MDNX, the UK’s largest independent managed network services provider, today announced that Your Housing Group, one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, has switched the majority of its offices to a data network put in place by MDNX across 60 sites in the North West Region. The network will enable Your Housing Group to be more agile and flexible with its network through a carrier integrator model, managed by MDNX and was one of the first to be procured using the PSN Connectivity Framework Agreement.

Your Housing Group was formed in April 2012 following the merger of Harvest Housing Group and Arena Housing Group. Your Housing Group has over 32,000 homes across the North West, Yorkshire and Staffordshire. As well as a wide range of homes for social and affordable rent, it also provides homes for sale and shared ownership as well as Extra Care Housing for the over 55s and sheltered and supported accommodation for older people and young adults. The newly created Group has a large project underway to consolidate the IT infrastructures that exist, but there was an immediate requirement to upgrade the Wide Area Network (WAN) for the Harvest Housing element of the Group to accommodate growth in staff numbers and IT infrastructure complexity and increasing bandwidth requirements.

The WAN consists of 60 sites that are a mixture of data centres, corporate offices, neighbourhood offices, small office locations and homeworkers, all in the North West.  It was particularly important for Your Housing Group that the contract and solution design was flexible enough to accommodate their changing requirements as they progressed through their IT consolidation project as well as being able to support new applications such as VOIP.

Following the merger, Your Housing Group needed a new network that could support the increasingly complex IT systems used by the 1200 employees and that during this important time of transition would provide a scalable, resilient and innovative solution.

“We wanted a network that was agile and was able to provide us with scalability and resiliency to support our new initiatives,” says Andrew Giles, Director ICT at Your Housing Group. “We felt that MDNX was able to deliver to our requirements, but also found that there was a cultural fit in the way it worked. We have over 60 sites and often there are moves within the network from site to site, so we needed a provider that was capable of handling that requirement.”
Andrew added, “MDNX planned and successfully completed the transition of the Your Housing contact centre to the new network recently. We were impressed at how smoothly it went.”

MDNX is integrating connectivity from TalkTalk Business, BT, Virgin Media and Exponential-e, through its core integration network to create a solution that is able to scale as new technology emerges, without Your Housing Group having to be tied down to a single provider. “By utilising the best possible service from all the UK’s telecoms providers we are able to ensure that Your Housing Group enjoys the best network performance at the best price point,” says MDNX, COO, Wayne Churchill. “As technology evolves rapidly, companies such as Your Housing Group should not be tied to long term circuit or connectivity contracts that restrict them from taking advantage of the economic and performance improvements brought about by such change.”

MDNX are supporting the Link regional aggregation in Sussex to deliver benefits to schools and the voluntary sector.

More than 100 education executives attended a Link education launch event. The event gave them the opportunity to meet their colleagues to discuss and share ideas on the role of IT in education and understand how the LINK network can support their aspirations.

The LINK programme encourages the participation of all public sector bodies in Sussex to pool resources to deliver important savings and benefits by offering a common public sector network across the region.

Schools and colleges in Sussex and the surrounding areas will be able to source their networking requirements from the LINK and enjoy fast connection speeds and cost savings, as schools will not incur charges for separate
infrastructure or separate procurement costs.

Following the success of this event, MDNX are organising a workshop with the voluntary sector in Sussex to enable them to also enjoy the benefits of joining the Link.

“We understand that in the current environment, we need to support public sector clients with a range of purchasing options which will maximise the savings achieved in the first years of a network contract,” said Isy Bizaoui MDNX’s Public Sector Sales Director.

This Finance House has over 150 years of industry specific experience, arranging over £600 million of funding in the UK, Europe and USA and already has an extensive list of UK Public Sector clients. Not tied to any one finance provider, they are able to offer the most appropriate financing structure for each client. Funding is then provided by a panel of major European and US banks.

The teaming arrangement will work within the Public Services Networks Connectivity Framework Agreement (RM860) and allow MDNX and Thales to provide a compelling set of complementary network and security products and services.

“Combining the strength of MDNX’s network integration proposition with a leading communications and data security provider enhances our ability to  offer bespoke security services to the Police, Fire and Rescue and Central Government,” said Paul Cragg MDNX’s Technical Director.

Wayne Churchill, COO of MDNX, said, “We believe we can help local councils support their schools by offering an innovative and cost-effective, managed network service that encompasses: Security (Certified Firewall, Threat Prevention and VPN access); Backup Facility (Local & remote backup of PCs and servers) and Internet Access Control (URL Filtering for instant site blocking for groups or individuals).

Their solutions can store, update and deliver both static and dynamic content locally, enabling simultaneous access by multiple PCs. They also provide secure Internet access with sophisticated, yet easily configured, web access controls. This is an excellent example of how partnerships can help MDNX add real value within the Public Sector.”

MDNX, the UK’s largest independent managed network services provider, today announced that Wales & West Utilities has chosen MDNX to create an integrated wide area network to deliver connectivity across 22 offices and 1,500 telemetry sites across Wales and South West of England. The network will deliver speeds of up to 100mpbs to its head office in Newport, South Wales, and offices across the region. The new network is estimated to deliver annual cost savings of 20%.

Wales & West Utilities’ catchment area covers a gas network of over 35,000km of mains, serving a population of over 7.5 million people with 24 manned sites and over 1,500 telemetry locations. The incumbent network at Wales & West Utilities was based on a combination of MPLS and private circuits for data connectivity between all of its manned sites, and ISDN circuits and PBX services throughout both manned offices and telemetry sites. However, its network needed to be updated and Wales & West Utilities also wanted to achieve ongoing cost efficiencies and network improvements throughout the duration of the new contract term.

“We wanted to improve the stability, resilience and performance of our communications network,” says Bernard Murphy, Technical Architect at Wales & West Utilities. “We wanted to form a long term relationship that will bring added value within the business environment. As our networking demands continue to grow, we felt that it was important that our network supplier can be flexible enough to supply us with the best potential technologies that will meet our current and future needs.”

MDNX is delivering a network based on its integrator model, which will allow for Wales & West Utilities to receive the best possible connectivity to all of its sites. As part of the agreement, MDNX will also provide fixed line connectivity to the telemetry sites which connect back to Wales & West Utilities’ regional offices. The network is expected to go live in May 2013.

“Wales & West Utilities required an optimally designed Wide Area Network capable of supporting a business operation covering 1/6th of the UK,” says Isy Bizaoui, Sales Director at MDNX. “We are implementing a technically complex and challenging network which will provide high quality / high availability data services to a vast number of geographically spread office and telemetry sites” The commercials that underpin this network will allow Wales & West Utilities to flex and scale their network in line with their changing data requirements without incurring expensive cancellation fees. We will ensure that Wales & West Utilities receive best value for money not just at the start of the contract, but right the way through it”.

MDNX, the UK’s largest independent managed network services provider, today announced that the LINK, the shared services network for public sector organisations in the Sussex area, is now open for schools in the region. The announcement was made at a launch event at the Amex Stadium, home of Brighton & Hove Albion FC. More than 100 education executives attended this event representing schools from across the region. The event gave them the opportunity to meet their colleagues to discuss and share ideas on the role of IT in Education and understand how the LINK network can support their aspirations.

The LINK programme encourages the participation of all public sector bodies in Sussex to pool resources to deliver important savings and benefits by offering a common public sector network across the region.

Schools and colleges in Sussex and the surrounding areas will be able to source their networking requirements from the LINK and enjoy fast connection speeds and cost savings, as schools will not incur charges for separate infrastructure or separate procurement costs.

“The LINK has been hugely successful across East Sussex and Brighton & Hove and many public facing operations such as libraries and council buildings will be utilising the LINK for connectivity,” says MDNX COO, Wayne Churchill. “We are working with East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council to on-board schools from across the region and bring them into the LINK programme. This will deliver exponential benefits in terms of connectivity and cost savings as more schools and public sector organisations join it.”

For more information about the LINK, please visit: www.linksussex.org

About The LINK
The LINK is a collaborative programme driven and governed by its stakeholders. It is open and inclusive, encouraging the participation of all public sector bodies in Sussex, and working in partnership with its suppliers to deliver optimal outcomes for citizens.
The LINK targets ICT areas where pooling demand can drive out benefits for its members. The LINK Network is designed to grow from a strong base to allow all public sector and trusted partners to quickly join and enjoy the cost benefits of these shared services.

MDNX, the UK’s largest independent managed network services provider,  today announced it has been appointed as the LINK Network supplier. The LINK is a collaborative ICT programme for public sector organisations across Sussex and surrounding areas.  The seven year contract is expected to grow to be worth more than £20m, starting with the networks of East Sussex County Council (ESCC) and Brighton and Hove City Council (B&HCC).

The LINK Programme encourages the participation of all public sector bodies in Sussex, pooling demand and resources to drive better benefits. The LINK Network is an essential foundation of the programme. Working in partnership with MDNX, the LINK will deliver important savings and benefits by offering a common public sector network across the region.

The single network platform will be exploited to enable a range of future shared services and collaborative delivery. It will reduce the barriers to joining up services for citizens, such as “one stop shops”, and to sharing resources like telephony and datacentres to reduce costs.

ESCC and B&HCC will be first to transition to the LINK Network, moving their council, library and school services to the LINK in a focussed twelve-month transition plan to achieve direct savings of more than £2 million. A number of other public sector organisations in the area are already in advanced discussions to migrate their networks to the LINK Network.

MDNX will deploy a powerful network to deliver economies of scale across Sussex. The secure carrier-grade core will run multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) using the existing MDNX 10Gbps resilient network. The network contract is structured to allow MDNX to drive best value and performance across the region by using a range of providers.

“Network integration enables networks  ̶  both fixed and wireless  ̶  to be designed freely by selecting the optimum infrastructure provider and technology option for each location. This achieves the necessary performance, resilience, security and cost requirements, all within the Public Service Network (PSN) framework,” says Wayne Churchill, chief operating officer at MDNX. “This approach opens the door to other public sector partners in Sussex being able to easily join the LINK and enjoy the benefits of these shared services.”

“This exciting project not only gives us a better and more flexible network platform, it is a major driver to support closer working between partners in healthcare, emergency services, education and local government,” Tony Summers, CIO at ESCC highlighted. “Using an integrator gives us the flexibility to switch to new technology and new carrier services as they become available and as our needs evolve. This approach lets us build a relationship with a supplier partner, without being tied to a fixed solution, which is vital in the dynamic environment we face.”

“Through a well-established LINK Governance Structure, the spirit of collaboration in Sussex has already been harnessed to deliver concrete benefits,” said Paul Colbran, CIO at B&HCC. “The LINK provides common standards, simplified management and interoperability. The LINK will provide us with a flexible, secure foundation for cross sector ICT collaboration and give us a strong platform for the future.”

The procurement of Link Voice telephony services is expected to conclude shortly, and the planning for the development of other key services using the same joint working approach is well advanced.

About The LINK

The LINK is a collaborative programme driven and governed by its stakeholders. It is open and inclusive, encouraging the participation of all public sector bodies in Sussex, and working in partnership with its suppliers to deliver optimal outcomes for citizens.

The LINK targets ICT areas where pooling demand can drive out benefits for its members. The LINK Network is designed to grow from a strong base to allow all public sector and trusted partners to quickly join and enjoy the cost benefits of these shared services.

MDNX Delivering PSN Compliance for a Major Local Authority

The Background
The vision of the Council was to embrace future opportunities for Shared Services and reduce on-going expenditure in light of budget austerity measures. The Public Services Network (PSN) initiative has allowed the Council to take a lead in transforming the way they work and the way they deliver services to citizens.

The Scope
The Council identified a requirement to replace its ageing WAN supporting connectivity to over 200 remote site locations (Corporate offices and Schools) across the County as the existing infrastructure has become significantly costly against current market prices and in any event, did not support future needs of the Council and its partner organisations. Following a competitive procurement process, MDNX was chosen as the Network Services Partner to deliver the solution.

The Solution
The end site connectivity is delivered using multiple access technologies including Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM), Fibre and
Wireless from multiple carriers, integrated by MDNX within the core managed network infrastructure. To deliver this service multiple telephone Exchanges were unbundled to act as the POP (Points of Presence) in conjunction with two of the Council’s key locations. These core locations were then interconnected using Gb Ethernet services to provide a highly available core network. The network will provide support for six (6) discrete Class of Service (CoS) queues and six (6) MPLS VPNs. MDNX is responsible for the proactive monitoring and management of the acess network, the core network and all associated remote CPE and PE devices.

The solution was delivered through a structured quality management and project management process by the MDNX Project Management Team who worked in a partnership approach with the Council team.

The Outcome
Following the implementation the Council has been able to make material savings as well as transforming how the organisation works and interacts with its Citizens. The network provides a platform to expand services with other council partners, such as Fire and Rescue who are now joining the Council’s Wide Area Network to also take advantage of such cost savings and delivering better services to the community.

Why PSN and MDNX?
PSN has become the forefront of many council’s strategies and the initiative offers opportunities for collaboration that were not viable before. The MDNX Carrier Integration model perfectly matches the strategic goals of PSN.

Deliver Savings – The MDNX Carrier Integration model uniquely delivers cost advantage by deploying a network based on the lowest cost model within the market place. Typically savings of 25-30% can be achieved compared to a single carrier proposition.

Collaborative Working – The MDNX Network can securely enable multiple partners and agencies to share information and services.

Mobile Working – MDNX can provide solutions to facilitate a flexible working approach thereby enabling staff to work more efficiently whilst giving organisations the opportunity to rationalise their property estate.

The County Council were seeking to replace their separate Legacy Voice and Data networks with a single managed service and wanted to achieve significantly reduced operating costs and efficiency savings. In pursuit of the County’s shared services vision the Council required a service and contract that allowed and encouraged its partners in the public sector to take advantage of the single managed service to drive down their costs and provide a common underlying infrastructure to support collaboration.

The initial scope was to support The County Council’s 160 corporate sites and provide increased functionality with the implementation of a new voice platform. A key criterion for the authority was to create a flexible transparent contract to enable additional partners to benefit from the same services with no procurement duplication. Following a competitive procurement process, MDNX with its voice partner was chosen as the Network Services Partner to deliver the solution to in excess of 5000 connected users.

The solution follows MDNX’s hybrid carrier independent approach. In 2009, multiple telephone exchanges were unbundled to act as the POPs (Points of Presence) in conjunction with the County Council’s key data centre location County Hall. These core locations were then interconnected using Gigabit Ethernet services to provide a high availability resilient core network. Access technologies including Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) and Fibre were used to provide the last mile connections from the exchanges to the sites.The end result was an integrated network established through an independent evaluation of carriers that is fully managed on the backbone and to the remote locations including the site router CPE.

Since the initial implementation in 2009, MDNX has actively worked with the County Council to help explain and promote the benefits of a common shared network. To date, 4 new district council partners have also joined the network. All of these partners are now benefitting from the shared core infrastructure and having realised a greater level of service and reduced costs. The partners with the support of MDNX are in active discussion with more potential partners to promote the network which is the key enabler to realising shared savings and offering more for less.

MDNX are now actively working with the County Council and its partners to achieve PSN compliance for the Council network to provide PSN connectivity services for any public service organisation in the county.