BoE has opted for a futuristic multiservice network, capable of carrying both voice and data, for its new office at Cape Town`s Foreshore. The deal with Dimension Data, worth approximately R10million, will result in the largest IP Telephony implementation within a single campus environment in South Africa. "Voice and data are converging, and there are significant savings in the initial infrastructure costs of an IP network," says Dean Walsh, BoE IT manager. "Total cost of ownership (TCO) will also be greatly reduced. We will only have to manage a single cabling infrastructure and new installations or changes can be rolled out quickly, effectively and inexpensively."
The financial services company also expects benefits such as reduced operational costs, higher performance and greater flexibility and control from the Cisco IP Telephony-based network.
"Together with BoE, we have monitored IP technology closely for the past two years, assessing Cisco`s offering in relation to BoE`s timeframes," says Jacki Gagel, account manager, Dimension Data Network Services Western Cape. "Multiservice networking is emerging as a strategically important issue for enterprise and public service provider infrastructures alike, and we believe that IP will be the protocol of choice for voice and data in a few years." According to Gartner, Voice over IP (VoIP) spending will grow from $443 million in 1999 to $19.2 billion by 2004 (Gartner Research, September 2000). And in South Africa, spending is predicted to grow from R8 million in 1999 to R240 million in 2004 (BMI-TechKnowledge December 2000).
Multiservice networking delivers the infrastructure needed to deploy new Web-based applications, including unified messaging, collaborative data sharing, video streaming and video conferencing, push-to-talk Web pages, and network-enabled call centres.
"Expanding the capabilities of a network to be ready for the new Web-based multimedia applications is part of the reason why companies are making the transition to multiservice networking," says Gagel. The BoE network will consist of Cisco networking components, including switches, server cluster and WAN data/voice gateways, as well as Nice Systems` VoIP recording.
"We chose Dimension Data as our partner as we have a good existing relationship, and we believe they have the best expertise in the marketplace, as well as a strong relationship with Cisco," says Walsh.
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Dimension Data Holdings plc (LSE: DDT), is a leading technology company that represents a new category of systems integrator providing network and multi-channel e-business solutions to global corporations. Founded in 1983 as a specialist supplier of technology and services, Dimension Data`s strategy has evolved with the emergence of the intelligent network as the most important enabler in business today. Dimension Data`s global presence combined with its expertise and extensive skills base in network infrastructure and e-business solutions environments enables its customers to ascend into the global marketplace through 100% connectivity and integration. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Dimension Data is a member of the FTSE 100 index, employs over 12,000 people and operates in over 30 countries on six continents. Dimension Data has achieved a three-year compound annual growth rate in US dollars of 73% in revenue and 36% in basic earnings per share. For more information, please go to www.didata.com
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