Teleco/NOC question

--chris--

Verizon recently posted a whole batch of job ads on linkedin for the metro area I live in. They are NOC jobs; support, tier 2/3 and engineer positions as they titles them. I had no idea Verizon had a Datacenter here in Metro Detroit.

Do all major teleco's have NOCs in major metropolitan areas? I ask because I didn't think they did, but if they do then it gives me more places to look for work.

networker050184

It depends really. Different telcos have their NOCs in different places. Not all of them are in major metro areas. Verizon has large NOCs in RTP, Ashburn, Richardson etc.

Akaricloud

I work for one of the major wireless carriers and we do have quite a bit of equipment scattered around. We have a decent amount of equipment in around 20-25 data centers throughout the country and a few with much more equipment(such as where we store all our call/SMS/data records).

I wouldn't really expect the equipment in most of them to have dedicated staff though.

Corndork2

Most providers have a few core support areas geographically dispersed in different time zones. Perhaps Verizon is strengthening their CST zone support?

Verizon also has a lot of points of presence interconnected all across the country. As network managers and support we can manage any of these sites as long as we are connected to them. We only need on site support if hands need to be used to make physical connections. As we all know in the Networking Industry, we can work from anywhere as long as we are connected.

Currently, real estate in Detroit is cheap, and tax incentives in Detroit are high. From a business perspective, if Verizon needed to increase staffing, using Detroit makes great sense. They can score cheap office space, and take tax rebates.

--chris--

Corndork2 wrote: »

Most providers have a few core support areas geographically dispersed in different time zones. Perhaps Verizon is strengthening their CST zone support?

Verizon also has a lot of points of presence interconnected all across the country. As network managers and support we can manage any of these sites as long as we are connected to them. We only need on site support if hands need to be used to make physical connections. As we all know in the Networking Industry, we can work from anywhere as long as we are connected.

Currently, real estate in Detroit is cheap, and tax incentives in Detroit are high. From a business perspective, if Verizon needed to increase staffing, using Detroit makes great sense. They can score cheap office space, and take tax rebates.

There are even cheaper areas (Flint, Saginaw and 15 minutes outside of Ann Arbor for instance) than Detroit, with much less BS. But that's a separate topic

This has me thinking though, wouldn't the "big three" have there own DC's? Or would they "shop" that out? I know Chrysler has an immense IT labor force here, and GM/Ford are not far behind but I am always looking for other ideas.

Corndork2

--chris-- wrote: »

There are even cheaper areas (Flint, Saginaw and 15 minutes outside of Ann Arbor for instance) than Detroit, with much less BS. But that's a separate topic

This has me thinking though, wouldn't the "big three" have there own DC's? Or would they "shop" that out? I know Chrysler has an immense IT labor force here, and GM/Ford are not far behind but I am always looking for other ideas.

They do! They have their own DC's for high compute. Fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, modeling, etc are usually done on those clusters. They also have equally sizeable storage farms. For example, GM just spun up the biggest datacenter in the automotive industry and one of the greenest.

However, bandwidth has to come from somewhere, so I am sure they have colocated services. It depends on the cost, business use case, and technology need. Id expect a mix of both.

--chris--

Corndork2 wrote: »

They do! They have their own DC's for high compute. Fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, modeling, etc are usually done on those clusters. They also have equally sizeable storage farms. For example, GM just spun up the biggest datacenter in the automotive industry and one of the greenest.

However, bandwidth has to come from somewhere, so I am sure they have colocated services. It depends on the cost, business use case, and technology need. Id expect a mix of both.

So where the engineering is done, the DC's would probably not be too far away right? That would also mean Nissan should have some sizable IT staff numbers here in Auburn Hills where they have a R&D facility. And Roush...I'm starting to see the big picture.

networker050184

Not always the case that the engineering is done close by. Whether you are 1 mile or 1000 miles away it doesn't really matter.

Mike-Mike

--chris-- wrote: »

Flint

When I was younger, I visited some friends in Flint, I remember the record store had a t-shirt that said, "Flint Town: Where the weak get shot and put in the dead box"