JJH’s current Network Connectivity is now at a point where most of it needs to be replaced and the service management wrap significantly improved.

The existing WAN, Internet and managed firewall service is currently provided and managed by Civica. The WAN and the service provided by Civica no longer meets the needs of the business and needs to be replaced.

Due to the criticality of the services they provide to their customers and clients, they require resilient, flexible connectivity solutions that will enable JJH to control the network services and security across the whole of the Network (WAN, Internet, LAN, Wireless).

JJH’s requirements are split across two LOTs and potential bidders can apply for one or both of these.

— Lot 1: Data Circuits,

— Lot 2: SD WAN Security Devices, PoE Switches, Wireless Access Points.

The Head Office in Poynton needs resilient, diversely routed connections which are delivered on 1 Gbps bearer with a minimum of 100 Mbps CDR on both circuits. JJH is looking for flexible and resilient connectivity options which can provided with QoS and CoS. The bearer requirements are 1 Gbps and the minimum CDR is 100 Mbps on both circuits for the Head Office.

The Rotherham Office is used as the DR location for the current Mitel Telephony platform. It is currently envisaged that this location will continue to provide DR Telephony, there are however plans to replace the Mitel system with a unified communications solution and JJH would be open to alternative suggestions which could reduce the cost of connectivity into this location.

The proposed WAN Provider must be able to provide guaranteed bandwidth into Microsoft’s Azure’s and Office 365 Data Centres using connectivity either through an Exchange Provider, Express Route, or through themselves as the Service Provider.

For Head Office staff, JJH require a minimum of 200 Mbps internet connectivity.

JJH’s 58 sheltered schemes each require a new WAN connection that is delivered on FTTC which enables QoS and CoS rules to be defined.

Ability to use dedicated bandwidth on the circuits to route SIP traffic.

The Internet Circuits that are provided through Lot 1 need to be secured and managed using the same Network Management suite which is used by the WAN, LAN Switches, and wireless access points.

The FTTC connections need to be able to breakout directly to the Internet for certain types of users (Guests, residents, visitors) and onto the corporate network if they are staff, IOT devices, or other network attached devices.

The security devices protecting the internal network and controlling access to Internet need to provide advanced security e.g. IDS, IPS, Web Filtering, Email Scanning, etc. Note: It is envisaged that the security devices will delivered on hardware platform which is installed onsite and form an integral component of the required WAN, LAN and Wireless management platform.

The existing PoE LAN switches at Head Office and the Rotherham Office need to be replaced. PoE Switches need to be provided at each Sheltered Scheme.

Within the Head Office and at each Sheltered Schemes, JJH would like to deploy a wireless network which enables them to run and multiple networks e.g. Staff, Guest, Resident, IP Voice, and Device Specific (Network enabled monitoring equipment e.g. sensors).

The wireless network needs to include the capability of billing customers and for customers to pay for Internet Access. This must be easy to setup and administrate, with no reliance on 3rd parties.

Given the above requirements and based on JJH’s research, we believe that a Software Defined WAN is most appropriate solution, we are however open to alternatives being proposed, as long as the implemented solution can be managed centrally, as a whole either by JJH IT or you as their nominated provider.