BT Connect Intelligence IWAN to be deployed by Walgreens Boots Alliance
BT announced global launch of BT Connect Intelligence IWAN, an innovative managed service that enables organisations to automatically route and optimise network traffic and gain visibility of applications performance without spending more on bandwidth. BT Connect Intelligence IWAN integrates the Cisco Intelligent WAN (IWAN) solution into the BT Connect portfolio of network services.
The new launch builds on BT’s existing intelligent network capabilities by using a hybrid environment and managed Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) technology. It brings new options to reduce the cost of customers’ networks whilst securing the performance of applications.
The services offered as part of Connect Intelligence IWAN also help customers reap the business benefits of the ‘Cloud of Clouds’ by taking advantage of broader virtualised functions such as application performance management and security.
Walgreens Boots Alliance’s businesses in the UK and in around 20 other countries are set to be some of the first BT Connect Intelligence IWAN customers, taking advantage of the service’s reach and scalability to support their international operations.
The first version of Connect Intelligence IWAN will bring innumerable benefits to BT customers i.e. Virtual Private Network (VPN) capabilities, Applications are routed across the best path, Faster performance for applications, Enhanced application visibility and analytics, etc.
In addition, BT offers customers a fully managed IWAN service which includes comprehensive design, set-up and configuration. It also includes monthly reports from an Application Specialist on how their network and applications are performing, with recommendations on how to improve performance.
Keith Langridge, vice president of network services, BT Global Services said: “BT has been leading the research into emerging virtualisation technologies from the beginning. For years, we have also been adding ‘intelligence’ to the network services we provide to our customers. NFV and SDN are part of that drive, and aim at making those services more dynamic and automated. They pave the way for a new generation of services that are quicker and easier to set up and change. BT Connect Intelligence IWAN leverages the Cisco IWAN solution to bring an important new building block in that virtualisation effort. It will help our customers all over the world deal much more effectively with ever increasing bandwidth and traffic optimisation demands, allowing customers to network like never before.”
