Equant Supplies 44-Site IP VPN for Bacardi

May 29, 2002 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- IP and data services provider Equant (Equant.com) announced on Thursday that it has completed implementation of a 44-site, 21-country Internet Protocol network for Bacardi, interconnecting the company’s its US, European and South American locations.

Equant says it is the exclusive international network provider for Bacardi, one of the largest spirits companies in the world. Through the four-year, multi-million dollar contract, Equant migrated all of Bacardi’s locations to its Equant IP VPN, which is available in 140 countries and territories and offers flexible network management and simplified administration.

"Our ability to rapidly deploy applications that support current and future business needs is key to our ongoing success," says Ronald Stan, chief information officer, Bacardi. "The great cost and performance advantages of Equant IP VPN help us meet the challenges of global competition."

In addition to the IP VPN service, Equant deployed its IP Dial services, connecting Bacardi’s mobile users into the company’s intranet. Bacardi plans to use Equant IP VPN’s convergence capabilities to consolidate its voice, data and multimedia communications on a single network.

Bacardi, says Equant, is one of more than 500 companies worldwide to implement Equant’s IP VPN solution, which is based on multi-protocol label switching technology. More than 50 of these customers have already implemented convergent technologies such as VoIP.

Equant says its IP VPN offers the scalability needed to support Bacardi’s expanding business requirements. The MPLS technology enables the creation of extranets linking suppliers and customers worldwide, and MPLS traffic management prioritizes critical applications for peak performance.

"To operate successfully, global companies such as Bacardi need to be able to rapidly deploy business-critical applications across entire organizations," says Michel Picaud, head of Equant’s Central & Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region. "Equant IP VPN gives Bacardi this capability and, consequently, a competitive advantage in the global marketplace."