System integration and managing network security are two critical tasks that most companies outsource. Outsourcing is primarily done because companies like to have experts take care of both these tasks. It is rarely feasible to have an in-house team for performing these tasks, some of the reasons being cost escalation and managing more manpower. Outsourcing makes much more sense. However, when you are about to choose a partner for these jobs there are certain points to keep in mind.

For system integration you would need to ensure you keep the below mentioned points in mind.

The integration job should be technology and vendor neutral. This means that the integration partner should be such that they can work on any technological environment and with any OEM.

There are many manufacturers of technology, Microsoft, Cisco and EMC being some of them. You should look at a partner that has worked with all these manufacturers. Depending on your future business needs you may want to change the technology that you use and this is where experience will really matter.

Your partner should also have the capability to deploy system integration globally. This is especially useful when your business has presence in multiple countries. You don’t want different partners for integration in different countries. And of course, the pricing of the integration job should be within your limits and should be flexible. Your proposed partner should be able to offer a few models that can help you manage your integration costs.

Network security is something any large organization needs. Everyone has their internal networks and it needs to be protected from various external intrusions and penetrations. An able service provider has the capability to offer the right solutions in this matter and you need to be extremely careful about choosing the right vendor.

As far as network security is concerned you should look at someone that can offer security for a wide range of networks – LAN, WLAN and WAN and so on. Your partner should have experience in managing the network security for some large corporations. You should also look at their capability to offer a wide range of services including network implementation, network integration, consulting and managing operations centers. You also need to ensure that the vendor has their people and security policies in place so that there is no scope of someone breaching your network internally. And here also you need flexible pricing models so that you get the best services within your cost.

The good news is that there are many excellent IT companies that can handle both system integration and network security for your organization. And in this age of globalization it really doesn’t matter where the service provider is located. Cloud computing is a reality now and these jobs can be done remotely. However, when you plan to deal with an overseas partner you need intense research when you are in the process of choosing one of them. Lots of case studies and testimonials could be looked at for the selection process.
Know what you need to look for when choosing a partner for system integration http://www.hcltech.com/it-infrastructure-management/systems-integration and managing robust network security http://www.hcltech.com/it-infrastructure-management/network-services .