From the desk of the CEO

The last quarter of 2008 was certainly a busy one, and at Uecomm, it was a busier quarter than most!

In July of last year we announced the launch of our new VPLS platform. As of last quarter, all new Uecomm customers are provisioned on this network and we commenced migrating the services of our existing customers. VPLS will deliver an improved customer experience including faster, more accurate network and service design through extensive automation facilities, and expected improvements in network service levels. It also lays the foundation for hierarchical Quality of Service and will deliver significant customer benefits including increased business continuity, flexibility and scalability as well as improved support for Voice over IP, video and data services.

We are proud sponsors of community based business initiatives and we conducted our inaugural mentoring program in support of the Young Achievement Australia (YAA) Business Skills Program™.

YAA is a non-government not-for profit charitable organisation with a mission to build partnerships with Australian businesses and the community.

Our mentor’s role was to use their invaluable business experience to support the Business Skills Program participants to learn by doing – which helps participants develop independent thinking, enhance their skills, and make better informed decisions now and in the future.

We also participated in a number of activities, including our sponsorship of the Gartner Symposium and ITexpo and the inaugural Melbourne Business Continuity Forum.

We were proud to join with Interactive as the principal partners for the 2008 Scope Golf Challenge. Scope has recently become a customer of both Uecomm and Interactive, which will enable their 95 sites throughout Victoria to be technologically linked, thereby improving productivity and data storage capabilities.

Our relationship with the MEF goes from strength to strength, and in November we celebrated being named runner up in the Asia Pacific region in the category ‘Best in Business’. Initially it was terrific to simply be named as the only Australian finalist; needless to say we were delighted with the final result.

Once again, our customers were pleased to share their Uecomm experiences with you and in this edition we talk to David Oliver from Australia’s premier metropolitan transport and logistics provider, Kings Transport and Damien Fasciani, Support Services Manager for leading software solution provider, Primavera Australia Pty Ltd.

Until next time, with warm wishes for a productive and successful 2009

Ian Noble
Acting CEO, Uecomm

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Kings Transport in top gear with new Uecomm WAN

Kings Transport, Australia’s premier metropolitan transport and logistics provider, selected Uecomm, to replace its existing MPLS network with a metro Ethernet WAN delivering greater scalability, reliability and flexibility for the business.

Kings signed a five year contract to deliver the network infrastructure required to support its business as it continues to grow. Commencing business in 1991 with just two vehicles, Kings now shows no sign of slowing, boasting more than 1,500 vehicles and offices in all mainland capital cities.

Uecomm will deliver an Ethernet WAN connecting Kings Transport’s 15 sites nationally including a 20Mbps fibre connection to its head office in Notting Hill and a mixture of ADSL and SHDSL technologies to its other sites providing 2 and 4 Mbps capacity. This is a minimum three-fold increase in capacity from the existing 512Kbps Kings has with its current service.

As part of the contract, Uecomm designed dual medium redundancy into the network with real-time data replication and recovery. Kings also opted for a fully managed service including proactive network management from Uecomm’s 24/7 Network Operations Centre to ensure maximum resiliency for the business.

“The core driver for our upgrade to an Ethernet WAN was the business benefits we could achieve with a network that delivered more capacity, greater resiliency and was easily scalable to meet our future needs,” said Kings Transport General Manager IT, David Oliver.

“We have been able to increase our capacity from just 512Kbps to between 2 and 4 Mbps which will allow us to significantly improve our business efficiencies as well as to trial new bandwidth hungry applications such as video conferencing and Voice over IP which simply could not have been possible with our old network.

“Further, with the ability to replicate our core data in real-time from all our sites to our disaster recovery site, we will have much greater resilience and will be better protected in the event of disaster,” he said.

With a fleet of over 1,500 vehicles on the road at any given time, Kings required a solution that would allow its staff access to the network to improve productivity for its remote teams. The existing network and its restricted capacity and flexibility limited Kings’ options to deliver remote working options to its staff, which will now be possible with the Uecomm solution.

Kings Transport also operates a number of satellite sites for some of its major clients. On the previous network, these sites needed to connect via a VPN. The new Ethernet WAN has allowed these sites to be included in Kings’ core network, producing greater working efficiencies and outcomes for Kings customers.

According to Garry White, Uecomm’s director of products, transport businesses are increasingly upgrading their infrastructure to carrier-grade Ethernet WANs to support their high demand for data transfer between offices, warehouses and a mobile workforce.

“Ethernet provides a compelling reason for businesses to upgrade their networks. It’s simple to administer and more affordable, and delivers greater capacity and resilience. More importantly though, its easily scalable, meaning businesses can change their network design without major costs or business downtime,” he said.

Mr White also explains that as a member of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), a global industry organisation, Uecomm is committed to best practice development and service delivery of carrier grade Ethernet.

“Our customers will continue to benefit from the global standards we have aligned ourselves with,” he concluded.

Fixed voice and a mobile data fleet have also been supplied as part of the contract.

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Primavera benefits from scalability, capacity of Uecomm Ethernet WAN

Primavera Australia Pty Ltd, a world leader in software solutions, has chosen Uecomm to upgrade its ADSL network to a fibre Ethernet solution to deliver a consolidated and standardised network for its group of offices and remote staff nationally.

Primavera Australia is a privately-owned and locally-run business which was established in 1990. The business is headquartered in Melbourne and maintains a presence in Sydney, Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and New Zealand.

With a national network of industry-experienced consultants and recent acquisition of offices in both Perth and Brisbane, Primavera required a scalable network infrastructure solution to allow it to add new sites easily while also increasing the speed and reliability of existing connections.

Uecomm has delivered 5Mbps fibre connection to its Melbourne office and a 3Mbps fibre connection to its Sydney office and has also provided Primavera with unlimited data download per month and now has available internet speeds of up to 100Mbps.

According to Primavera, the business has already seen a return on investment from its upgrade to Ethernet, particularly as the new network has reduced the business’ reliance on the internal IT department which can now concentrate on development of products rather than maintenance of the IT infrastructure.

With the Uecomm solution, Primavera also opted for a Managed Router Solution which provides the business with a fully managed and highly reliable network, further reducing its staff resources on network issues and maintenance.

Damian Fasciani, Support Services Manager for Primavera says the upgrade to Uecomm’s Ethernet solution has allowed the business to increase its efficiencies across the board.

“The new Ethernet solution is inherently more scalable,” explained Mr Fasciani.

We recently acquired a new business which meant we needed to bring two more sites onto our network. The Ethernet solution has not only increased our speed, and reliability, but it also allows for us to add new sites and applications more easily in the future.

For Primavera, the unexpected business advantage available for its team of external consultants has also provided significant efficiencies for the business.

“On our old ADSL network, our staff only had access to webmail externally. Now, with Uecomm’s design, staff have VPN access externally and we are providing external consultants with ADSL modems so they can log onto the system when they are out of the office; allowing them to do their job more efficiently while they are working in isolated locations.”

Uecomm’s Ethernet solution will also allow Primavera to take advantage of new technologies more quickly and easily than would have been possible with its legacy ADSL network.

“We anticipate implementing VoIP in the next 12 to 18 months and are investigating video conferencing for the business. The speed and reliability of the new network has allowed this to happen; running on our old ADSL would have simply been too costly, slow and cumbersome.”

The Managed Router Solution (MRS) provided by Uecomm has also allowed the business to adopt a ‘set it and forget it’ approach to its network as its entire service is managed 24/7.

“Any issues with our network are responded to promptly with any faults and delays identified and rectified as quickly as possible,” Mr Fasciani explained.

According to Uecomm’s Director of Products, Garry White, Primavera can now also enjoy peace of mind that its network is constantly monitored by Uecomm’s team of network engineers. The move to an Ethernet network has provided the business with greater speed, reliability and scalability.

“Businesses are increasingly migrating to Carrier Ethernet for the business benefits it provides. The traditional characteristics of Ethernet have been strengthened to provide the level of reliability required by today’s enterprise.

“As the first Australian service provider member of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF), we’re keen to accelerate the adoption of Carrier-class Ethernet networks and services for the continued benefit to Australian businesses,” he said.

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Uecomm best in business for Australian Ethernet

Leading next generation networks provider and Optus subsidiary Uecomm, has been recognised at the 2008 MEF Carrier Ethernet Service Provider of the Year Awards (Asia-Pacific).

Uecomm was awarded second place against a field of eight finalists for the “Best in Business” Service Provider of the Year category in the annual awards which recognise excellence and leadership in the development, marketing and delivery of Carrier Ethernet Business Services.

Uecomm was the only Australian company recognised.

The awards were judged on a number of criteria, including service innovation, service coverage, market success, customer case studies and industry leadership and participation. Singtel was victorious in the category ahead of Uecomm and joint runner up PCCW (Hong Kong).

The Best in Business Service Provider Award is awarded to the service provider who has done the most overall to promote Carrier Ethernet in the APAC region by demonstrating industry leadership, innovation and creativity in the development of their business plans and can showcase significant Carrier Ethernet implementations.

Uecomm’s Acting CEO and Director of Technology, Mr Ian Noble said Uecomm was delighted to have been recognised in the awards as testament to the company’s expertise and longevity in delivering Ethernet services for Australian business.

“Uecomm is the only specialist Ethernet Service Provider in Australia. In 2001 Uecomm became the first carrier in Australia to offer Ethernet Metropolitan Area Networks and in 2007 Uecomm was the first Australian service provider member of the Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF),” he said.

“We build, own and operate our own significant fibre optic network that extends from the Central Business Districts of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane to the greater metropolitan areas and to the Gold Coast in Queensland.

“We are serious about Carrier Ethernet and the benefits it provides to the Australian market. We joined the MEF last year as the first Australian service provider member in the region to demonstrate our commitment to the promotion and service excellence of carrier-Ethernet in this country,” Mr Noble said.

Over the past 12 months, Uecomm has implemented significant network enhancements. A key initiative from a technical perspective was the implementation of a new Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) platform, which combined with its new Logical Resource Manager (LRM) system, is an Australian first. The implementation of VPLS also paves the way for Uecomm’s MEF certification, planned for 2009.

Uecomm also upgraded its core Ethernet network to 10GB, supporting a growing number of customers who have massive data requirements.

“As an active member of the MEF Uecomm is committed to best practice development and globally recognised service delivery of carrier grade Ethernet, and we are delighted to be recognised as amongst the best in the business in this area,” he said.

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