Why Do MSPs Still Struggle with Network Outages?

Why Do Managed Service Providers Still Struggle with Network Outages?

Despite the growing use of advanced monitoring, automation and remote management tools, many Managed Service Providers, or MSPs, still face difficulties in resolving network outages effectively.

The problem is not a lack of appropriate tools. It is a dependency that often goes unnoticed: in-band management.

Critical Dependence on the Production Network

Most tools used by MSPs for remote management work only when the network itself is operating correctly. Access through VPN, RDP or jump hosts requires an active connection to the production network.

When an outage occurs due to a routing issue, firewall failure, internet service provider problem or authentication service disruption, access to these tools is lost.

IT teams find themselves in a paradoxical situation. They receive an alert about the outage, but they are unable to take corrective action.

A Minor Failure Can Quickly Become a Major Problem

Even the best monitoring tools cannot solve the problem if administrators are unable to connect to the infrastructure.

An incident that could be resolved within minutes may turn into several hours of downtime. A technician must then be sent on-site, which extends recovery time and increases the impact of the outage on the customer’s business.

Operational Costs and Challenges

On-site interventions remain one of the biggest challenges for managed service providers. They involve:

• long travel times to the customer’s location,
• restrictions related to site access, including security procedures, defined maintenance windows and escort requirements,
• the involvement of additional technical resources.

All these factors increase the time required to resolve an outage, raise operational costs and make it more difficult to meet SLA commitments and maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.

Why Are Traditional Tools Not Enough?

Adding more monitoring or automation systems does not eliminate the underlying problem.

If administrative access to devices still depends on the production network, administrators lose the ability to act exactly when that access is needed most.

The key question is:

How can infrastructure be managed when the network is no longer available?

Out-of-Band Management: Independent Access to Infrastructure

The answer is Out-of-Band Management, or OOB, which separates the management infrastructure from the production network.

Combined with Isolated Management Infrastructure, or IMI, this approach provides administrators with an independent and secure access channel to devices, even during a complete failure of the primary network.

ZPE Systems delivers this approach through the Nodegrid platform, which enables organisations to deploy a centralised, secure and fully independent management infrastructure quickly and efficiently.

Management Access That Remains Available During an Outage

With an Out-of-Band architecture, IT teams can continue working remotely even when the production network is completely unavailable.

This makes it possible to:

• maintain console access to devices during a WAN outage,
• restart devices remotely, including at BIOS level,
• access infrastructure despite routing failures,
• begin remediation immediately without sending a technician on-site.

Greater Infrastructure Resilience

Separating the management channel from the production network significantly improves the resilience of IT infrastructure.

For managed service providers, this means faster incident resolution, fewer costly on-site visits and greater operational efficiency. Customers benefit from higher service availability, faster incident response and easier compliance with business continuity and service quality requirements.

Out-of-Band Management is no longer a solution used only in data centres. It is increasingly becoming a standard for organisations that require uninterrupted access to their infrastructure, even during critical incidents.