Fibre Network Operator

The Challenge

The client’s key drivers for change were security, reliability, and an efficient use of budget, supported by the highest levels of customer service.  

Our own secure Tier 3 EDGE data centre facility represents a £4m investment, and is capable of supporting 300 racks to 1.4 megawatts of resilient power, is On Net with all major carriers, and operates a private National Optical 100Gbps network across all major UK peering facilities, which carries NHS and other highly secure traffic.

The data centre operates efficiently to a PUE of 1.2 and is secure to Health and Social Care Network (HSCN) and ISO27001 and ISO9001 standards. The facility is split into three data halls, all single racks with high-capacity configurations, a 360 degree multi-rack caged data hall and bespoke suites within 13,000sq ft of Cisco-powered racks which underpin an extensive range of cloud and data centre services. 

Our Solution

A series of meetings and a rigorous negotiation process saw the client’s senior team visit several potential data centre locations across the UK before opting to award the contract to us. 

Accessibility was a major factor in the successful buying decision, and the client’s engineers can visit the site whenever they need to carry out any installation, maintenance or repairs to their equipment. Access to the building and its internal layout is highly protected, four layers of security including external and internal security cameras, and pre-screening of all visitors. All visitors are escorted throughout the building and movement alerts are constantly delivered to the onsite 24/7 network operations centre.  

The client’s requirement for a partner with high level vendor partnerships and certifications are met by our Tier 1 Microsoft Gold Partner and Cisco status, plus certification to standards demanded by organisations such as large financial institutions, the Ministry of Justice, and other government and public sector security standards.

The client’s stringent conditions for high level business continuity and disaster recovery arrangements were met by confirmation of regular live testing of business continuity and disaster recovery plans, on a predetermined schedule.

Business continuity is provided thanks to the data centre operating to 1.4MW, backed up by an onsite 1.7KVA diesel generator that can support 72 hours of continuous running, at full capacity, in the event of a power grid failure. Each rack is protected by dual 32amp feeds and a grid-based UPS, while a dedicated UPS room equipped with battery racks and N+1 safeguard provide additional power source. 

High availability of networks is key to the client’s pledge to its own customers, and the contract includes agreed SLAs, RPO and RTO levels within a flexible, tailored contract. This includes options such as a minimum commitment and a ‘flexible cost per consumption’ model to yield maximum flexibility and scalability.  
 

The Outcome

Our client is very happy with a highly secure data centre solution which mirrors its own high levels of quality service delivery to its customers. The North East location eliminates the need for it to maintain its own data centre facility in the region, making it a highly cost effective solution. 

In review meetings the client told us they were particularly impressed by our technical expertise, depth of knowledge and experience. We have given them the facilities, the network and the technical expertise on hand to support their customers and their growth plans, essentially creating a tailor-made extension of their own organisation, at a fraction of the cost, and without the risk.