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S T R A T E G I C

W H I T E

P A P E R

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service


The Alcatel-Lucent High Leverage Network Architecture for the Public Sector
For a number of years, public-sector bodies have been encouraged to collaborate with
their neighbors and share services to deliver greater efficiencies. This has been adopted
by a number of organizations, primarily in back-office services such as human resources,
finance and procurement.
One area that presents further potential for efficiency savings is at the data-infrastructure
layer. This has increased in focus following the release of the United Kingdom Government
ICT Strategy report, which outlines centralization as a target for local authorities.
Alcatel-Lucent is working with a mix of local and regional public-sector organizations
to deliver services across a single centrally managed data infrastructure, to help the
organizations meet operational- and financial-efficiency targets.

Table of contents
1

Introduction

Driving efficiencies

Sharing of services

Shared-infrastructure services

The Alcatel-Lucent High Leverage Network architecture

Aligning to the Government ICT Strategy

Conclusion

Abbreviations

Introduction
The objective of this paper is to examine how public-sector bodies can gain savings and increase
efficiencies from a shared-services approach through the deployment of the Alcatel-Lucent High
Leverage Network (hereafter HLN) architecture.
By building the right network, public-sector bodies can operate a single secure, scalable infrastructure
capable of being shared by many organizations with different requirements that delivers a mixture of
services and applications, is accessible to users with fixed or wireless connectivity, and is centrally
controlled and managed.
This presents an opportunity to increase bandwidth, expand network access, deliver additional
services, and centralize management while driving down costs.

Driving efficiencies
Despite the current uncertain economic climate, there is still pressure on public-sector bodies to
create new ways of delivering efficiencies while pushing the government agenda forward.
In 2005, the Government of the United Kingdom (UK) issued Transformational Government
Enabled by Technology, a document that outlines a six-year strategy in leveraging technology to
deliver improved services around three prime areas: customer-centric services, shared services
and professionalism.
The strategy built on existing arguments for shared services across the public sector, as previously
highlighted in reports by Gershon and Varney. Focusing on increasing efficiency in government, both
these reports highlighted by examining the private sector that corporate shared services can
typically deliver efficiencies of 20 percent to 50 percent.
Following from this, the UK Government ICT Strategy paper, issued in December 2009, further
emphasized the value to be derived from the adoption of shared services, both at a local level and
from a centrally implemented service model.
In many cases, public-sector organizations have made major inroads in delivering this vision;
for example, collaboration among public-sector bodies in the sharing of resources and business
functions typically back-office services such as human resources, finance and procurement.
These have delivered efficiency in resource consolidation, operations and services as well as
enabling greater power in contract negotiations.
The next challenge will be not only extending the shared-services model by collaborating on a wider
scale, but also delivering the information and communication technology (ICT) strategy at a local
level. For example, where there is a consolidated data center, there is a need to provide a robust,
high-bandwidth network infrastructure with sufficient bandwidth capacity at the local level.
This opens the question as to who will carry the responsibility for providing the infrastructure at the
local level. The National Health Service (NHS) Connecting for Health program advanced a number
of the ideas in the ICT Strategy; however, the question of delivering the last mile remains open.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

Sharing of services
The shared-services model has been widely recognized as having the potential to deliver efficiencies,
improve productivity and significantly reduce costs across many areas where there is commonality
in business operations and delivery of services, both internally and externally. This is especially
applicable within the public sector.
Implemented correctly, the shared-services model presents the opportunity to standardize, consolidate
and simplify the delivery of services. This applies at an operational level and, in the case of ICT, at
a technology level.
To date, a number of organizations have implemented a shared-services approach to areas such as
back-office functions (human resources, finance, and so on) and have formed partnerships in the
procurement of goods and services, both locally and across verticals.
Extending beyond this approach, further efficiency savings can be derived within ICT operations.
By bringing together common departments and functions from across a number of organizations, in
effect forming an in-house outsourcing model, public-sector bodies can consolidate teams and
budgets while retaining full control.
The in-house model has been identified by the Society of Information Technology (Socitm) as a
change in direction from recent outsourcing trends that have led in some cases to local authorities
getting locked into costly and inflexible deals. Socitms view, expressed in its policy paper, is that
outsourcing can mean economies of scale being lost between ICT services such as help desks,
maintenance and support services.
This view has been further supported in a recent survey by the Association for Public Service
Excellence (ASPE), which revealed that councils are benefiting from the in-house model in areas
such as:
Improved service performance
Stronger governance
Cost efficiencies
Greater flexibility
By extending the in-house model across a number of collaborative bodies, key benefits include:
Economies of scale: budgets spent on common goods and services can be consolidated and used
more effectively in driving down costs
Duplicated resources can be better utilized
Standardization of technology simplifies support and maintenance contracts
Centralization enables wider strategy to be consistently delivered and controlled during change
One area in the shared ICT services model that is gaining more traction is the data-infrastructure
level, where a number of public bodies are implementing models around the sharing of a single network.
The wide area network (WAN) infrastructure level can deliver potential savings in the current
environment as well as a model that will support the wider ICT strategy, such as extending the
Public Sector Network (PSN) at the local level to the end user.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

The scope and breadth of the PSN is currently unclear in terms of what will be delivered from this
project and how far it will extend to the local level. However, early moves by some local authorities
indicate that there will be a need to provide connectivity from the region to the PSN backbone,
similar to the NHS N3 backbone, with the onus on the local authority to deliver the area network
(WAN and LAN).
The sharing of infrastructure services presents a number of options and opportunities for public-sector
organizations to take the lead in forming collaborative partnerships in building and operating a
shared network.

Shared-infrastructure services
Increasingly, public-sector bodies that deliver a range of services to staff internal and external,
office-based, mobile and home workers and citizens are examining ways of consolidating infrastructure,
reducing costs and ensuring governance across the network. With parallel networks being operated
by local public-sector bodies, the opportunity for consolidation and sharing of services is clear.
Network sharing is not a totally new concept in the public sector: a number of organizations have formed
partnerships under an outsourcing model, typically between local bodies and an external commercial
partner. The commercial partner, service provider or carrier takes operational responsibility for the
delivery, support and management of the LANs and WANs, providing connectivity between sites.
While this has proven the concept, many organizations are looking at alternatives, particularly the
ability to provide and manage this model in-house. Under the in-house outsourcing model, a number
of local government organizations are taking lead roles in collaboration with other local public-sector
organizations in the development and supply of services to local public-sector partners.

In doing so, these collaborative authorities are in effect becoming


local carriers.
This has become a viable option for several reasons:
Carrier-grade data-switching technology such as Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) is now
at a price point acceptable to the enterprise.
The enterprise and government IT group now has a choice of MPLS virtual private network
(VPN) technologies. These choices can by specifically tailored to each organizations unique
connectivity and application requirements.
MPLS is a highly suitable technology for next-generation enterprise infrastructures. MPLS offers
Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPNs that enable WAN connectivity between enterprise sites, as well as
enabling the implementation of next-generation campus networks. There is an opportunity to
simplify voice communications and provide a centralized service, delivering zero-cost call traffic
throughout the network by utilizing Voice over IP (VoIP) platforms (housed within their data
centers) and deploying IP handsets and softphone applications across the network. This provides
efficiencies by reducing the number of telephony solutions requiring maintenance and simplifying
the support model by moving to a single vendor platform. Management tools enable the central
control of networks, including multivendor legacy infrastructure.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

Delivery of additional services/applications The centralized model is easily expanded to provide services, such as unified communications applications, that are associated with VoIP. These
include voice conferencing, videoconferencing, document collaboration/sharing, desktop integration, and integration in mobile devices.
Simplification of network access control and security Adoption of standardized and consistent
security policies with the deployment and central management of security devices leads to lower
support requirements and potential savings within the licensing model.
The need to quickly react to changes without contractual and process constraints Many thirdparty arrangements do not meet commercial expectations or the fast-moving requirements of end
users. Key elements of reliable and flexible MPLS-based infrastructures are effective, simplified management tools that provide easy configuration and control of the network; fast, effective problem
isolation and resolution; and support of new management applications.
When the secure, reliable, flexible infrastructure has been built, the foundation is laid for incorporating
existing services and operations.
The collaborative approach has led organizations to consolidate and share their technical resources
and budgets capital expenditures (CAPEX) and operating expenditures (OPEX) to build a
communication infrastructure comprising and delivering the preceding benefits. Operational efficiency
is delivered from a simplified, centrally managed service, enabling resources to be reallocated and
costs to be driven down.
To drive forward efficiencies in the centralized model, it is important that operational support is
built around solutions capable of providing end-to-end management of devices from the core to the
edge. This reduces the complexity of managing a service, provides greater visibility to actual and
potential issues, and reduces the need for local support services on the ground.
In addition to addressing internal operational needs across the mix of organizations, many are looking
at widening the scope to citizens and, in doing so, meeting additional targets defined within Digital
Britain initiatives. This is potentially achievable with additional funding support from the UK and
European Union development agencies, allowing organizations to explore opening the network to
external users through service provisioning and thereby becoming revenue generators.
A number of local government organizations are examining how to enhance and expand their
infrastructure strategies to better use their infrastructure to support the actions and recommendations
outlined in Lord Carters Digital Britain report. This creates opportunities to seek additional funding.
In addition, some are looking beyond this and examining how they can offset operational costs by
offering services to companies within their geographical locations that can be benefit from access to
their infrastructure. These services include closed-circuit television (CCTV) connectivity, voice services
and data connections to companies with multiple local locations.
Alcatel-Lucent is working with the public sector worldwide to build network infrastructures that are
shared across a mix of organizations, supported in-house by the lead authority. These infrastructures
have been brought together into a single entity that comprises a mix of new and legacy networks
using the Alcatel-Lucent HLN architecture.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

CASE STUDY: WARWICKSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL


Warwickshire County Council manages its own WAN, providing connectivity to council facilities, fire
and rescue locations, and county education facilities. Connectivity had previously been delivered using
a mix of wireline and microwave links split into two categories of network: trusted (councils corporate
network) and untrusted (school network).
While this successfully delivered the core services, it was clear that, to meet expanding needs and deliver
the levels of efficiency targeted by the council, a new approach was required.
Following a needs assessment, Warwickshire identified current and projected requirements across both
the corporate and the school networks. In addition, a business-model review was completed to identify
areas of potential operational savings, increased efficiencies and improvements to services.
Areas of opportunity included:
Realize financial savings by replacing the legacy microwave infrastructure
Improve and extend services into the schools
Consolidate and share services with regional local partners such as local borough councils
Improve and extend overall network resilience and services
With opportunities identified, a technology evaluation was completed, resulting in a plan to implement
an MPLS-based WAN to deliver operational savings/improved efficiencies, such as:
Delivery of greater bandwidth and traffic speed to meet expanding needs
Delivery without increased annual revenue costs and with reduced unit bandwidth costs for the
Core Network
Deployment of an infrastructure with guaranteed Quality of Service (QoS) based on calculation of
end-user requirements
Implementation of a single network, efficiently controlled and centrally managed from core to user
Implementation of MPLS security facilities to support Code of Connection (CoCo) compliance
Operation with greater network resilience from the network design
Delivery of intersite voice traffic across the IP network with the potential to deliver estimated annual
savings of 150,000 pounds
The opportunity to expand services such as centrally managed site monitoring in schools (for example,
monitoring of boilers using IP interfaces), CCTV, and services to other third parties (public-sector and
potentially private-sector organizations)
Increased operational savings from in-house, centralized management operations
Warwickshire County Council are looking at further developing their use of regional and sub-regional
network links as part of any future PSN implementation and G-Cloud service adoption. They are also
investigating whether future network procurement can assist the Digital Britain initiative by supporting
rural broadband access.
As a trusted partner to the Warwickshire County Council, Alcatel-Lucent is engaged in supporting the
delivery of the above with deployment of its WAN and LAN technologies, including centralized security
and management solutions.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

The Alcatel-Lucent High Leverage Network architecture


The HLN architecture is the companys vision of how networks need to evolve in the future, leveraging
fundamental technology shifts in wireline and wireless broadband access, IP and optics to address
evolving networking needs. The HLN architecture is also a critical enabler and the foundation for
the Alcatel-Lucent application enablement vision.
It is important to understand that the HLN architecture is not a generic, one-size-fits-all, end-to-end
network. Instead, it is a framework that enables and guides network transformation. Evolution to
the HLN architecture requires a service-driven approach as opposed to a pure technology/product
approach, embracing legacy and multivendor environments and driving network-transformation
and -evolution programs.
The HLN architecture offers the seamless integration of services and enriches the service experience
for end users across wireline and wireless networks. Benefits include convergence of the network
infrastructure, vertically across multiple network layers and horizontally across a mix of services.
This enables the consolidation of multiple parallel overlay networks that currently deliver separate
services across different public-sector organizations (local-authority, healthcare, Bluelight, and so on).
The HLN architecture offers a converged service and application-aware infrastructure that delivers
services to all end users and is optimized for the lowest total cost of ownership. The characteristics
of the HLN architecture are:
High bandwidth Delivers the applications and content end users want, where they want it, over
both wireline and wireless infrastructures and in a way that scales for future growth
Scalable and flexible Expands and contracts dynamically to meet network-provider and end-user
requirements, at a minimum marginal cost
Reliable and resilient Enables always-on and non-stop services and applications that work around
failures transparently, with no disruption to end users
Cost-effective Offers maximum capability at optimum CAPEX while reducing OPEX as a result
of superior operational efficiency and technical innovation that improves eco-sustainability
Eco-sustainable Realizes bottom-line and top-line benefits across the network while dramatically
reducing the environmental footprint
Multiservice Supports multiple and concurrent customized services over a single, flatter, cost-optimized,
higher-performance IP architecture with more dynamic service creation, delivery and assurance
Open and interoperable Enables rapid service velocity and monetization with the exposure of network
capabilities in a managed and controlled way to enhance end-user Quality of Experience (QoE)
Secure and private Protects the assets and intellectual property of all parties and the personal
and contextual information of end users
Alcatel-Lucent is working with service providers and private and public-sector enterprises in
evolving and transforming their networks, enabling the convergence of legacy infrastructures into
one simple, standardized network.
Alcatel-Lucent is using the HLN architecture to guide its own transformation. The HLN architecture
acts as a framework to guide and focus the research and development (R&D) investment strategy and
decisions regarding the product portfolio. Alcatel-Lucent has pulled together the key technologies
wireline broadband access, wireless broadband access, IP, and optics as well as products, services and
software in one portfolio to deliver the HLN architecture and support the Alcatel-Lucent application
enablement vision.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

CASE STUDY: BALTIC BUSINESS QUARTER, GATESHEAD


Extending beyond building an infrastructure capable of delivering internal corporate services, Gateshead
Council is working in partnership with Alcatel-Lucent to deploy a world-class Open Access Broadband
Network (OABN) at the new Baltic Business Quarter development on the banks of the River Tyne.
The network will support new and emerging services, such as videoconferencing, media streaming and
disaster recovery, to attract new businesses to the area and contribute to the ongoing economic
regeneration of Gateshead.
The project is designed to deliver outstanding performance and resilience that match the best networks
in the UK and worldwide. Initially, it will provide up to 10 GB bandwidth, giving the most technologyintensive organizations peace of mind that the Baltic Business Quarter will fully support their critical
business processes, 24 hours per day, 365 days per year.
The infrastructure will be capable of delivering speeds in the region of 40 GB, depending on future demand.
We wanted to attract sustainable organizations that are sophisticated users of IT and capable
of delivering high-quality jobs for local people. However, these kinds of organizations need access
to world-class communications infrastructure, and the private sector was unable to shoulder
the required investment single-handed.
By taking the decision to build our own open-access fiber-optic network in partnership with
Alcatel-Lucent, we have ensured that even the most technology-intensive businesses can operate
effectively from Baltic Business Quarter. Whats more, we can extend the network easily to
serve new sites and residential areas, and deliver new public services far more effectively
in the future.
Councillor Mick Henry, Leader, Gateshead Council
Because the new infrastructure is an OABN, local service providers will be able to deliver next-generation
services over the network with minimal investment. This will promote competition between local service
providers, potentially pushing down communications costs for businesses working at Baltic Business
Quarter and helping them to compete more effectively on a national and global basis.
Finally, the services that the new network will deliver to businesses at Baltic Business Quarter are just
the tip of the iceberg. When completed, the infrastructure can be extended to enable the council to
enhance service delivery for the wider community. The network, which will soon be extended to serve
a nearby residential area, will also support rich multimedia services, distance learning and a range of
electronic healthcare services that can change the lives of local people for the better.

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

Aligning to the Government ICT Strategy


In January 2010, the UK Government released its vision of the role information technology will
play in delivering services to and from the public sector over the coming decade. In this document,
Government ICT Strategy: New world, new challenges, new opportunities, fourteen strands of activities
have been identified.
The objectives of these activities are to deliver the goals set in Digital Britain, Building Britains
Future, Excellence and Fairness, and the Operational Efficiency Programme, while supporting each
department, local government and wider public-sector organizations own business strategy to deliver
specific services and commitments.
To meet the defined objectives, many of the activities require the resilient, secure, HLN architecture
to deliver the model at a local level. These include:
The Public Sector Network A single holistic telecommunications infrastructure that will deliver
converged voice and data communications
The Government Cloud (G-Cloud) A Government cloud infrastructure that enables public
bodies to host their ICT systems from a secure, resilient and cost-effective service environment
Data centers To deliver large, cross-government economies of scale, meet environmental and
sustainability targets and provide secure, resilient services, it is necessary to significantly rationalize
the current base of data centers in use by the public sector
In addition the HLN architecture will present opportunities in complying with the Greening
Government ICT Strategy and, of course, the shared-services model.

Conclusion
The public sector is facing unprecedented times: the challenges of delivering services to meet
growing needs, delivering the government vision for services both internally and to citizens, and
fulfilling a stringent program of efficiencies and savings across all areas. To meet these challenges,
many organizations are looking for ways to collaborate, bringing together budgets, consolidating
operations and resources, and sharing key technology areas such as the data infrastructure.
By building the shared HLN architecture based on MPLS technology, public-sector organizations
can meet government efficiency targets by:
Easily and efficiently operating a simplified, in-house managed data infrastructure across a wide
area for a mix of public-sector organizations
Delivering multiple technologies and application-based services such as voice, video and data
Providing enhanced security, scalability and high availability
Extending services to citizens in line with the Digital Britain initiative
Meeting goals for reducing operational costs
Introducing the prospect of offsetting budgets with revenue generation
As a world leader in the development and deployment of advanced telecommunications networks in
more than 130 countries worldwide, Alcatel-Lucent has extensive experience working with central
governments and local authorities in emerging and industrialized countries. Leveraging its long-term
leadership in telecommunications network equipment as well as its expertise in applications and
services, Alcatel-Lucent has helped establish a variety of network solutions from simple voice
networks to complete end-to-end broadband networks and e-government programs.
For more information on Alcatel-Lucent Solution for the Government, visit:
http://enterprise.alcatel-lucent.com/?solution=Government&page=homepage

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

Abbreviations
ASPE

Association for Public Service Excellence

CAPEX

capital expenditures

CCTV

closed-circuit television

CoCo

Code of Connection

HLN

High Leverage Network

ICT

Information and Communication Technology

IT

information technology

LAN

local area network

MPLS

Multi-Protocol Label Switching

NHS

National Health Service

OABN

Open Access Broadband Network

OPEX

operating expenditures

PSN

Public Sector Network

QoE

Quality of Experience

QoS

Quality of Service

R&D

research and development

Socitm

Society of Information Technology

UK

United Kingdom

VoIP

Voice over IP

VPN

virtual private network

WAN

wide area network

Delivering a Shared Infrastructure Service | Strategic White Paper

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