Mainstream Renewable Power

Case Study Managed Network Services

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OverviewMainstream Renewable Power is working to become the leading offshore wind farm provider in Europe and a global renewable energy player. A high-performance ICT platform is vital for its rapidly expanding multinational enterprise. By choosing eircom to build, manage and secure its infrastructure, Mainstream has developed a strategic ICT relationship that is helping deliver on its strategic vision.

Managed network services delivery quality in the right places

“Mainstream’s CEO, Dr Eddie O’Connor, wants Mainstream to be the leading offshore wind-farm provider in Europe and a global renewable-energy player, so we need ICT providers who can deliver global service excellence.” As these words from CIO John Shaw attest, Mainstream Renewable Power is nothing if not ambitious. Since it was founded in 2008, the Sandyford-based fi rm has hired over 100 engineers, project managers and support staff and has established a string of operational outposts around the world.

Executing this bold expansion plan required a reliable, cost-effi cient and secure global communications system. Through previous roles in 3 multi-nationals, John was aware of eircom’s expertise in network design and management. He invited eircom to review Mainstream’s operational requirements and propose an appropriate communications solution.

Establishing a reliable, cost-effi cient global suite of ICT systems within a three-month timeframe was one of the biggest challenges faced by the company. “We knew we could open offi ces in major cities but our challenge was to rapidly and reliably supply our ICT services to those locations. We couldn’t make that strategy a reality unless eircom was able to deliver the network connection on time and reliably,” notes John.

Mainstream shared with eircom its timeline for site openings and the software applications that were to be delivered to those sites. Guided by this roadmap, eircom was able to develop and then execute a viable rollout plan, delivering a complete global network within the target timeframe.

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“eircom offers a single point of contact for a vast range of things that otherwise would be diffi cult for me to manage. Mainstream has two data centres and eight offi ces across the globe and the network that connects those ten was installed and is managed by eircom.

Outside of Ireland, eircom works through partnership with other organisations, but to me it’s all managed by eircom; I don’t deal with anyone else. We have a strategic partnership rather than a vendor-customer relationship.”

John Shaw,Head of Information Services Mainstream Renewable Power

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Rapid RolloutDelivering high-quality infrastructure from eircom

Offi ce in a box: eircom delivered Mainstream a common user experience for applications and services throughout Mainstream’s network of offi ces. eircom pre-confi gured an ‘offi ce-in-a-box’ in Dublin, a rack containing the complete voice and data package for each offi ce, and shipped it for on-site installation by a local partner. For connectivity, eircom recommended an MPLS network at four sites (Toronto, Chicago, Santiago and Dublin) and at Mainstream’s two data centres in Dublin. eircom recommended ADSL for the remaining four, smaller offi ces.

Complete business assurance: As well as commissioning equipment at Mainstream’s primary data centre in Citywest, eircom confi gured Mainstream’s disaster recovery environment at the eircom data centre in Clonshaugh. Using a combination of Ethernet over Business IP and Metro Ethernet, both data centres are connected to the global MPLS network designed and managed for Mainstream by eircom. In addition to these primary connections, eircom designed a secondary ADSL connection at all sites for redundancy.

Best of breed ICT: Mainstream accepted eircom’s recommendations for ICT equipment across its offi ces: Cisco data switches and routers, Nortel telecoms and Polycom videoconferencing. These also provide a suitable platform for new applications, such as Microsoft’s OCS unifi ed communications technology, which eircom recently deployed on a trial basis for Mainstream. “eircom pointed out that by selecting this hardware correctly upfront we could move to Microsoft’s offering later on, which we’re now doing,” explains John.

Total ICT and network security for peace of mind: eircom provides a complete security solution for Mainstream: continuous 24/7 monitoring and maintenance of security devices; trend analysis to proactively detect potential threats; and expert guidance on developing Mainstream’s internal information security policies. Secure remote working facilities were also delivered and are vital to facilitating Mainstream’s mobile staff.

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Strategic Partnerships‘Our vision has been hugely enabled by eircom’

According to John, the success of Mainstream’s global rollout was due to the strategic partnership between Mainstream and eircom, and the no-nonsense approach to project delivery by the eircom team.

“We had aggressive targets but we didn’t want to fall into the trap of dealing with someone who would give us the answer we wanted to hear. eircom was very straight with us: they told us what was possible rather than make a commitment they couldn’t deliver on. They made and delivered on clear commitments.”

John says that Mainstream has trusted eircom’s advice in relation to which ICT systems to choose, and its trust has been rewarded. “Our vision as an organisation has been hugely enabled by eircom. They’ve done an awful lot of good for us in terms of our expansion plans across the globe. Where we’d seen huge ICT challenges, they interpreted them and then made recommendations based on their global knowledge.”

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“Our vision as an organisation has been hugely enabled by eircom. They’ve done an awful lot of good for us in terms of our expansion plans across the globe. Where we had seen huge ICT challenges, they interpreted them and then made recommendations based on their global knowledge.”

John Shaw,Head of Information Services Mainstream Renewable Power

Get in touch

For more information on how eircom managed

network services and managed security services

can benefi t your business, please contact your

eircom Account Manager.

www.eircomforbusiness.ie

Overvieweircom solution at a glance

MPLS backbone between Mainstream’s four • global sites and two data centres supports key applications and business systems across the globe while delivering guaranteed quality of service.

Full management of the global network by • eircom from its network operations centre in Dublin ensures that any problems are spotted early and optimum performance achieved.

Pre-confi gured offi ce-in-a-box solution • allows common voice and data set-up to be shipped to each remote offi ce, ensuring network roll-out and user experience objectives can be met.

Advanced computer security tools including • web and email content fi ltering, remote access and intrusion prevention ensure total protection for the network.

A complete security solution from • eircom gives Mainstream peace of mind, including eircom Security Operations Service, an affordable 24/7 monitoring and maintenance service for security devices on the network.

Design and implementation of ICT • infrastructure including Cisco data switches and routers, Nortel telecoms and Polycom video conferencing, and management of HyperV services.

Real-time data replication for disaster • recovery.

Second line support for in-house help desks.•