Countrywide banks on network success with Vanco - Service focus at the core of agreement which reduces WAN costs

Countrywide Assured Group Plc, the UK's largest Estate Agency and Financial Services Group, has appointed Vanco, the global Virtual Network Operator (VNO) to design, implement and manage two Wide Area Networks (WAN) for its Surveyor and Re-mortgaging businesses.

The three year agreements, which together are worth over £3 million, will deliver end-to-end connectivity with a high level of network resilience and performance. Vanco will install two networks using a combination of MPLS, leased lines and ADSL, backed-up with ISDN. The new Vanco network for the Surveyor’s business will span 155 sites across the UK, replacing the existing Frame Relay solution. The Re-mortgaging business is new to Countrywide and requires a new network to link three sites across the UK with a major operation in India. Both networks, are designed to support a number of new applications as well as Internet access and email. Vanco won the business after a four way pitch which included BT, MCI and Energis.

Ray Hollidge, Group IT Manager, Countrywide Assured Group said: “We were very impressed with the attitude and enthusiasm of the Vanco team, combined with its approach to customer service. Countrywide’s data network is absolutely 100% business critical, and from what we have seen thus far we’re confident in Vanco’s ability to maintain the flexibility and constant level of service we need.”

“With the Vanco solution, we’re on the receiving end of cost savings which could be as much as 50% per year, as well as important service improvements. For these reasons, we chose Vanco ahead of its competition.” Hollidge concluded.

Wayne Churchill, Managing Director, Vanco UK commented: “Network resilience and quality are paramount to Countrywide because of the importance of its network traffic, consisting of critical documents such as re-mortgage applications. We designed our solution around business continuity and supported the deal with true end-to-end SLAs, guaranteeing our performance to levels specified by Countrywide. The VNO model is an increasingly compelling proposition for today’s global enterprises and we are delighted that Countrywide, a leading business in its sector, has signed up to our approach.”