Telstra launches MNOC in Sydney

The centre, which brings together 150 staff, will proactively monitor, manage and maintain the health and operational status of approximately 1,100 customer networks, including over 37,000 routers and switches on customer sites.

Its capability scales up to 10,000 end devices per customer site, according to Telstra’s managed network operations centre (MNOC) manager Mark Gehan.

“That can also scale down to 10, 20 or 50 devices depending on the customer,” Gehan told iTnews.

The MNOC commenced operations in August and features what Telstra claims is the third-largest video screen in Australia (see photo gallery right).

The 16.7 metre screen is made up of 11 ‘cubes’ and uses the same Barco technology as the screen in Telstra's global operations centre (GOC) located in Victoria.

The screen takes a real-time feed of information related to Telstra’s core network from the GOC and broadcasts it alongside data on the health of enterprise customers’ networks.

At capacity it is anticipated that 42 network engineers will proactively monitor the screen for alerts, and then drill-down at their desktops to isolate, communicate and potentially attempt to remotely resolve any issues.

Selected customers will also be given administrative rights to the console, according to Telstra executive director of national sales, Nerida Caesar.

“For very large customer implementations we’ll provide some specific solutions to enable the customers themselves to do the drill down,” Caesar said.

“I’ve been with customers that do want to be included [in that process].”

Gehan said he anticipates that he will fill an additional 10 seats in the MNOC in the immediate future.

The MNOC is operating 24x7 on 12-hour shifts, though Gehan told iTnews it wasn’t unusual for a team of 22 shift workers to be contained within five desks.

“The key reason we’ve built this centre is to manage our enterprise customer networks with the best technology available and to have all the necessary skills together in the same place,” added Michael Rocca, group managing director of Telstra networks and services.

“It gives us visibility from customer devices into their networks and back into our core network.”