Agencies eye managed services

Agencies are warming to the idea of buying managed network services, the Federal Technology Service's Sandra Bates said.

"It is getting harder to extract the network from the total package," Bates said Nov. 12 at a panel discussion on networks sponsored by the Industry Advisory Council's Telecommunications Shared Interest Group in Falls Church, Va.

As more vendors offer suites of services and technologies, agencies are beginning to see the benefits of buying network services this way, she said. Several agencies have started looking into managed network services, including the departments of Agriculture, Justice and Treasury, Bates said.

Her staff is designing a new govern-mentwide acquisition vehicle. Dubbed Networx, it will replace FTS 2001 and offer managed services. Networx will have more than 50 core service areas; FTS 2001 had only 29, Bates said.