Define your local network maintenance requirements

Make you are clear about what you want your LAN maintenance consulting company to do for you. Include a list of all your technology equipment, local area network maintenance that you currently perform, current problems that need to be addressed, required local network maintenance hours of coverage and required service levels. Write a request for proposal that clearly defines your requirements, and make sure that your service level requirements are clearly addressed in your service level agreement or contract.

I recommend: View and download sample documents to get help with writing Requests for Proposals, Service Level Agreements, and contracts.

Do the job in-house with trained staff and network maintenance software

If you employ some technically proficient people, consider sponsoring them in network support and management training. In the long run, it may cost you less than the price of a LAN maintenance consulting company, and an employee has more stake in keeping your network running. Already have IT staff? Consider using network maintenance software.

I recommend: Cisco is a leader in network certification and training, with resources that inlude e-learning, self study and local training providers. For network mainenance software, look at free tools like nmap, which works on most operating systems, and Nagios, for Linux and Unix based systems. More advanced solutions like Solar Winds offer server products for LAN management, monitoring and troubleshooting.

Don't rule out the big LAN maintenance consulting companies

As long as someone in your office knows how to read event logs and error messages, an off-site LAN maintenance and support management company might be the best solution. While companies with a national presence may not be able to give you the same personal service as the guy down the street, you can be sure of their knowledge and experience.

I recommend: IBM and Hitachi provide multivendor technical support. The Cisco Smart Care service includes proactive monitoring and remote repairs. If you do decide you'd rather go with a local company, use the services that the larger companies provide as your map. Look for services like remote access and behind-the-scenes network monitoring.