1. What were the most important factors contributing to MMCC’s success with its new, secure, self-managed network? Explain the reasons for your choices.
2. What are some of the business benefits and challenges of self-managed and externally managed networks?
3. Which type of network management would you advise small-to-medium business firms to use? Explain the reasons for your recommendation.

With 22,000 customers, 48,800 cataloged parts, and 150 employees working in five U.S. locations and an office in Germany, the last thing John Bellnier needs is an unreliable network. Yet that’s exactly what he contended with for years as IT manager at Metric & Multi standard Components Corp. (MMCC). MMCC may still be classified as a small business by some standards, but this small-to-medium business (SMB) definitely has been a big-time success story in its industry.