Integral Systems has announced at the Satellite 2010 Conference that it is launching a new services business unit - Integral Systems Service Solutions (IS3) - to provide SATCOM Network Operations (NetOps) services as part of a broader planned Global Managed Network Services offering.

Scheduled to commence full operations in late 2010, IS3 harnesses the core capabilities of Integral Systems' wide array of SATCOM and Enterprise Network Management products into a powerful subscription-based business model.

As global demand for SATCOM bandwidth increases, the need to actively manage SATCOM NetOps to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) becomes increasingly important.

Unfortunately for many satellite operators, resellers, and users of bandwidth services, the costs of establishing and operating a modern SATCOM NetOps infrastructure are significant, often placing it beyond their means.

IS3 is responding to this growing need by providing customers with cost-effective SATCOM NetOps management and a powerful, proven set of solutions.

Supported by decades of NetOps management experience, IS3 offers RF signal monitoring, interference detection and geolocation, and remote network management as a subscription service, thereby negating the need for significant upfront capital investments and significantly reducing annual operating costs.

"We are very excited to introduce IS3, which will provide the most comprehensive set of NetOps services available to the market, with the ability to uniquely harness the combined power of Integral Systems' family of market leading SATCOM and Enterprise Network Management solutions," said Paul Casner, President and CEO of Integral Systems.

"This subscription-based service model will allow customers to dramatically improve their operational performance and efficiencies while eliminating upfront capital investment and greatly reducing the recurring operations expenses typically required."

IS3 will employ a global network of dedicated sensor sites equipped with Integral Systems' suite of world-class NetOps products - Monics provided by SAT Corporation for RF signal monitoring and RT Logic's satID for interference detection and geolocation linked to its network operations centers and providing "around-the-clock" services to commercial and government customers.

Strategically located sensor sites will be remotely managed with Newpoint Technologies' enterprise network management application, Compass, providing real-time network situational awareness capabilities.

IS3 offers a full range of NetOps management services including:

Link Engineering and Network Planning. Customer network needs are rapidly assessed, analyzed, and projected in order to optimize a customer's use of valuable SATCOM bandwidth assets, the most expensive element of Fixed Satellite Services.

Link Quality of Service (QoS) Monitoring. Actively monitor and characterize the performance of customer links to ensure signal degradation and interference are minimized.

Interference Detection and Geolocation (iDetGeo). iDetGeo solutions provide a powerful means of automatically detecting, characterizing, and geolocating RF interference sources.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) Validation. SLA Validation Services provides customers with an independent assessment of SLA adherence, including availability and operational performance over time.

To ensure maximum cost savings, tiered subscription packages bundle together commonly used services and are tailored to a customer's specific needs. These packages range from the simplest of "surveillance packages" where networks are remotely monitored, to a full turn-key outsourcing service where networks are both remotely monitored and managed.

"Our proven expertise in signal monitoring and interference detection and geolocation, combined with our robust enterprise network management capabilities, allows us to tailor these services to meet the unique needs of operators large or small in government, military, or the commercial sectors," said Ernie Dickens, Vice President and General Manager for Integral Systems Service Solutions.

"Furthermore, thanks to the comprehensive array of Integral Systems technology strategically deployed around the world and supported by skilled analysts, we are ideally positioned to provide unsurpassed real-time services that will allow customers to focus on their core business and customers."