• silicon.com
• Technology
• Networks

By Will Sturgeon, 6 October 2003 15:57

NEWS Vanco has announced a deal with supply chain management company BAX Global which sees the virtual network operator take over the reins from BT. Vanco will provide BAX with a wide area network to connect 42 sites, including European head offices in 17 countries, a major data centre in Leeds and a number of other UK sites. Vanco's model relies on providing 'best of breed' local solutions to piece together a network which provides high-bandwidth connectivity and typically delivers cost-savings to the user. BAX estimates that it will save around 10 per cent year-on-year. According to Bernadette Brealey, EMEA infrastructure manager at BAX: "BT simply could not offer the same degree of flexibility. [Vanco's] virtual network operator model is intrinsically more flexible than any of their competitors'." Because Vanco owns no infrastructure it leaves problems such as obsolescence and the cost of maintenance to the carriers whose services it resells, putting in place its own SLAs, pricing and customer facing management. Typically while major carriers have a very strong presence in one country, continent or region, demand for global networks can throw a spanner in the works. BAX, with operations across Europe, is typical of the kind of company Vanco has been targeting in recent years. David Perez, business development director at Vanco, recently told silicon.com that Vanco's ideal customer is one which is "global, complex and multi-domestic", meaning that the more complex the demands the more likely it is that Vanco's approach will be able to deliver savings that a single carrier could not.