A nanny for your network

SBC Communications last week launched two separate virtual private network services that the company says will take the headaches out of keeping an organization connected. Services will be available this month in Austin, Texas, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area and Orange County, Calif.

Aimed at medium-sized businesses without full-time information technology staffs, Online Office includes networking, desktop support and high-speed Internet access in a single package with a single bill. SBC also offers choice in the service, which will attract smaller businesses, company officials said.

"We're aiming mostly at medium- and large-size business users. In some cases smaller enterprises will have a need for VPNs, but it has to besomewhat specialized," said Kathy Cooper, marketing director of enterprise VPNs.

In its most simple configuration, the package includes e-mail service, Web hosting and Internet access at 384 kb/s. Higher-speed access and Web-hosted applications can be tacked on for customers who need more speed and flexibility.

Companies that are self-sufficient or have already outsourced their information services are not the primary targets of this entry-level service, said Cooper. "The person who hasn't done anything is really our main target," she said.

Small and medium-sized businesses are a good market choice for SBC because smaller companies are already using their services. "They already rely on the local exchange carrier for their lifeline service; going after them first is a very good strategy," said Bill Flanagan, program director for NetResources.

For larger companies with full-time IT staffs, Enterprise VPN offers secured and managed interoffice connections through the Internet. The equipment is installed and maintained by SBC, and service levels are guaranteed with this higher- end service.

But these larger companies may be a harder sell because "they have a dedicated and sophisticated staff that will be looking at more options," said Flanagan.

However, the regional Bell operating company can offer larger enterprises flexibility that may not exist with internal staff, said Cooper. "We want to get out of the business of selling pipes."

VPN services for telecommuters on a dedicated and dial-up basis will be rolled out during the third quarter. The company expects this to be an important commodity with larger businesses because "it's no longer an excuse to say you're out of the office three days and you can't check e-mail," Cooper said.

Both EVPN and Online Office also will be available via several digital subscriber line options, running at speeds from 128 kb/s to 6 Mb/s, because customers don't care about the technology behind the speed, said Cooper.