Managed Network Services
Managed network services (MNS) providers are racing to upgrade their service delivery platforms with AI to improve performance and gain a competitive edge, but not all have done so consistently. Heads of I&O should evaluate the following MNS vendors for their LAN, WAN and security management needs.
Market Definition
The managed network services (MNS) market focuses on externally provided network operations center (NOC) functionality, as well as relevant network and security life cycle services.
Gartner defines the MNS market as globally capable providers of remote service management functions for the network and security operations of enterprise networks, including:
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Managed LAN services (MNS for LAN) must include the management of enterprise LAN customer premises equipment (CPE), such as campus switches and wireless access points. It provides single point of contact (SPOC) ownership for the life cycle management of these devices. These services may include the management of customer Internet of Things/Industrial IoT (IoT/IIoT) infrastructure and endpoints. These services may include managed operations services for other elements, such on-premises servers, storage, gateways and controllers.
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Managed WAN services (MNS for WAN) must include the management of site edge ingress and egress CPE and any WAN connections and service operations management. These services provide life cycle management for site edge CPE, such as routers, firewalls and software-defined WAN (SD-WAN), with or without security co-residency on site edge CPE. The services must include a SPOC, ownership for the lifecycle management of these devices for site edge CPE and transport services connecting client sites to any destination. This includes hybrid cloud or other non-client-owned locations. These services may also include the operations management of enterprise customer IoT/IIoT infrastructure and endpoint management.
Managed security services (MNS for security) supports branch offices, remote workers and on-premises general internet security, private application access and cloud service security functions for consumption use cases. Services include health, configuration and maintenance support for security technologies. Service delivery is for a single provider to enterprise clients of multiple vendors of converged network and security function life cycle management operations. These include the support of:(1) SD-WAN-embedded security functions; (2) secure web gateways (SWGs); (3) cloud access security brokers (CASBs); (4) network access control (NAC); (5) network firewalling, with or without intrusion prevention system/intrusion detection system(IPS/IDS); and (6) universal/ero-touch network access (UZTNA/ZTNA) architectures.
Report 2026
Here is a summary of the vendors featured in the Gartner magic quadrant 2026 report.
For the full analysis and detailed insights, you can read the report
here
and view the magic quadrant graphic
here.
| Market Status | Market Vendor |
|---|---|
Leader |
XTIUM |
Leader |
HCLTech |
Leader |
NTT DATA |
Leader |
Tata Consultancy Services |
Leader |
Hughes Network Systems |
Leader |
Microland |
Leader |
Systal Technology Solutions |
Leader |
Accenture |
Leader |
Sify Technologies |
Visionary |
MetTel |
Visionary |
Wipro |
Niche Player |
Telefónica |
Niche Player |
DXC Technology |
Niche Player |
AT&T |
Niche Player |
Lumen |
Niche Player |
Kyndryl |
Challenger |
Comcast Business |