Iowa Network Services Makes the Right Call With Unified Infrastructure Management From Monolith Software

ST. CHARLES, IL--(Marketwire - Apr 28, 2011) - Continuing to build on an accelerating market response to the company's unified IT infrastructure management software, Monolith Software today unveiled Iowa Network Services (INS) as its newest customer. Monolith Software is helping INS overcome many of the network reliability, quality and availability challenges associated with next-generation telecommunications infrastructures via the company's simplified IT infrastructure management solution -- Monolith -- a single, unified code set, data engine and interface.

Founded in 1986, INS is dedicated to fulfilling the needs of Independent Telecommunications Companies (ITC) in Iowa, offering their customers the latest in telephony and technology. Servicing more than 140 rural telecoms, the company provides a state-wide fiber optic network connecting companies and their customers to a central hub for Centralized Equal Access. From this location, major long distance carriers can cost-effectively connect with even the smallest rural communities to provide affordable long distance and next-generation services.

"While technology continues to evolve, our core mission remains the same: Meet and exceed the needs of our network of Independent Telecommunications Companies and help them offer the most advanced voice, data and video services," said Leon Hofer, vice president of network operations, Iowa Network Services. "But to make this happen, we need to rely on a comprehensive management solution to ensure our core infrastructure is always up and running."

As telecommunications services have evolved into Triple-Play offerings, so too has the complexity associated with the core infrastructure. Hofer continues, "The rise of Triple-Play services makes managing the infrastructure even more difficult. Our legacy management solutions simply could not handle the higher volume SNMP traffic associated with IPTV, smartphones and advanced Ethernet services."

INS soon found out their legacy, hybrid management approach was overtaxed, "Our push has now been to migrate to more real-time infrastructure management offerings. If you're making that change, you better have a management solution with the horsepower to handle these next-generation services," Hofer added.

To find the needed horsepower, INS turned to Monolith Software. "Our solution overcomes the challenges associated with legacy, siloed OSS point tools, which integrate poorly and have limited visibility," said Jeff Parker, president, Monolith Software. "Monolith Software offers the market's first and only unified infrastructure management approach. Using this to consolidate management tools offers a better migratory path to support Triple-Play services."

Monolith offers several unique capabilities competing solutions can't match, including: a single code base, multi-tenancy, real-time dashboards, a rich metric warehouse, as well as normalization and enrichment/correlation capabilities. Hofer continues, "When you try to bring together disparate legacy tools to manage your infrastructure, you don't get the seamless, end-to-end view necessary to ensure full reliability and availability. Monolith was the only vendor who could come in and actually demonstrate the full capabilities of their solution."

Hofer also notes that Monolith's unified approach was a key decision factor for him, pointing to the software's ability to combine TDM and SNMP data to easily correlate multiple data sets into one consolidated dashboard view. Additionally, the Monolith solution was able to roll-out on just 7 servers -- legacy competitors bid 20 or more servers to accomplish similar tasks.

INS is currently leveraging the Monolith platform to conduct fault and performance management, Layer 2 and Layer 3 discoveries, as well as to create in-house and customer-facing dashboards. Moving forward, the Monolith solution will become even more valuable, as wireless companies seek end-to-end visibility (tower-to-switch-to-circuit) and wireline providers wish to extend management into the enterprise and home networks.

"There are a lot of management companies out there that make promises -- but Monolith Software is the only one with the technology to back it up. The Monolith solution gives us the real-time, unified management capabilities that effectively meet our needs both now and in the future," Hofer concluded.

About Monolith Software
Monolith Software is the industry's first, and only, unified IT infrastructure management software. Monolith offers a comprehensive, fully integrated solution that provides one consistent rules engine for data acquisition, one unified data warehouse allowing unprecedented access to decision-enabling data, and one, consolidated multi-tenant interface for expanding access to deeper business intelligence. Accessible through real-time dashboarding, this unique, unified approach streamlines and enhances fault, availability, performance, correlation, discovery and topology mapping. The result is a simplified process for SLA management and capturing network KPIs. Comprehensive granular visibility, never before available by using disparate legacy tools, increases operational efficiency and allows for enhanced customer intimacy. www.monolith-software.com

About Iowa Network Services
Iowa Network Services (INS) is a telecommunications provider privately owned by a group of 122 Independent Telecommunications Companies (ITCs) that has served rural Iowans since 1989. The INS Network has been delivering the latest in telecommunications services and it continues to grow. Telephony, core network transport, Internet Protocol video, and Internet services are among the products offered by INS to telephone companies across the state of Iowa and to carrier and enterprise customers nationwide.

The INS fiber optic network is the foundation of the business. Since its establishment, INS has been committed to providing the next generation of network solutions to its customers. INS' operating subsidiaries are Iowa Wireless, a statewide cellular partner with T-Mobile who employs 300; and Alliance Technologies, Inc., a Des Moines-based information technology company with 100 employees. For more information, visit www.IowaNetworkServices.com or call 800-469-4000.