8el - leading voice and data solutions

Reading, UK, April 21st, 2005 --- Innovative voice and data specialist 8el has beaten proposals from two other suppliers to secure a contract with warehousing and distribution specialists; Howard Tenens worth over £200,000. The three year contract is to supply a data network consisting of private, un-contended DSL Wide Area Network (WAN) between the company’s 10 UK sites with ISP connectivity and co-location facilities.

The DSL service aims to provide a faster, cost effective and higher quality data connectivity between satellite offices. It eliminates the needs for more expensive and less flexible technologies such as Frame Relay or KiloStream, traditionally used to give fast data access between different office locations.

Following a review, Howard Tenens incumbent data network of 64Kbps leased lines between sites was proving both costly to run and insufficient for it’s business needs. 8el will deliver an upgraded data network consisting of a 2Mbps leased line into their main data centre in Stroud, together with a private ADSL based WAN to connect their other sites. 8el’s solution proved considerably less expensive than traditional leased line technologies and substantially more secure due to not utilising ‘public’ ISP clouds to transfer business data. By implementing this solution, Howard Tenens will realise significant cost savings but still receive private, un-contended connections with guaranteed throughput.

Additionally, Howard Tenens’ Stroud office, which currently hosts their centralised data services, represents a potential single point of failure for all email and Internet access, leaving the business unnecessarily exposed to network failure. In response, 8el has proposed a more resilient solution consisting of a centralised firewall, Internet servers, and ISP connectivity via its co-location facility in London; guaranteeing continuity of key services in the event of a primary network failure. Once installed, this will remove the Stroud office as a potential single point of failure, increase network speeds and deliver more efficient use of bandwidth.

Said Cath Canty, IT Manager at Howard Tenens, “We needed to review our network supplier in order to deliver the high quality, reliable communications required by our employees, without overstretching our budget. 8el has the expertise to deliver a flexible solution with potential to grow in line with our requirements. Since going live our DSL based WAN has more than met my expectations”

By installing ATM enabled customer premises equipment, 8el’s ATM core network is extended to Howard Tenens’ sites. This also enables ‘Quality of Service’ (QoS) to be configured across the network, guaranteeing high performance for end users. A choice of 256kbps, 512kbps, 1Mbps and 2Mbps of private, un-contended bandwidth is available using 8el’s DSL service, enough to comfortably meet the bandwidth needs of most medium-sized enterprises.

Howard Tenens is one of the largest privately owned Warehousing and Distribution Contract Management companies in the UK. Howard Tenens has over 40 years experience in managing the most demanding logistic contracts. This has predominantly been within the automotive, confectionery and forest product industries.

The company operates from nearly 2.5 million sq ft of high quality, modern warehousing across 10 UK locations with its Head Office situated in Stroud, Gloucestershire.

Howard Tenens is unique in the market place as it can provide an entire logistics solution, including the purchasing of sites, the construction of a building to meet clients' specific needs, the running of the warehouse contract and the resultant inbound and outbound distribution.
www.tenens.com

8el (pronounced 'A-Tel') is an innovative, specialist network operator. It provides efficient voice and data solutions to the business market. Customers use 8el to meet their communication needs and derive a mixture of strategic, financial and quality benefits.

For more information on 8el’s converged solutions contact Chris Sayer on 0845 33 000 93 or email [email protected]