New Portfolio of "Utility Based" Services Addresses Customers' Growing Data Protection Needs

HostReview.com
Thursday, October 30, 2003; 12:00 AM

VIA NET.WORKS Extends VPN Portfolio for SMEs in Europe London, UK, Wednesday, 29 October 2003 - VIA NET.WORKS, a leading provider of business communication solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Europe and the United States, today announced the launch of its extended portfolio of Internet Protocol-based Virtual Private Network (IP VPN) solutions designed to meet the networking needs of SMEs across Europe.

The portfolio includes three key offerings:
- Internet VPN, which offers maximum flexibility for global and remote access, connecting branch offices, partner extranets and remote workers, with security delivered through managed firewalls,
- DSL VPN, which provides a cost-effective solution for connecting a large number of sites to a central office using low-cost broadband (ADSL/SDSL) as the primary form of connectivity over a private network,
- MPLS VPN, which delivers Quality of Service capabilities for business critical applications, such as ERP or CRM systems and allows users to prioritise different types of traffic.

Recognising that SME customers have a wide range of requirements, VIA has introduced two key innovations that will significantly enhance the value of VPNs for the end-user. Firstly, based on the company's extensive experience of designing and implementing solutions for customers from many different sectors across Europe, VIA has designed a ‘hybrid' VPN that combines elements of its three VPN solutions into a tailor-made solution. For example, an organisation such as an international electronics retailer may choose to connect its headquarters with regional centres via an MPLS network, use a DSL VPN solution to poll sales data from its branch offices of shops, and an Internet VPN to give teleworkers, suppliers and customers access to selected intranets or extranets.

Secondly, in order to give customers complete transparency on the performance of their network, VIA offers a web-based monitoring and flow analysis platform that polls data from as many network or application elements as the customer selects. This gives customers a complete end-to-end view of the performance of their network and the applications running on it, which in turn allows them to not only understand how best to optimise their network, but also to enforce the service level guarantees offered by their network suppliers. This gives SMEs the power to manage their vendors, the insights to improve the efficiency of their network and the ability to scale their infrastructure intelligently as their business grows or changes.

"Virtual private networks have traditionally been the domain of big business. We are taking the best of big business tools and knowledge and delivering them to SMEs in a scalable, practical and highly competitive package," said Rhett Williams, CEO of VIA NET.WORKS. "SMEs have similar strategic networking requirements to larger businesses but have always been forced to adopt less sophisticated solutions. Those days are over. VIA is 100% focused on delivering tailor-made VPN solutions for the SME market. We have the experience, flexibility and proactivity to provide a fully managed service that takes the pain out of network management for our customers, allowing them to focus on their core business."

VIA has implemented hundreds of Internet VPNs for customers across Europe, as well as a suite of DSL VPNs for customers, especially in the retail and franchise sectors. VIA continues to work closely with its strategic partners to ensure the successful and timely delivery of its solutions, including BT for the pan-European MPLS solution, national carriers for DSL, Basen for the network monitoring platform and WatchGuard for firewalls. Through its local and global partnerships, VIA's VPN solutions combine industry-leading network coverage with VIA's own IP network and value-added expert management services to provide a portfolio of networking solutions that combine the best in network performance, intelligent monitoring and security with a focus on the needs of small and medium-sized businesses across Europe.

Phone: +44 (0) 1784 898 984 E-mail: pr@vianetworks.co.uk