Halcrow Deploys Exponential-e

LONDON -- Halcrow, the planning design and management specialist, is to upgrade its Internet bandwidth capacity to a 10Mb Ethernet connection, citing Ethernet as a superior technology to “traditional” circuits. The PowerServe 10 connection has been purchased from London based pure Ethernet service provider Exponential-e and will connect into Halcrow’s London headquarters in Hammersmith.

The company currently uses a 2Mb leased line connection for its email, web browsing and VPN access, however with approximately 400 people located at the Hammersmith site, another 2000 people dispersed throughout the UK and 1300 staff worldwide using the connection to access central resources, the existing link is insufficient to cope with future demand. Already heavily utilised, VPN traffic is set to further increase as the company plans to expand its international operations. It is this expansion which was a key driver for Halcrow to increase its Internet bandwidth capacity, as the UK provides important central resources to the global organisation, such as the company Intranet, the accounting systems, and collaborative working servers. Worldwide staff will now connect using VPNs over the PowerServe link in order to access these resources.

An additional benefit of upgrading to PowerServe 10 is that the Ethernet connection runs on Exponential-e‘s MPLS network and since Halcrow's existing UK network is MPLS-based, it gives Halcrow the ability to take advantage of features like Class of Service, enabling prioritisation of traffic where necessary.

Commenting on the choice of Ethernet and using relative newcomer Exponential-e as provider, Matt Brunton, IT Manager said: “As an innovative provider of infrastructure-based business solutions, Halcrow like to apply innovative methods to the way it works. Compared to “traditional” circuits, I considered Ethernet technology to be technically superior, not to mention very cost-effective. And the LES method of delivery is very elegant.

Having met Exponential-e I didn’t feel it was worthwhile to consider other Ethernet providers, as my initial meetings with them gave me confidence that we were not just buying a good solution technically, but also buying from a company that seemed to want to work with us. I have previously dealt with other providers who have only recently started selling Ethernet connections, and their lack of interest in us as a potential customer put me off”.

Exponential-e Ltd.