The standout providers will give you more reliability, enhanced helpdesk support and customized software. The truly exceptional ones will pass any protocol securely, using your choice of private virtual circuits to sites served within the network or an encrypted channel to outside locations. They'll help you develop a comprehensive security strategy, install firewalls when needed and monitor your sites against intrusion. Finally, they'll back it all up with service-level guarantees. Granted, it's a tall order.
Nobody yet has everything, everywhere, at the right price.
And for most of us with substantially more internal than external traffic, the Internet is not a panacea. There are many approaches that are inherently more reliable and less costly to secure than the Internet. These networks can be easily supplemented with Internet connections when needed. We've also updated information on the traditional ISPs reviewed in that issue and created a new report card with all 10 ISPs. Plainly stated, the major interexchange carriers' legacy of market domination is threatened by the Internet.