C1, a technology solutions provider focused on integrated information technology services and digital transformation strategies, recently unveiled a set of solutions intended to address some key trends in the enterprise IT sector, particularly around modernization, cloud services and security.

Organizations face increasing complexity due to remote and hybrid work environments and fast-evolving security challenges. This has caused an interesting juxtaposition for organizations, as a need to modernize leads to complexity.

A recent ZK Research study found that 93% of organizations believe their IT infrastructure to be more critical to business operations than just two years ago. However, 80% agree that complexity has grown. If businesses are to modernize, they must first find a way to solve the complexity problem.

The solutions C1 unveiled address networking, security and communications. The company says it has integrated the solutions to streamline operations, improve business resilience and simplify customer deployment.

The new C1 solutions include:

Communications

• RingCentral RingEX and RingCentral CX, both powered by C1CX: RingCentral EX is one of the leading unified communications platforms, and CX is its contact center solution. C1’s “C1CX” is a proactive, managed services overlay. Customers can use the managed service to move from proof of concept to production quickly. C1 will then handle 24x7x365 technical support, change management, carrier management and other functions to ensure the service is up and running with the best possible quality.

Infrastructure

• C1 Managed Internal Broadband Services: Designed to monitor, administer, manage and operate broadband services, this offering enhances resiliency at reduced costs for K-12 organizations. Schools have become increasingly reliant on their network to deliver new ways of educating but typically have tiny IT teams. Schools can use the service to offload the management complexity.
• Total Security Network: Targeted at the public sector, finance, healthcare, hospitality, transportation and logistics industries, this solution combines Extreme Networks and Verkada technologies with C1’s managed services to deliver physical security powered with an upgraded network.

Security:

• Risk Mitigation Solution Suite: This suite includes WAVES Security, Asset Management-as-a-Service and Vulnerability Management-as-a-Service, offering a simplified approach to asset inventory, vulnerability identification and prioritized risk mitigation.
• C1 Managed Next-Generation Firewalls: This service combines C1 Managed Services with Palo Alto Networks’ machine learning-powered NGFWs to provide AI-enabled protection, compliance assurance and business resiliency.

Historically, a solution provider such as C1 would have come to market independently, addressing communications, infrastructure and security needs. This was sufficient a decade ago as technology operated in silos.

Today, that has changed. When a change is made to the network, it can impact security and communications. A security update has network ramifications, and so on. This motivated C1 to offer these as an advanced technology suite.

As companies continue to develop hybrid work strategies, bring in artificial intelligence, and shift to hybrid cloud environments, the technology interdependencies will continue to grow, as will the level of complexity.

Managed services are an excellent option for organizations with lean IT teams or companies that want their technology teams to shift from spending most of their time keeping the lights on to more strategic initiatives.

Final thoughts

C1 has positioned these new services to meet the challenges in the evolving IT landscape. With a mix of networking, security and communications services, the company addresses multiple challenges businesses face in a single package. This comprehensive approach enables enterprises to deploy integrated solutions rather than managing several systems across different vendors. If you want to simplify your IT operations, this is the way to do it.

In addition, C1’s focus on deployment services through managed offerings recognizes the increasing demand for service-based IT consumption models. Many organizations, particularly mid-size businesses and enterprises, prefer to outsource complex IT needs to third-party experts who can ensure best practices and more efficient rollouts. This positions C1 to tap into an expanding market for managed IT and cloud services.

IT modernization, cybersecurity and remote work will continue shaping the industry, and C1’s strategic focus positions it to capitalize on the needs of businesses that are navigating their digital transformation journeys.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

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