Sentinel: Fully Managed IT Infrastructure
Sentinel is 1Connect's managed infrastructure platform for networks, security, Wi-Fi, servers, monitoring and resilience. Deployed across customer sites worldwide, Sentinel brings the infrastructure underneath your operations into one managed environment with continuous oversight from 1Connect.
Sentinel forms the core of 1Connect’s managed IT services offering.
One platform. One point of accountability.
Sentinel combines edge compute, networking, security, Wi-Fi, servers and monitoring within one managed environment. One team is accountable for how the whole environment performs.
It is not a helpdesk. It is not a collection of separate tools stitched together. It is the infrastructure foundation your business runs on, managed continuously by engineers who see the full picture.
Three things change when the whole environment is managed as one:
Visibility replaces guesswork.
When leadership asks how technology is performing, there is a clear answer based on data, not on the absence of complaints. Decisions about renewals, upgrades and capacity are based on what is actually happening across the environment, not on instinct.
Problems addressed before you notice.
The Network Operations Centre monitors the managed environment continuously. Issues can be detected and investigated proactively, often before the business is affected. A 2am connection problem is addressed at 2am, not discovered when the team arrives the next morning.
Nobody sits in the middle.
When networks, security and systems are managed through one platform, there is no ownership gap between suppliers. Less coordinating. Less translating between teams that cannot see each other's systems. One accountable team with visibility across the environment.
Your job: run your business.
Our job: manage the infrastructure underneath it.
What 1Connect does:
- Monitors the infrastructure included within your Sentinel service 24/7 through our Network Operations Centre.
- Detects and investigates issues proactively, often before users report a problem.
- Manages firmware, security updates and scheduled maintenance for infrastructure within the agreed service scope.
- Connects securely through encrypted remote access to investigate and manage supported systems.
- Provides automatic connectivity failover where resilience and backup connections form part of the agreed design.
- Coordinates hands-on support where on-site intervention is included within the service scope.
What you do:
- Tell us what your business and locations need.
- No infrastructure dashboards to monitor.
- No firmware schedules to manage.
- No routine monitoring to perform.
- No coordinating multiple infrastructure suppliers when something goes wrong.
- Run your business while 1Connect manages the agreed Sentinel environment.
Security and resilience built into the service
Sentinel is managed as an operational environment, not simply monitored from the outside. Access, security, maintenance and resilience controls are built into the way 1Connect operates the Sentinel environment.
Managed firewall
Firewall policy and security configuration are managed as part of the wider Sentinel environment rather than treated as a separate product.
Encrypted management and remote access
1Connect engineers connect securely through encrypted access methods to investigate, maintain and manage supported infrastructure.
Multi-factor authentication
Administrative access is protected with multi-factor authentication where supported within the managed environment.
Layered remote access controls
Remote access is restricted through layered controls designed to limit exposure and provide secure routes into managed systems.
Granular permissions
Administrative privileges are controlled according to role and requirement, helping reduce unnecessary access across the environment.
Backup and recovery capability
Where included within the agreed Sentinel scope, backup and recovery options can form part of the wider resilience design.
The objective is not to add more tools for your team to manage. It is to make security, access and resilience part of the Sentinel environment itself.
Built for single sites and international estates
Sentinel is deployed across customer environments ranging from individual UK locations to complex multi-site operations spanning multiple regions. The same managed approach applies whether the requirement is one site, several branches or an international estate.
Single-site
Multi-site
International estates
Sentinel scales with your infrastructure
Sentinel is configured around the environment being managed. The examples below show typical deployment patterns rather than fixed packages.
SENTINEL
Typical fit:
Single-site organisations that need their core network, security and Wi-Fi managed as one environment
Typical capabilities:
- Managed router and firewall
- Managed switching
- Business Wi-Fi
- Primary internet connection
- 24/7 infrastructure monitoring
- Firmware, security updates and scheduled maintenance
- Secure remote management
In practice:
Your core site infrastructure is managed by 1Connect as one environment, with clear ownership and continuous oversight.
SENTINEL PLUS
Typical fit:
Multi-site organisations, larger sites or businesses that need greater resilience and connectivity continuity.
Typical capabilities:
Builds on the Sentinel configuration with:
- Redundant infrastructure where required
- Primary and backup connectivity with automatic failover
- Site-to-site and remote-access VPN
- Expanded switching and Wi-Fi capacity
- Multi-location monitoring and management
- Resilience designed around business-critical services
In practice:
Multiple sites and connectivity services can be managed through one Sentinel environment, reducing single points of failure and simplifying ownership.
SENTINEL ENTERPRISE
Typical fit:
Complex estates, international operations, data-heavy environments and organisations running critical infrastructure or server workloads.
Typical capabilities:
Builds on Sentinel Plus with:
- Dedicated compute and virtualisation
- Centralised multi-site VPN architecture
- Redundant network and server infrastructure
- Scalable storage and backup options
- More complex resilience and recovery design
- Infrastructure management across regional and international estates
In practice:
Sentinel becomes the operational foundation across multiple sites, systems and regions, with 1Connect maintaining visibility and accountability across the agreed environment.
Not sure which configuration fits?
We’ll help you work out the right Sentinel configuration based on your sites, infrastructure, resilience requirements and operational needs. You don’t need to arrive with a technical specification.
Single-site
Need a quick answer first?
Our Sentinel assistant below can help with common questions about the service.
