ISP digs deeper into managed services

ISP Pacific Internet has expanded its managed services grab-bag to include a managed firewall VPN and around-the-clock monitoring.

Kylie Hutchison, product manager at Pacific Internet, said SMB customers were asking the ISP for help securely linking sites and protecting network data.

New offerings such as Pacific Internet's were aimed at helping businesses focus on their core activities, she said.

"A managed security solution has much greater chance of being effective than an incorrectly-configured firewall that's not updated regularly," Hutchison said.

The ISP's Managed Firewall VPN service is hardware-based. It can act as a firewall or as a VPN to connect staff wherever they are located.

Its new 24/7 Monitoring service promised to notify customers "instantly" of system downtime and resumption.

"The latest managed services complement Pacific Internet's existing multi-site Business Solutions suite that includes a Multi-Protocol Label Switching(MPLS)-enabled, network-based VPN service," Hutchison said.