Introducing NTT’s Managed Cisco Catalyst Center

The performance and health of an organization’s network have never been more important to running mission-critical IT applications and achieving overall business objectives.

NTT has a well-established track record managing vendor-specific networking platforms to ensure optimal and reliable performance while reducing the complexity that can place stress on in-house IT resources.

We are pleased to announce the latest offering in our suite of vendor-specific managed enterprise services, Managed Networks with Cisco Catalyst Center. It allows clients that use Cisco networking gear such as Catalyst 9000 series switches and access points to unlock the potential of Cisco Catalyst software.

Catalyst Center acts as the “brain” of the network through its controller functionality. It is engineered to centralize and automate the management of Cisco devices while providing real-time analytics and insights.

Underlying Catalyst Center is AI-enabled network management that can streamline configuration, troubleshooting and operational functions, resulting in improved efficiency, enhanced performance and reduced downtime.

An additional layer of AI-enabled automation, predictive analytics and event correlation techniques is provided through SPEKTRA, our network transformation platform, coupled with our expansive network management resources and deep expertise.

For this new Managed Networks offering, we have integrated multiple levels of the Catalyst platform for a better client experience and improved network performance. This includes extending monitoring capabilities through Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and application programming interfaces (APIs), automated service operations and integration with AIOps layers.

Our clients can now realize significant benefits such as:

• Enhanced site and device health scores
• Faster deployment of software updates and patches
• Improved analytics and reporting
• An integrated and optimized design to improve operational efficiency
• Reduced complexity to help you focus on your business objectives
• Advanced AI-enabled correlation and anomaly detection to drive better performance
• More than 95% of incidents proactively detected for improved network availability
• Enhanced insights and analytics enabled by rich telemetry and APIs

Our Managed Cisco Catalyst Center offering is another example of how we combine innovation in AI with our network management expertise to help our clients improve their network performance and find operational efficiencies while simplifying management requirements.

This is core to the value proposition of our Managed Networks service: we design our solutions to help organizations achieve their business objectives. 

“NTT’s Managed Cisco Catalyst Center offering is designed to meet a growing demand for advanced AIOps features, which are valued for their ability to simplify network management tasks, provide greater visibility and preemptively troubleshoot network issues,” says Siân Morgan, Wireless LAN Research Director at Dell’Oro Group. “Cisco is the market leader in enterprise wireless LAN and campus switching, which makes Catalyst Center a powerful addition to NTT’s Managed Networks service.”   

Balaji Venkatraman, Vice President: Product Management and Strategy at Cisco, says: “This NTT managed offering allows customers to realize the full set of Catalyst Center functionality to enhance network reliability while reducing the complexity of administrative network management requirements. The result is a better user experience and, ultimately, a positive impact on a customer’s bottom line.” 

Amit Dhingra
Executive Vice President: Managed Network Services at NTT