External Connectivity (WAN & Internet Services)

The Guinness Partnership (TGP) require a contract for fixed line communications including:

• Data Centre Connectivity
• Wide Area Networking
• Internet Connectivity

TGP are conducting a competitive Procedure with Negotiation process for a contract duration of 5 years with the option to extend for a further 2 years.

The estimated annual value of the contract is £350,000 +VAT.

Background:

The Guinness Wide Area Network serves all of our remote sites and provides internet access and connection to our core cloud services including Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Oracle Fusion Finance and HCM and Microsoft O365 services. The Guinness IT Strategy is to increase the use of cloud services so the criticality of connectivity will only increase.

The WAN is a "hub and spoke" architecture centred around our 2 datacentres, the primary (DCA) is hosted by a third party in Manchester and secondary (DCB) is at the main Guinness IT office in Oldham. The DCs are each served by 10Gb bearers providing WAN and internet connectivity (on separate VRFs) and an additional 10Gb datacentre interconnect.

Remote site connectivity ranges from large sites with 300Mb circuits on 1Gb resilient/diverse ethernet bearers, medium sites with single 200Mb or 100Mb circuits on 1Gb ethernet bearers to small sites ranging from EFM connection to FTTC or ADSL.