Infrastructure of Shared Service Centres

Provide complete network, security and voice over IP infrastructures for the sites of the leading environmental services provider

Provide complete network, security and voice over IP infrastructures for the sites of the leading environmental services provider

Challenge

Set up a pilot site at Lyon then reproduce the infrastructure at sites in Nantes, Lille and Rueil-Malmaison.

Install, in a very short time scale, the pilot for the Centre of Shared Services (CSP) in Lyon, creating a secure, robust and effective network infrastructure with IP telephony.

• Functional:  reproduce the infrastructures across the 4 target sites
• Financial:  minimise the cost of ownership and the cost of administration/management of the technical infrastructure, while ensuring a high level of service
• Organisational:  minimise the impact on the local IT teams and other groups.

Scope

The initial scope was for 50 users on the pilot site with a target of 1,200 users spread across the 4 sites.

Aims

The major objective for the client was to share the IT resources used by the accounting services of the different entities and to thereby optimise the functionality, while offering an optimal experience for users.

Implementation

The infrastructure for the pilot site had to be completed within a short timeframe. The management of the project benefitted from significant customer involvement during the detailed specification phases, which meant that the infrastructure was closely aligned with user requirements.

Implementation of the pilot site at Lyon and the reproduction of infrastructures took place as sites were set up.

• Update and optimisation of infrastructures to allow for growth.

Project Timeline

• Duplication of infrastructures on the new sites to allow for rapid installation
• Sharing and optimisation of network services
• Progressive building of infrastructures
• Collaborative operation and administration with the client (Artesys administration/operations team)

Solution

 For each site, a complete infrastructure was provided, including:

• Local network (LAN)
• Security (Firewall, Proxy)
• IP telephony and associated services

These infrastructures were made available in Network as a Service (Naas) form, with the administration and operational management shared between the client and ARTESYS.

From a technical point of view, the infrastructures were composed as follows:

• Local networks:  LAN switching using Catalyst 3750-E from Cisco Systems
• External security:  firewall from the SSG range from Juniper Networks and Proxy server from the ProxySG range from Blue Coat
• IP telephony: centralised architecture based on Cisco Unified Communications technology from Cisco Systems.

Results

The infrastructure was operational in a very short time period, while offering an increased level of service.  The new infrastructure offered a high level of availability, performance and reliability.

An improvement in the cost of ownership and administration/management thanks to the Network as a Service (Naas) model was noticeable, while control of the infrastructure was retained.