 2009. But companies must be cautious. Managed services are attractive to vendors because they offer margins considerably greater than those of commodity voice and data services. They also give vendors much more account control. So vendors may try, unnecessarily, to sell firms managed services solutions, especially for new technologies, such as Multiprotocol Label Switching and hosted Internet Protocol private branch exchange solutions. Businesses should not allow vendors to pressure them into taking one of these services. Firms should do a thorough technical, financial and management review of the proposed solution before signing up to it. Any firm considering managed network services should consider:
- Whether they are a better option than managing the network itself
- Who the leading vendors are
- Whether they would be better at implementing emerging technologies
Managed network services have worked well for many businesses, but have failed to deliver satisfactory results for others. Failures are usually the result of inadequate research and preparation. 
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