Scottish utility seals deal with Stiell

West of Scotland Water (WSW) has signed a huge network infrastructure outsourcing deal to administer 37 sites across Scotland.

The six figure deal with Stiell Networks to maintain and support the data network infrastructure is one of the most diffused outsourcing deals in Scotland.

The sites, which run from Oban to Stranraer, include regional operating centres, operational depots and treatment works.

Also covered are three key sites in Glasgow that operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week and are covered by a two-hour response and fix service, with spare parts stored onsite. The remaining 34 sites are covered by a four-hour response and fix time.

Steve Cochrane, IT services project leader at WSW, said that the contract includes an investigation into the use of teleworking and remote dial-in systems, which would be especially useful for the utility's more remote sites.

"The partnership with Stiell will help us maintain maximum performance for our data network, while also looking to our future needs," he said.

WSW's network includes a number of campus networks, making up a wide area network along eight main concentration points. This serves 34 regional sub-offices via an ATM backbone. The main headquarters in Glasgow use Cisco 8540 and 5509 Catalyst switches, with similar products deployed throughout the regional sites.

Doug More, director at Stiell, said that the response times to problems were critical for utility companies.

"WSW operates a very large, sophisticated network using a wide spectrum of equipment in numerous locations with a big geographic spread. Given the essential nature of the product it provides, the quality of support for its IT networks is crucial," he said.