Nildram broadens Norson's horizons
Aim
Tackling the horrors of ISDN bills, Norson Services upgraded its network connections to a fully managed Broadband service from Nildram.
Communication revolution
Modern communications have provided businesses with new and improved ways of integrating departments separated by thousands of miles. The growth of IT related solutions has subsequently revolutionised how we interact with our colleagues regardless of their location. It has created offices without boundaries and multi-faceted organisations that share information with a healthy disregard for distance.
Fully Managed Broadband
Until recently, however, this communication revolution has come at a cost. Dial-up connections were slow, unreliable and painfully expensive, prompting many users to seek out Broadband alternatives. With faster downloads and more reliable connections, it has become the preferred option for both business and residential users.
The advantages of Broadband can, however, influence more than just a company's balance sheet. For instance, after receiving "horrendous" bills itemising costly but necessary ISDN calls, hydraulic engineering firm Norson Services upgraded its connection between its Aberdeen, Rosyth and US sites to a fully managed broadband service from Nildram, one of the UK's fastest growing providers of telecommunications services. The move dramatically increased download speeds, improved reliability and provided Norson with a flat-rate tariff that remained fixed regardless of usage. It also meant Norson's technical staff were spared the headache of resolving downtime problems in the unlikely event of a system failure.
"In this age, Broadband is essential" Iain Baikie admits, the principal source of IT network support at Norson. "It's quicker, more reliable and it frees up my time so that I can concentrate on internal issues."
Already enjoying a 1Mbps Nildram connection at its Aberdeen site, Norson upgraded its conventional ISDN link at Rosyth by sourcing a fully managed service that would provide a Virtual Private Network (VPN) solution. The dslPro 500 Broadband service from Nildram also accelerated download times from 128Kbps to 512Kbps resulting in the time taken to retrieve documents being cut by a quarter.
Integrating the company
"The objective," Iain says, "was to integrate the company as if all the sites were on the same network. This would mean quicker access to shared folders, network printers and email, and the simplifying the distribution of corporate-wide virus updates. There was also this issue of speed and the expense of the ISDN-per-minute service."
He continues: "Basically it came down to cost. Staff in Rosyth were logging on to the ISDN connection in the morning and logging off at night. The company was being charged by the minute so we received some horrendous bills." With cost as a main driver, Norson's secondary objective was to improve reliability, which the dslPro 500 service achieved by providing a fully managed on-site Cisco Router configured to route Internet traffic through the Nildram-managed firewall. The package also came with an automatic monitoring system - installed and tested by a Nildram engineer - that is programmed to alert the dedicated support team of device failures 24 hours a day. The result is a robust and secure service that is quick and cost effective.
In this age, Broadband is essential...
It's quicker, more reliable and it frees up my time so that I can concentrate on internal issues.
Why Nildram?
In direct contrast, Norson's previous standard ISDN link was prone to failure and severely restricted by its speed. "Our old ISDN service was primitive," Iain admits. "It was too slow and went down every month. The managed service from Nildram is great. If there are any problems, Nildram sorts it out."
With only a few minor teething issues since the service went live in July, Iain says he is happy in the knowledge that Norson's UK sites are now connected through Nildram. "Compared to the dial-up system," he says, "it's a world apart".
Indeed, with a truly managed Internet service, firewall protection and the speed and reliability provided by Broadband all provided through a single supplier, Iain admits the transition from ISDN was simpler than he had first imagined. "Dealing with one company," he says, "made it easy."