. MANAGED SERVICES Managed services are add-on consulting, cloud-based, or software services that carriers offer customers. These offerings are intended to supplement carriers' long distance and local calling service revenues. But an important goal is to make it more difficult and complex www.TechnicalPDF.com for customers to change providers. Managed services are considered "sticky." The more managed services that customers use, the more dependent they are on carriers, and the more complex it is for these customers to change providers. Managed Services Rather than Dumb Pipe Providers Many carriers view broadband offerings such as private data lines, MPLS, and Gigabit Ethernet (GigE) as commodities available from other providers. To avoid being organizations whose only offerings are characterized as dumb pipes with commodity services, carriers often distinguish themselves from competing carriers by offering specialized and managed services. Without distinguishing features, customers can shop around for the lowest price on, for example, Gigabit Ethernet. Managed services are one way that carriers differentiate themselves from smaller competitors. Moreover, managed services provide an additional monthly revenue stream for carriers and help to cement the relationship between themselves and their customers. This is because it is complex and potentially disruptive for international enterprises to change both their network and their security provider or data center service across all of their sites. Thus, supplying this wider range of services creates a "stickier" relationship with customers, and a sticky customer is one that is less likely to change vendors. In addition, carriers such as Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T have the resources to build international data centers and hosting facilities as well as hire consultants with specialized skills in developing applications for vertical markets such as healthcare, transportation, and insurance. Managed Services-For a Variety of Functions www.TechnicalPDF.com Carriers have lo