Azzurri pumps £1m into new managed network

Voice and data integrator aims to migrate all 500 of its managed network estates to new ICON infrastructure within two years

Azzurri has ploughed £1m into a new virtual network infrastructure it claims will yield big cost savings for customers.

The privately held voice, data and mobility integrator aims to migrate all its 500 managed network customers to ICON within two years.

ICON's core network infrastructure is based on £750,000 worth of Cisco service provider-class equipment.

A further £250,000 was invested in the services that run on top of that infrastructure. Of note is the infrastructure's monitoring and insight capabilities, which are designed to ensure customers most effectively use the bandwidth capacity for which they pay – which it claims marks a break from the traditional contractual model employed by telcos.

Craig Wellman, business development director at Azzurri, told ChannelWeb: "We have 500 managed network estates and we want to migrate all those customers to the ICON fabric within one to two years.

"Part of the reason is that internally, it will cost us less to provision those services on the new infrastructure, which allows us to pass on those cost savings and improve the breadth of services we offer."

Steve Palmer, head of data solutions at Azzurri, said ICON had seen early success with several core Azzurri customers, including recruitment giant Reed Consulting.

"Reed was very keen to get additional levels of services but within a tight budget. We would not have been able to deliver that without ICON," he added.

ICON was developed by Azzurri's product and innovation office, which now encompasses 55 of Azzurri's 700 staff.

"It is there to spearhead that drive for innovation in the market," said Wellman.

"The people and product service wrap we provide around BT, Avaya, Gamma or O2 and federate into a solution for customers is value a carrier could not provide."