Capability Statement. Six Degrees Group.

Transcription

1 Capability Statement

2 Your Enterprise Service Partner has a track record in providing a dedicated managed hosting environment, expert technical support and global connectivity solutions. Our datacentres are the core of our business and with 15 years of continual operational life, the Studley campus has a proven track record of delivering availability to clients with the most demanding applications, complemented by our connect, secure and support services. Contents Introduction 2 Company Profile 3 What makes Six Degrees 4 Group Different 4 Management Structure 4 Services Offered 5 At a Glance 5 Datacentre Services 6 6 Managed Connectivity 7 7 Private Cloud 8 8 Technology Partners 8 Support Services 9 9 Managed Service Suite 10 Key Facts 10 Technology Partners 10 Project Experience Quality & Compliance Corporate Social 13 Responsibility 13 Page 1 of 13

3 Introduction is pleased to present this Company Profile. Qualities such as independence, financial stability, resilience, service and agility are all key requirements demanded of any suppliers. During 15 years of practical experience as datacentre and managed infrastructure services, the company has created exception cost-effective design solutions for an extensive range of clients throughout the world. The central focus of the company is excellence achieved through active collaboration with clients underpinned by a strong service culture. We understand that the end users of modern Information Technology developments have come to expect a high level of reliability, innovation and fresh approaches to infrastructure design. places great emphasis on working closely with its clients to identify and develop solutions for delivery of secure highly available outsourced hosting and network solutions. This is achieved by: Developing forward looking approaches in technology and its application to meet market needs - both short and long term Continuing to enhance core competencies needed to design and deliver professional services Simplifying IT infrastructures that satisfy operational needs at lower costs and with increased reliability Provide a realistic approach to environmental issues. has provided best of breed IT solutions based on its privately owned and funded Tier IV aligned datacentres for 15 years. We are respected as a leader in our field, having gained increasing market share, and ongoing recognition from industry analysts. Through word of mouth, has become the trusted advisor to a number of market verticals, national brands and government organisations. financial stability and focus on core services is a defining factor in its differentiation from competitors. Due to this financial strength, we have been able to invest money in the development of our datacentres, network, technical support staff as well as new products and services which align to our core values. In today s business environment, where technology is vital for survival, organisations need to feel safe in the knowledge that their technology supplier is financially secure. As one of the most financially stable companies in the IT and technology sector, can provide that peace of mind. Page 2 of 13

4 Company Profile History & Capabilities is focused on the delivery of secure highly available outsourced hosting and network solutions. approaches each customer s requirement as a unique opportunity to deliver added value and increased performance, utilising proven, best in class technologies, solutions and partners. Celebrating its 15th year of business in 2011, provides a range of fully managed co-location datacentre solutions and bespoke national and international wide area networks, all complimented by design, build and support services, to over 350 customers in public and private sector organisations, most of whom work with to protect and secure business continuity across their critical data and systems. owns and operates two Studley datacentres Tier III & IV aligned co-location space, diverse carrier access and power delivered with an environmental balance without compromising the needs of critical infrastructure. has been delivering secure, scalable and reliable hosting and WAN connectivity services since 1998 and is a privately owned business. delivers infrastructure services utilising multiple best-of-breed vendors. list of alliances and authorised vendors include: Industry Alliance: RIPE, LINX, LONAP, Nominet, NYIIX Partner Datacentres: Telehouse, TelecityGroup, Interxion, Telx Network Infrastructure (not an exhaustive list): AboveNet, BE Wholesale, BT Openreach, Cable & Wireless, Colt, Gamma, Geo, Hibernia Atlantic, Level 3, SSE Telecoms, TalkTalk Business, Tata, TeliaSonera, Telstra and Virgin Media Business Networks Hardware: Cisco, Zeus, HP, Nokia, Juniper, Checkpoint Systems Hardware: HP, Dell, IBM, Cisco, Brocade, Juniper Facilities Infrastructure: ABB, Emerson Network Power, GEA Denco, APC, Mardix, Schneider Electric, Eaton, SDMO Voice: Magrathea Wholesale VOIP Software: Microsoft, Debian, Red Hat, Sophos, Sage, VMWare, Xen, Citrix, Novell Managed Services: MessageLabs, RSA, Cryptocard, Asigra, Cisco. Page 3 of 13

5 What makes Different have several identifiable strengths which set us apart from our competitors and demonstrate we are right partner. These include: 1. Customer Focus: We take a consultative approach to ensure we fully understand your requirements before recommending the services we believe are right for your individual business. 2. Independence: Our independence is one of our key values. We can choose the best solution to reflect your needs, and then select the most appropriate and cost-effective supplier to complement our core Network Connectivity & Data Centre services. 3. Business-Only Provider: We only work with commercial organisations, and being charged with managing their business critical data and communications gives us a strong ethos of high quality, business-strength service provision. 4. Solutions: Our relationships with key UK carriers and partnerships with world leading best of breed industry providers, enable us to offer leading-edge technology solutions, delivering innovation and real customer benefits. 5. Project Management: Our service delivery and technical teams carefully look after all new projects, working closely with you and providing regular progress reports ensuring you are always in the loop and your expectations are met. 6. Self-Service Online Portal: You can access your billing records and account information, resource utilisation, support usage and much more, 24 hours a day from our secure customer online portal. 7. Single Point of Contact: A dedicated Account Manager will be appointed to provide any advice you need, backed up by customer service and technical support teams. Organisation Chart What makes Six Degrees Group Different Personal relationships and service True innovation through our independence Bespoke technical support Flexibility in choosing the right services appropriate for each individual customer A dedicated Account Manager with full customer service support 15 Year Heritage Started by the current Managing Director in 1996, has market leading pedigree. Private Ownership Strong focus on core hosting and connectivity business with a Director/ shareholder correlation. Stability & Self Financing Strong year on year organic growth with strong stable revenue streams from a diverse mix of customers. Managed Data Unified Comms Modern Owned Facilities Datacentres custom built in 1998 and 2008, owned within the company structure for unrivalled long term assurance. Connectivity Datacentre Cloud Voice Mobility Systems Page 4 of 13

6 Services Offered can assist with the design and development in a range of areas. Our proven track record ensures your system can be designed and developed with industry best practice and certification in mind. We have a detailed and long term track record of delivering hosted/managed solutions to major corporate and enterprise customers, which we demonstrate through customer endorsements and personal recommendations. Our hosting/managed services, when combined with our network and wider support services combine to deliver an excellent value offering and future proof solutions. Datacentre Services Based in two dedicated, custom built facilities 90 miles from London. Flexible Space Single server through dedicated 450m 2 suites with mixed power density. At a Glance Datacentre Services Flexible Space Network Services Private Cloud Support & PS Managed Services SIP Trunks Network Services Owned and operated international core network for the delivery Internet access services, content delivery and MPLS (private WAN) solutions. Private Cloud Enterprise class virtualisation with a full infrastructure-as-a-service solution delivering virtual machines and compute resource pools. Support & PS Multi-skilled support teams based at the datacentres provide support of networks, firewalls, security, servers, storage and virtualisation. Skills extend to design and specification professionals services. Managed Services Enterprise class managed services including messaging and web filtering, managed backup, penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, and managed two-factor authentication. SIP Trunks Access to wholesale SIP trunks delivered on-network, directly connected to the core for security and reliability. Page 5 of 13

7 Datacentre Services operates two privately owned and operated Data Centre facilities in Studley, Warwickshire, designed to align with the broad concepts of Tier-IV and Tier-III classifications. This provides the highest level of resiliency and redundancy to ensure continued availability of equipment hosted within the facility. Our North facility operates as a 2N (or N+N) configuration, and our South facility operations as N+1 power and N+1 cooling. believes that having access to N+N infrastructure services are essential for modern high-availability services and solutions, with particular relevance to the availability of mission critical data. Choice of Grade Align availability needs with expenditure by choosing between N+1 or 2N power resiliency over two datacentre properties, both offering 2N cooling. Flexible Space Datacentre space is available to meet project requirements: Dedicated suites up-to 450m 2 Private "PODS" up-to 33 contiguous racks Dedicated private racks Dedicated quarter racks Individual server hosting Sample specification (dedicated co-location rack in our North facility): 1 cabinet in a shared suite Full 42U rack - 600mm x 1050mm Ventilated front and rear doors Combination Locks on front and rear doors 2N (dual feed) power supply A feed supported by Mains, UPS A and Generators B feed supported by Mains, UPS B and Generators 8kW guaranteed 24 x 7 continual draw 24 x 7 Customer and Contractor Access to Data Centre Flexible Space Single server through dedicated 450m 2 suites with mixed power density. No Reliance on London Utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure. Page 6 of 13

8 Managed Connectivity operates a fully resilient and diverse international Ethernet MPLS network. This provides a scalable core on which to provide diverse connectivity from client facilities to the nearest Six Degree network nodes. has an excellent track record for delivering complex Ethernet MPLS networks, working closely with customers to ensure a seamless migration from existing networks. have invested extensively to provide flexible Ethernet First Mile (EFM) options directly through unbundling of local exchanges (LLU), enabling rapid delivery of copper and fibre based services. provide multi-service ports enable private clouds / MPLS / Internet and inter-site connectivity to be aggregated, providing efficiencies and cost savings. resilient core network is built upon the industry leading network vendors, including Cisco Systems and Juniper. Our strategic partnerships with local access providers such as BT, Virgin Media, Level 3, Colt, C&W, TalkTalk, Telia and others complement our own reach to enable to provide you with the most cost effective local access services. Allowing us to provide fully diverse service delivery to your remote offices using multiple different local access providers. supports the core network and our customer s networks with our own highly skilled 24x7x365 in-house NOC and certified network engineers. Our managed service provides you with a proactive response, comprehensive SLA and online performance reporting to provide you with the highest level of service. Our consultative approach ensures we work with our customer to plan for future upgrades and cater for new requirements and will constantly review the network performance to ensure it meets your requirements now, and in to the future. The IP platform has been architected to a carrier grade strategy as our clients expect. Our extensive private and public peering at LINX, LONAP and NYIIX ensures traffic is routed to the destination network efficiently, for global transit we have direct relationships with multiple Tier-1 networks. There is no IP dependency upon London or Docklands, by utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure from our datacentre facilities. Owned and Operated Core National and international core with service deliver nodes in major cities for onward connection to domestic tails. MPLS & QoS Enabled Utilising market leading technology the core network is optimised for low latency and high availability. No Reliance on London Utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure. Supported In House Trained and qualified network engineers, based in our Studley NOC, manage the network 24x7. Full IPv6 Support Operating and passing IPv6 traffic for customers since LLU Footprint provides flexible Ethernet First Mile (EFM) directly through unbundling of local exchanges, enabling direct delivery of copper of fibre based services removing any sole dependency upon the incumbent. Services Key IP PoP Telx 60 Hudson (NYC) Telehouse North (LON) IP & Core Voice PoP IP PoP & Colo Connectivity Key Dark Fibre Studley North Tier IV Aligned Telecity Kilburn House (MAN) Telecity Hex 6/7 (LON) BT Faraday House (LLU) 10 GB Wave 1 GB Ethernet Baynard (LLU) Telehouse East (LON) Monument (LLU) Studley South Tier III Aligned Telehouse Metro (LON) Clerkenwell (LLU) Telecity Sovereign House (LON) Level (3) Goswell Road (LON) Page 7 of 13

9 Private Cloud We operate a Private Infrastructure Cloud architecture delivered using VMWare Enterprise platform, the accepted best of breed virtualisation technologies. The platform resides within the same highly secure and fault tolerant hosting environment as our traditional dedicated rack services, offering you total peace of mind around data security and service quality. Each Cloud Virtual Machine is private for your use. The amount of fixed resources are allocated and always available for your use, along with the ability to increase or burst as options within the service. The compartmentalisation of each virtual machine is at the core of the design to support security. Dedicated Cloud Resources Cloud virtual machines (CVM s) are simple to use, scalable and resilient. A range of other Cloud services compliment and support both the CVM s and traditional rack hosting to improve user experience and provide value for money. Private Cloud Resource Pools From a pool of CPU, Memory and Disk you make the decisions. From within these scalable pools you have control to define service quality and access to resources by individual machines. Combined with a range of default images for operating systems, new Virtual Machines can be brought to service in minutes. Cloud Storage Cloud virtual machines (CVM s) are simple to use, scalable and resilient. A range of other Cloud services compliment and support both the CVM s and traditional rack hosting to improve user experience and provide value for money. Flexible grow and shrink Starting with a single core of CPU, each virtual machine can be scaled with either dedicated or shared CPU power. Secure know where your data is Built on best of breed and hosted within highly secure datacentres, you will always know where your data is. Simple Delivery Delivered via a secure Multi Service Link into existing rackspace or directly accessible from the Internet. Service Level Agreement You will always have access to the resources you order, and using the High Availability options we will manage hardware failure with seamless migration. Cloud Deployment Using a broad range of managed data services, a cloud infrastructure can be deployed which includes security, load balancing, storage, backups and of computing power. Internet Remote Access VPN with 2 Factor Authentification Leased Line to Customer Office Cloud managed firewalls Cloud managed firewalls Private interconnect to Cloud Storage Services Private interconnect to MPLS WAN Cloud managed loadbalancers Cloud managed loadbalancers Private Interconnect to Customer Rack Cloud Virtual Machines CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE Page 8 of 13

10 Support Services Alongside our expertise in data centre services and network solutions, prides itself on its onsite support services. We have two technical teams specialising in Systems and Network Solutions, both with wide-ranging skills sets. Assistance can be offered to most software and hardware platforms, firewalls and network hardware and can be undertaken under a variety of support packages and infrastructure support and management packages to ensure complete piece of mind. Remote & Smart Hands On-site engineers to assist when you need us. Capability Area Server Hardware Server O/S (Microsoft) Server O/S (Other) Virtualisation VDI Network Hardware Network Technologies Security Technologies HP & Dell hardware to advanced level Windows Server 2000, 2003, 2008; Exchange 2000, 2003, 2007, 2010; SQL Server 2000, 2005, 2008; IIS; AD Debian, CentOS, RedHat Linux, Apache, MySQL, Squid, PHP, DRDB VMWare: Design, Install, Support & Manage, Citrix Xen Citrix Xen Desktop, VMWare View Cisco routers, Cisco switches, Linux firewalls/routers LAN, WAN, MPLS, HSRP, OSPF, BGP, Vlans Cisco ASA, RSA SecurID, Crytocard Infrastructure Management Routine inspections and checks of your hosting environment delivered with management. Infrastructure Support & Management Smart-Hands support mechanism is principally reactive support, in response to issues raised through our support ticketing system. For a more proactive checking service, is able to provide Infrastructure Support & Management contracts which include full management reports. Skills and Experience Experienced in building and maintaining scalable and secure environments, the Six Degrees Group support teams maintain in excess of 200 customer and internal servers across diverse version of Microsoft Windows and Linux. The Six Degrees Managed Data Support teams are specialists in virtualisation, high-availability, performance tuning as well as day-to-day administration and management. Expertise in Virtualisation The Support teams maintain various Public, Private and Hybrid Cloud infrastructures and specialises in Cloud deployment, management and administration. With cross-spectrum abilities in DAS, NAS, and SAN including iscsi and Fibre Channel the Six Degrees Group teams are able to effectively monitor, maintain and improve customer infrastructures from day one. With specialism crossing vendors the teams are fully capable of working with HP, Dell, EMC, Equalogic, NetApp and Hitachi units to ensure our customers critical systems are always online. Page 9 of 13

11 Managed Service Suite Key Facts Lower TCO and Simplified Administration: Our hosted service can be set up quickly and does not require dedicated IT staffing. The cloud-based delivery model allows you to reduce on-site hardware and software expenses, has low deployment costs and predictable operating costs allow for effective budgeting. Updates, upgrades, and maintenance are all included in your service providing the most up to date levels of threat protection. Reduce Risk: Our service offers protection from multi-protocol attacks by drawing from several technologies to detect threats in , Web, and Instant Messaging, sharing intelligence across services for enhanced protection. It provides defence against threats by employing multiple commercial and MessageLabs proprietary scanning engine, Skeptic which is able to identify previously unseen zero hour threats. Improve Productivity: Company employees that misuse Web, IM, and resources can unwittingly put your business at risk. Sites for online gambling, social networking, and peer to peer file sharing not only reduce employee productivity and waste valuable bandwidth, but have also been known to harbour threats. By automatically applying Acceptable User Policies, controlling content and scanning for inappropriate images, the service can help improve employee productivity and minimise misuse of company resources. Secure firewalls, VPN s, and applications: The service delivers hassle free two-factor authentication (2FA) services without the need for complex integration, up-front investment or on-going support. When trying to connect to the corporate network or web server, users are asked to identify themselves using their unique OTP and PIN, this request is then sent to the service, the user is then authorised and given access to the enterprise network. Use with Confidence: Our , Web, IM & 2FA services are backed by industry leading SLA s to provide you with a highly available, effective, accurate service. Security Provides highly accurate protection against threats and spam without interrupting the flow of legitimate business . Policy Management Enables the enforcement of Acceptable Use Policies, helps control sensitive information without requiring on-site hardware or software. Web Security Helps to safeguard your business against web-borne malware including new and difficult to detect threats using commercial scanners and Skeptic. URL Filtering Automatic, flexible enforcement of your Acceptable Use Policy helps prevent Web misuse. Instant Messaging Security Applies Antivirus, URL Filtering, Content Control, and Logging Services to help protect and control traffic on public IM clients such as Yahoo, MSN, and AIM. Delivers the benefits of IM use while mitigating the risks. Compatible with Hosted Encryption services Helps to protect sensitive by enforcing encrypted links with nominated partners or automatically encrypting outbound based on predefined policies. Security with 2-Factor Helps to protect sensitive by enforcing encrypted links with nominated partners or automatically encrypting outbound based on predefined policies. Technology Partners Page 10 of 13

12 Project Experience The project delivery team are professionally trained to deliver solutions via our bespoke delivery methodology. Our project capabilities can be customised to meet your individual requirements in order to maximise project success, and minimise risk. Using a tailored Prince2 methodology as a guide we will manage your requirements from: 1. Initial query and technical pre-sales design 2. Project initiation (incorporating technical planning, and requirement confirmation) 3. Project execution (including scope, costs, quality, risks and issues management) 4. Closure (including a review of deliverables and customer sign off). Project teams include stakeholders from all divisions of the business engaged in the delivery and support of the service including: Sales & account managers, Service Delivery, Networks, Systems and Datacentre. Formal & Flexible Projects kick off calls with stakeholders set the client led tone for project delivery. Structured Programme Detailed internal processes for quality and service delivery management ensure consistent and professional projects time after time. Accountability Full visibility of project team and escalation matrix through to named Director level. Page 11 of 13

13 Quality & Compliance takes an organisation-wide approach to Quality management, whether it is relating to the ground-up design of our data centres, the technical capabilities of our staff and best of breed partners, through to understanding the customer requirement and consistently delivering solutions within budget, on time and to customer s expectations. New security risks emerge on a daily basis and as a result have a progressive and multi-faceted approach to security incorporating both physical (hardware), logical (Internet), and human (physical access controls) elements to ensure that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data are preserved. Knowledge Full awareness and processes built to help you reach and maintain your own compliance with ISO27001 and PCI-DSS. Skill Organisation-wide awareness and resources for relevant standards including Compliance Director. Page 12 of 13

14 Corporate Social Responsibility Environmental Impact At, we are aware of our social responsibilities and as such have designed our second datacentre on the Studley site to offer high specification space and reduced environmental impact for critical systems. The facility has been designed and built to offer high specification hosting using the very latest energy saving technologies and equipment. Where possible we use fresh air, rather than refrigeration to reject heat from the data floors. The lack of windows to suites reduces solar gain, and increases security. Together with our cardboard recycling scheme, we strive to make as minimum an impact on the environment as possible. The following measures have been taken: UPS systems selected on the basis of power factor and efficiency (input power factor greater than 0.99, efficiency up to 98%). Air conditioning systems use a free cooling system, to reduce compressor runtime and make use of natural cold air and constantly monitored for load levels and configurations adjusted accordingly. Electronically commutated fans (EC fans) now fitted as standard to reduce air handling unit fan power requirements. Industry & Education Engagement Cold aisle containment installed and unused rack blanking installed as standard to control airflow and increase availability of free cooling. Data floors are run warm (excluding air supplies to hosted equipment) to improve efficiencies and reduce power. Lighting in server rooms and office spaces controlled by presence detectors to minimise redundant illumination. Generators selected on basis of efficiency. internal cardboard and paper is recycled. is involved with a number of industry organisations, and has been an active contributor to UK Internet Governance since joining LINX (London Internet Exchange). Tutorials, tours and interest events are organised for interested parties such as the British Computing Society, schools and local universities. Datacentres Built with consideration to efficiency and environmental impact. Operations Ongoing management of facilities and site with due consideration to our impact to the environment and our neighbours. Outreach Sharing our time and skills with industry organisations, educational institutions and other interested groups. Page 13 of 13

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