the Claranet magazine issue 4
Web 2.0
Evolution of the Internet
Social Networking
Power 2 the People
Green & Lean
In the Datacentre and the Office
+ Meet our Customers
+ Overseas Offices
+ Photo Competition
* %
.us
Claranet in brief
Claranet Claranet’s Claranet
Portugal Opens Customer selected for
New Datacentre Portal OGCbuying.solution
$
Claranet Portugal recently opened its new Claranet’s Customer Portal provides OGCbuying.solutions - the executive agency
datacentre in Porto (the Lisbon datacentre customers with anywhere, anytime access of the Treasury that ensures the public sector
has been operational since April 2006). to their account information through one is achieving maximum value for money - has
According to António Miguel Ferreira, secure location. Customers will be able accredited Claranet to the Telecom Networks
General Manager of Claranet Portugal, to view existing orders and services and Framework Agreement. This streamlines
- “This investment consolidates our strategy their status, order new services online, the procurement process, making it easier
in technological innovation, providing ‘state- view and download billing information such for public sector organisations to purchase
of-the-art’ facilities to supply Co-location, as invoicing, view billing contact details and services from Claranet.
Hosting, Storage and Backup services, along edit if necessary, create new or manage
with the global Managed Services which existing email queries regarding billing or Michel Robert, Managing Director
the Claranet Group offers to the business technical issues, cancel a service/account, of Claranet UK said, “Governments are
market. With its new datacentre, Claranet view details of services that Claranet investing unprecedented resources in
Welcome Features Regulars
technology to deliver public services.
is determined to add value to its Managed provides, and view terms and conditions.
Consequently Claranet has invested
Hosting solutions portfolio, delivering a wide
in its public sector portfolio in terms
range of integrated services, scalable and
of both service and customer diversity.
tailor-made according to the requirements
Welcome to this issue of livewire Web 2.0 : Evolution Customer news of each customer.”
Since 2003 Claranet has operated a
magazine, where we demystify Web 2.0 of the Internet dedicated Public Sector Team working
Airbus - Read how Claranet with health, education, infrastructure and
and see how people are using the Internet
Livewire speaks to Dion Hinchcliffe, designed, built and managed a tailored other governmental services. By being
today, and dig into Green IT issues to find
ways of reducing our carbon footprint. Founder of the Web 2.0 University, about hosting service to meet their unique
online needs.
Double accepted onto the Framework Agreement,
Claranet has been positively evaluated
the evolution of the Internet, where it’s
Both articles are evidence of the changes
we continually experience in the dynamic happening and what’s coming next. Page 10 Distinction by a Government endorsed body.”
IT market. Since I joined Claranet UK
as Managing Director 8 months ago,
Page 4
Meet the staff and win
for Claranet Signing up is easy and can be done
online at https://portal.uk.clara.net To speak with one of our Public
we have had many highlights including:
Social Networking another great prize Germany For details contact the portal team at
portal@uk.clara.net or 020 7685 8234
Sector team, phone 0845 111 8844
or email publicsector@uk.clara.net
Livewire explores the phenomenon Claranet’s Technical Account Manager
• Launching our Managed Application speaks to livewire about his role in the
of social networking sites, why they Claranet Germany received the innovation
hosting service in the UK company. Also your chance to enter
have grown so rapidly and their award at VO.IP Germany for its hosted
• Conducting a customer survey, getting impact on our lives. our unique photographic competition.
IP-PBX service ‘Clara NetPhonie’, which
feedback from over 700 customers Page 14
Page 6 the judges praised for its high security
• Improving our Customer Portal, standards, flexibility, scope of service Claranet Announces
allowing customers better access
Inside out and service quality.
• Being awarded Gold Microsoft Partner
Overseas Offices : Microsoft Gold Partnership
accreditation for the Group USA & Portugal Find out where Claranet’s going to be
next and some of the latest Buzz Words. “Attaining Microsoft Gold Certified Partner status is recognition of the Claranet Group’s
• Gaining approval from Learn more about two of our overseas
OGCbuying.solutions to supply Page 15 excellent track record in providing managed services to businesses and the public sector.
offices. In this edition we feature
services to public bodies The benefits provided will enable us to continue to enhance the services that we provide
Portugal and the USA. If you would like to contact us
for our customers, as well as promoting our expertise and relationship with Microsoft.”
about any of this issue’s features,
Page 8 Claranet also won third place in the
Our focus over the next six months will please email: livewire@uk.clara.net Services/ASP category. Tarkan Akman, Michel Robert, MD, Claranet UK
be on improving operational alignment, Marketing Director of Claranet Germany
refining how we work together to deliver
Green and Lean
said, “We’re delighted to have earned the
the best service. I want to thank you for Read what Claranet has to say about recognition of the jury of experts and
your business and hope you enjoy the efficiencies at the datacentres and in industry representatives. There’s no better
magazine. the office. Top tips from Claranet staff. endorsement for the market relevance of
our IP services and will provide a wonderful
Page 12
incentive to continue developing innovative
Michel Robert, MD, Claranet UK
and user-oriented communication concepts
in the future.”
3
4 / Features
LIVEWIRE ISSUE 04
Web 2.0
and beyond
Dion Hinchcliffe is a well-known business strategist and software architect. He helps lead the industry
by evolving the thinking around Web 2.0 for ZDNet and the SOA Web Services Journal. He was founding
Editor-in-Chief of the respected Web 2.0 Journal and is current Editor-in-Chief of Social Computing Magazine.
He has been quoted by BusinessWeek, CNET News, Wired Magazine, and CIO Magazine in the States.
Founder of the Web 2.0 population of the web. It’s astonishing. People So there’s all this information out there being
University and expert in all have always been able to do this but they’re “Web 2.0 is a major shared in a new way. What about security ?
things web, Dion Hinchliffe speaks
to Marino Zini, Claranet’s Business
actually doing it now.
shift of control from Web 2.0 technologies are going to push us into
Development Director, about the latest
phase in the evolution of the Internet.
Because the pace of change and innovation
was happening so fast on the web it was leaving
institutions and a new crisis around privacy and intellectual property.
For example, there is conflict between copyright in
Web 2.0 is one of those phrases which
most web experts behind, we founded the Web
2.0 Journal to let people know what’s really
organisations to the 20th Century and what we call ‘creative common’
- the Web 2.0 equivalent of copyright - which allows
we’re hearing a lot about currently. Everybody
says they’re very excited about it but do they
happening out there. communities” you to give people rights to take your information
and do something with it. People say to me, if all
really know what it is? So what is happening out there ? our organisation’s critical messages and Intellectual
December, over 8,000 individual Justgiving property are in blogs and wikis and everyone can
So what exactly is it ? Would you give us a real-life example ? Social Networking sites are the human widgets have been posted on the web and the see them, what’s stopping someone downloading
face of Web 2.0 technologies. YouTube is highest performing widgets have registered them onto a DVD-ROM and taking them. As much
In the simplest terms it refers to a supposed The first major mash-up - a web application a tremendous example of a website which is over 500,000 page impressions. as these tools give us by being so open and so
second-generation of Internet-based services that combines data from more than one completely contributed to by its users. In North collaborative they can also expose us to some
that let people collaborate and share information source into a single integrated tool - was a America YouTube has more viewers of an Right now, there are 1,479 “active” Justgiving different risks as well. Unfortunately, the horse
online in ways previously unavailable - Internet terrific integration between Google Maps and evening than all of the broadcast and cable widgets, all doing their stuff, and this figure has already left the stable in some respects…
version 2.0. Craigslist. The data from Craigslist – a website TV combined. Facebook and MySpace are is expected to rise pretty sharply as we get how do you put the genie back in the bottle?
for local classifieds, such as property and job other examples of sites which are wholly nearer to the London Marathon.
Such as ? ads – is mashed-up with cartographic data from composed of user-generated content. So Web 2.0 is here to stay.
Google Maps and viewed at HousingMaps.com. OK, this is all very consumer related. Businesses are going to want to use What’s the next evolution of the Internet ?
Web 2.0 is a bit of a catch-all which The latest innovations, Widgets, Gadgets and What about business ? Web 2.0 tools to get better results, so often
covers a broad range of new online services, Developers have been using Web 2.0 Badges are small applications, generally written this means offering blogs and wikis to their The ideas have been debated in our industry
user-generated content, communities and tools for a while, so what’s the big deal ? in JavaScript or similar, which provide a single This is a very interesting question. There is a employees on their local Intranet. In practice, and the consensus is that Web 2.0 is out there
social networking tools, such as blogs and function such as displaying a stock price, lot of blurring between what’s happening out most companies aren’t going to make and it’s happening. Like the original web, it’s going
wikis. The most popular are sites such as It’s true developers have been using Web 2.0 or local weather conditions. on the web and in business. Organisations are that leap. to take us another 5-10 years for most of us to
Blogger, Flickr, MySpace, YouTube and technologies to create rich user experiences starting to see that maybe this will help their start using it fully. While in our personal lives it has
Wikipedia and the Godfather of Web 2.0 - now for a couple of years but not for 5-10 years, For example Justgiving, which Claranet workers collaborate better, communicate There is a lot of concern, however, about practically taken over, in the workplace it will take
Google. The phrase also refers to the creation so the technologies haven’t been adopted by uses to raise funds for its ChildLine charity, better, innovate more. people keeping corporate information out quite a while for it to happen. So people are asking
of far greater levels of interactivity, not just most people yet. Mash-ups are only two or three has just imported the Justgiving Badge from on these Web 2.0 sites, despite company what’s going to happen next. Will websites ever
between users, or between users and the years old but are starting to become part of the its American cousins at Firstgiving. The badge Workers are demanding access to these policy against it. Increasingly, for example, be smart enough to understand the information
Internet but between complementary online standard toolkit, even being used by end-users. is a simple button that links to your fundraising tools that everyone else is using and that are instead of people keeping their address that they have? Quite a grand vision, but it could
services through mash-ups and web services. page. It doesn’t have as many features as the much better than what we typically have in our book in Outlook at work, they’re keeping happen. Will we automatically call it 3.0? Possibly.
I really call Web 2.0 a major shift of control widget does, but it’s still useful and more organisations. Some businesses are starting it in Facebook so they can take it with them.
from institutions and organisations to individuals fun than hyperlinks. to use Facebook as their company Intranet. We’re also seeing that corporate networks If you have a question for Dion Hinchcliffe,
and communities of users. Instead of hiring As their workers were already communicating have almost merged with the Internet, please email livewire@uk.clara.net
web design and marketing agencies, users can Justgiving’s widgets have been doing pretty with so many of their contacts and engaging despite having firewalls and all sorts
create a blog or profile and get access to the full well, too. Since their release at the end of in social activity it makes a lot of sense. of other control procedures.
5
6 / Features
LIVEWIRE ISSUE 04
Social Networking
Power 2 the People
Social Networking is the business of engaging and interacting with other Internet users in a communal online space. Users
typically build an individual profile – which might consist of photos, contact details, a blog or favourite links – and make ‘friends’
with other users with whom they are linked in some way. They might join up with those who share knowledge or a common
interest, be they old school friends or fellow IT professionals.
Livewire speaks to users have now debunked to Facebook, which 395,515 views, 1565 favourites, 753 ratings “According to But where’s Social
of Social Networking sites to offers a much wider catch net for audiences, and 740 comments, almost all in the movie’s Networking heading ?
understand why these sites have grown though without that creative edge. demographic. This would not have happened Datamonitor, in
so rapidly, how they are impacting our 5 years ago.” A last word from Justin Davies of
lives today and what the future holds. www.boo.com Dal Choda, Brand Manager at Jas M.B says, just three years BuddyPing, a mobile only social networking
boo.com is the key consumer brand of Web
“I use MySpace to initiate a viral campaign for
our Press Days at the beginning of each new
According to Wikipedia, making these types
of answer clips is ‘the new craze sweeping the time 70% of online company - who says, “The mobile is becoming
increasingly important. Ask anyone who has
What’s the attraction Reservations International. Launched in May season. Stylists and press are invited to view nation’. It’s rather like political campaigning.
content will be a Blackberry when they last used it and you’ll
and who’s doing it ? 2007 boo combines search functionality, our new collection at the showroom and the You have to shake a lot of hands but you need see what I mean. With more handsets in use
social networking and reviews all within one invitation is posted up on various parts of a leaflet to back it up. You look for possible user-generated” around the world than personal computers,
Every day millions of people are having site; uniquely it allows users to book directly the site to generate as much attention in sympathisers, greet them like long lost friends, and countries like South Africa and India
conversations online. Forming around passions with a hotel’s own website. The domain the right areas as is possible.” and send them a link. without the broadband infrastructure, the
and interests, millions of blogs and hundreds name, boo.com, was bought as it’s short, So what are mobile is the way people use technology
of social networks, message boards, wikis and memorable and works across all languages. “YouTube uses more the pros and cons ? to communicate.”
media-sharing sites are discussing a vast array
of subjects. As a result the phenomenon of According to boo.com CEO Ray Nolan resources today than Social Networking sites have transformed “Online social networks can quickly become
social networking is booming, with websites “Social networking is changing the way the the whole of the Internet the way people communicate and attract very insular, and this is something BuddyPing
dedicated to building online communities travel industry works. People no longer want www.facebook.com millions of regular users. Professional tries to resolve. The phone’s address book is
of likeminded souls attracting users at a to see just the brochure copy, they want real
put together about networks such as Linkedin allow knowledge your real world connections and, along with
very rapid rate. opinions, good and bad. Our trust rating index 2 years ago.” Facebook began life as a tool for workers around the world to find and work you and your friends’ locations, we provide a
enables reviewers to earn the trust of the Harvard’s student base, before being with each other. However, people can spend way to arrange real world social interactions
While the most popular - Bebo and MySpace rest of the community based on the number opened up to other US universities and more time typing messages to their ‘virtual’ and allow people to share them.”
– are used predominantly by younger users, of reviews they submit and how useful these employers, and then last year to anyone in friends than their real friends; divorces are
Facebook and Friends Reunited attract all ages were considered. This takes some of the the world with an email address. There are prevalent with people looking up old school “Social networks are now starting to appear
and there’s even a Saga Zone, aimed at the risk and anonymity out of the whole decision currently more than 50 million worldwide friends and re-inventing their lives, and on the mobile, and this will increase over the
over-50s. LinkedIn and Plaxo – for business making process.” www.youtube.com members of Facebook. This phenomenal employers are increasingly checking out next year. Watch out for social applications
people - are very useful for networking but growth prompted Microsoft to buy a 1.6% job candidates’ social networking profiles. being pre-installed on phones, and the big
nowhere near as popular as the others, YouTube is a site where users can host, tag stake in it for £117m last October. social networks providing more mobile
mainly because they’re full of IT people and share videos. Anyone and everyone can Organisations are becoming vulnerable to centric offerings.”
talking about work! record a video and load it onto the site for all Michelle (anonymous), an avid user of sensitive company information being placed
to view and review. Facebook, says “I used to use Facebook onto these sites. Increasingly they will be
Businesses are only just starting to realise nearly every day (as it is very addictive) until looking at companies such as Claranet to
the possibilities offered by social networks. www.myspace.com Piers Thompson of RoughlerTV says “While it was banned from my work! At the moment, provide services which can block access
One such business, Boo.com, is using social the Girls From St Trinians were recording I probably log on about 3 times a week. I use to social networking sites or at least
networking on their travel site to engage MySpace - famous for promoting music acts Trouble for the soundtrack of their new movie, it for tracking down old school friends, monitor the content.
with their customers. such as The Arctic Monkeys - has long been I nipped down to the studio with a camera, sending messages to friends, uploading
a favourite of the music and fashion industries which turned out to be malfunctioning colour- photos of a night out or viewing other people’s
as a means of keeping in touch with what’s wise, and filmed them. After my clip went photos and holiday snaps, sharing videos,
happening. The MySpace generation, how- up on YouTube it flew to No1 on YouTube’s and organising events and RSVP’ing
ever (even those in the creative industries) UK Music Chart. At press it has racked up to invitations - everything really!”
7
“After so many years in the
Our offices
Internet industry, the culture
of Claranet and its excellent
team is providing me with
as much fun in my work as I
used to have in the original
Internet days. Claranet does it
the right way: a well organised
in USA & Portugal
and smart company that acts
quickly and professionally,
and has a strong focus on
its business customers. It
deserves only success. It’s
good to be part of this family.”
António Miguel Ferreira, MD,
Claranet Portugal
“Upon joining Claranet in 2005 Interesting Fact
it was clear from the beginning
Claranet Portugal hosts Blog.com,
that VIA was now part of a winning
one of the main blog providers on the
team. It has been a breath of fresh Internet, competing with giants such
air to work with a group who places as Google’s blogspot.com. Crucial
an unwavering focus on delivering to Blog.com, as most of its users
Claranet USA market leading solutions and
exceeding customer expectations.”
and customers come from abroad,
is the fact that we manage our own
European IP backbone and provide
VIA Networks was acquired by the Darin Elkins, MD, VIA Networks better SLAs on international traffic
Claranet Group in 2005 as part of its North than local competitors. Blog.com
American expansion. VIA Networks was currently hosts more than 100,000
a founding Microsoft Certified Partner blogs from around the globe!
and since 1996 has been providing
customers with comprehensive hosting
and managed services offerings, including Some of our Customers
Interesting Fact
VIA Networks has provided
Claranet Portugal
expert application support for Windows
technologies. 1 Marriot/Execustay managed hosting for one of the Some of our Customers
Managed Windows Environment first “social networking” websites
VIA Networks provides organisations 2 North Highland Consulting opendiary.com since May 2003, Founded early in 1995, Esoterica was Today the company has a new image, 1 CHIP 7
with fl exible and responsive managed Managed Complex Microsoft Office when they launched their site. the first private Internet Service Provider a new culture and a stronger portfolio Managed Hosting
services, built for the way they do business. SharePoint Server 2007 Environment Open Diary has over 4,000,000 (ISP) in Portugal. It was also the first to of services, with a special focus on VPN 2 SOPOL
They collaborate with customers to develop 3 iHorizons - Aljazeera.net members and receives about 25% offer unlimited Internet access in Portugal, and Hosting. However, it shares the same IPSec VPN
of global Internet users per day!
individual solutions tailored to their unique Managed Windows Server Farm a revolutionary concept at the time. After its philosophy of its original brand: simplicity, 3 Torre do Tombo
The site is less commercialised
business challenges and technology 4 Georgia State University strong influence in the development of the technical innovation, and excellence in support. IPSec VPN
than its rivals “MySpace” or
requirements. As a result, customers Managed Microsoft Office SharePoint Internet industry in Portugal, the company With offices and datacentres in Lisbon and 4 Holmes Place
“Facebook” and is geared at
benefi t from Responsive IT Solutions Server 2007 Environment was acquired by VIA Networks in 1999 Porto, Claranet Portugal helps customers by MPLS VPN:ng
the global writing community.
that adapt to their needs and changing 5 Center for Disease Control (CDC) and in 2005 was integrated into developing, supporting and managing a wide 5 Oceanic Group
market conditions over time. Managed Windows Environment the Claranet Group. range of technology solutions. MPLS VPN:ng
9
10 / Case Study
LIVEWIRE ISSUE 04
Airbus Hosting
Sky High Availability
Airbus designs, builds,
sells and supports the most Technical Account Dedicated data storage and centralised data
access is provided through a NAS (Network
modern and comprehensive family
of aircraft in the world, setting new Manager Attached Storage) system. NAS enables
Airbus to share storage between the back
standards that shape the future of office, the pre-production platform and the
the airline industry. Its range of front office. This means Claranet can quickly
commercial aircraft is renowned for A Technical Account Manager was provided add a new server if needed, as there is no
their efficiency, innovation and safety. as a main point of contact throughout the need to copy the website data across.
Airbus captured the imagination of the project. This personalised management
world with the A380, the biggest airliner enabled Airbus and Claranet to work closely A data backup system safeguards Airbus’
ever built. Read how Claranet designed, together during the design, implementation business data, and a firewall is deployed as
implemented and managed a tailored and ongoing management of the hosting part of a security policy to defend the website
hosting platform for Airbus. solution. The solution is managed by a team of from online threats and attacks.
expert project managers who are ITIL certified
(Information Technology Infrastructure Library)
the world’s most respected qualification in
The challenges the delivery of high quality IT services.
The result
The Airbus websites need to be Any application or service the customer
available 24/7, to be resilient, able to needs can be implemented as long as On the day of the Airbus A380’s first public
withstand great surges in web traffic and it is supported by Claranet’s underlying appearance, the website received more than
updated in real-time. Due to the sensitive framework or infrastructure. This gives 600,000 unique visitors. A further 750,000
nature of the aeronautic industry, Airbus’ Airbus access to a wide variety of technologies, visitors flocked to the website on the day of
technical partners have to be highly reliable, including Microsoft Windows, Oracle and the super jumbo jet’s maiden flight. The solid
experienced and available. This means going IBM Websphere. and reliable technical framework was closely
beyond the basic requirements of the managed by the Technical Account Manager
contract to ensure all parts of the site are to ensure there was no degradation in
online and working at all times. customer experience. Despite this dramatic
peak in web traffic, visitors to the Airbus
The technology website didn’t experience any unavailability.
The solution The managed hosting platform uses two Airbus’ Internet Manager said, “We’ve been
technical platforms – the v3 and v4. The v3 working with Claranet and with our Technical
Claranet worked closely with Airbus is composed of four servers under Windows Account Manager for several years now. Our
to understand its IT requirements before Server 2000. It uses an ASP and ASP.NET Technical Account Manager not only acts as
designing, implementing and managing scripting layer to enable the creation of web the first point of contact on technical issues,
a tailored hosting platform based on three applications and uses Claranet’s SQL Server his support often goes beyond technical
primary elements: improved infrastructure 2000 platform. The v3 platform also hosts the assistance by advising us on various projects.
redundancy; dedicated data storage, access Airbus websites in China and Japan, and a The support staff and account management
and back-up systems; and the ability to update special sub-site to exhibit Airbus’ newly team have been helpful and responsive,
content in real-time. launched Airbus A380 - the world’s largest even in the middle of the night. The
passenger airliner. pro-active monitoring of the server has
To update content in real-time, Claranet proved very valuable, allowing us to
adapted the platform to be compliant with The v4 platform is composed of seven servers troubleshoot any problems. This close
a worldwide cache solution. The Airbus under the Linux Debian operating system. It’s working relationship has helped foster a good
websites are updated using a tailored a Java platform which uses a PostgreSQL relationship with our other web partners and
Content Management System (CMS) and database. The v4 platform hosts the corporate created the feeling of a ‘virtual web team’
include a synchronisation system which Airbus website and the Airbus website in around airbus.com.”
Claranet developed to store website edits North America. To deliver better infrastructure
and updates before they are published. redundancy, the hosting platform is based on www.airbus.com
A key advantage of the managed hosting two state-of-the-art datacentres, featuring the www.clara.net
service is a ‘pre-production’ platform, which latest in security, cooling, load balancing and
makes it possible to change and edit the energy saving technologies to provide the
websites with no risk of unavailability. most reliable service possible.
11
11
12 / Features
LIVEWIRE ISSUE 04
Green & Lean
Two themes are dominating the green IT agenda at the moment - how to tackle the demands of the
datacentre and what we can do to reduce our environmental footprint. Most organisations now recognise
the need to reduce their impact on carbon emissions and there are a number of initiatives which can be
taken to tackle this by becoming more efficient…and being green is a return on being more efficient.
Livewire explores some More efficient use of hardware Efficiencies in the Office consider installing the Firefox IEview addon a recycling programme for white paper,
of the effi ciencies which Another way is to make more efficient use of instead. Even PCs running different operating aluminium cans, toner cartridges and
businesses can make to reduce hardware once it is installed. A server doing Case Study Whilst most of us are trying to reduce our systems can happily share a monitor. Take the cardboard boxes. The Recycling Factory
their carbon footprint at the nothing still uses a lot of power - a lot more carbon footprint at home, we could be ‘greener’ stairs instead of the lift. An added bonus will automatically donates credits for toner
datacentre and in the office. than most people think - and the difference Claranet’s Windows Administration team in the office. About 50% of IT’s carbon be the health benefits you’ll receive. cartridges to the ChildLine Charity on
between peak load to almost zero load is consolidated an existing legacy Netscalibur footprint is generated by the office, so there is our behalf. Email payslips or hand them
Efficiences at the Datacentre smaller than you might think. It is important to
make the best use of server resources whilst
Shared Web platform - five separate servers
running Windows 2000 and legacy NT4
a lot that we can do daily.
A London-wide to staff in the office. Also saves
postage and envelopes.
Businesses may choose to acquire at least balancing your required performance levels. operating systems - which hosts over According to manufacturer Canon a 50- switch to double-
some power from green sources such as
wind farms but another option is to focus on
Not only will this provide cost savings in terms
of power use it will also reduce the amount of
1500 live websites. person office could save £3,000 per year
through double-sided printing and, at the same
sided printing could Select suppliers with green credentials.
efficiency. Many surveys of server efficiency equipment you need and therefore the costs to The physical space constituted 18 Units time, reduce its footprint. save enough paper
have found that, on average, only a very small
percentage of a server’s potential is utilised -
source in the first place. of rack space. These sites were hosted on old
hardware which needed constant attention from AIR POLLUTION
to wrap around the GREEN WEBSITES
typically between 5 and 10 per cent. Better consolidation of hardware our Network Operations Centre (NOC) team. earth four times Carbon Footprint
Patrick Vryenhoef, Claranet Datacentre
Increasingly businesses are choosing
to outsource the management of their
Daily server reboots and maintenance work
was a drain on staff resources.
Encourage alternative forms of getting to the
office, such as public transport or cycling, or look
every year. www.carbonfootprint.com
Climate Change
Manager, speaks to livewire about how applications to a Managed Services Provider. at home working alternatives for employees. Brother UK www.climatechallenge.gov.uk
organisations can use their existing assets Claranet’s Managed Applications service Utilising VMWare Server the five platforms Claranet takes part in the Cycle Scheme The Carbon Trust
more efficiently. provides customers not only with quantifiable were consolidated onto one high specification www.cyclescheme.co.uk and has cycling www.carbontrust.co.uk
and lower costs but, by offering the option of machine, only taking up 2 Units of rack space. racks and showers at the office. RECYCLING
“Green IT is a major focus of the hosting shared infrastructure and datacentre facilities,
industry right now, and has been for the past a company can significantly reduce their The benefits of using VMWare Server are: Next time you plan a meeting, decide whether Reuse plastic cups from water dispensers.
4 or 5 years. There are a few areas in which carbon output whilst improving the feature sets the discussion needs to be face-to-face. If not, Use a refillable plastic bottle or better still
the biggest gains can be made. available to them. • Manage all machines from a central location.
• Monitor the performance of the virtual
set everyone up on a conference call or hash
it out over email. Claranet France uses video-
use a glass instead. Recycle alumium cans.
Green Note
More power efficient hardware Virtualisation machines and their hosts. conferencing to communicate between its Paris Print only what’s necessary. Scan or
Major chip makers (AMD and Intel) A relatively new but fairly complex way of • Reliable disaster recovery utilising & Rennes offices. email documents and, if you must print, When equipment reaches a
have recognised a need for more power making more efficient use of IT equipment. VMWare snapshots and the existing use recycled paper or print on both sides. point where it is no longer required,
efficient processing and have introduced The idea is to create virtual servers which are Legato Backup system. POWER Claranet customers can use our secure Claranet makes an active effort to
more energy efficient chip ranges. spread across one or more real servers to • Reduce physical rack space Customer Portals to order online. Channel
reuse the equipment. Equipment
Customers can help by being selective make the best use of the available resources. and reduce energy consumption. Turn off your PC and office lights at night Partners have the option of paperless
when specifying and sourcing co-location If done properly virtualisation can significantly or when meeting rooms are not in use. ordering and account administration. may be stripped down for base parts
servers and other items to be hosted in the lower power use as well as maintenance and and used as spares, or redeployed
datacentres. A little thought at the beginning operational overheads. Claranet’s most recent Evan Sexon, Reduce the number of PCs you have. Use a recycling bin for paper and for another use.
can have a big environmental and financial virtualisation project reduced five servers down Claranet Windows Systems Administrator If you must have a Windows PC to check cardboard. Print on the other side of
impact over the life of a server. to two with full redundancy included.” what something looks like in Internet Explorer, paper before recycling. Claranet operates
13
The bigger picture Inside out
Nathan Sinnott, Claranet Technical Account Manager, tells Here’s what Claranet will be doing in the next few months. As well as our own events,
livewire about his daily role and what he enjoys about working Claranet staff will be running at marathons across the country. Proceeds will be donated
for a Managed Services Provider. to our ChildLine Charity Campaign.
Tell us a bit about yourself. provide ample room for scalability, and align
Buzz Words Claranet Dates for the
I was born in Melbourne, Australia and,
prior to leaving for the UK 18-months ago,
with the respective company’s business goals.
In addition I am responsible for the technical
AJAX ChildLine Charity Diary 2008
(Asynchronous JavaScript and XML)
Champions
spent 7 years working in the IT & Telco strategy and management of these accounts,
A group of inter-related web development
industry – in Network design and Presales. playing a role in solution design for each, and
Two weeks after stepping off the plane in project management of all active projects. techniques used for creating interactive Gartner
London, I joined Claranet. Initially working web applications, without slow, tedious page
Claranet starts the year with the
Enterprise Networking &
in the Presales team, in mid-2007 I became I enjoy the dynamic that the TAM role refreshes. This ultimately results in a much
the first Technical Account Manager brings. With Presales, you design a solution, smoother user experience, which boosts
announcement of the sponsorship of our Communications Summit
in the UK office. see it through to implementation, and then it favourite charity – ChildLine. Over the next 23rd - 24th April
productivity and user acceptance.
leaves you and you are onto the next project/ 12 months, Claranet is dedicated to raising Royal Lancaster Hotel, London
What’s the best thing about customer. With TAM I take on that role, but more than £50,000 through a series of
working at Claranet? provide ongoing management and advice to events : Boss in a Box, Valentine’s Day The first European Gartner Enterprise
Being owned by one individual the customer about the growth, use of the BLOG Networking & Communications Summit will
Bake-off, Big Bike Ride, Sports Day and the
who’s extremely hands on, and a senior infrastructure, advice on best practice, and A website where entries provide commentary provide you with the latest strategic insights,
management team that is focused on solutions to fulfill new business challenges. Christmas Ball are just a few !
or news on a particular subject. Most blogs operational examples, and technological
growth, whilst also maintaining a healthy It allows me to develop a relationship with are primarily textual, although some focusing ChildLine is the UK’s free, 24-hour helpline advice on voice and data communications,
culture in the business, and the location each customer I manage, and see the bigger on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), for children in distress or danger. Trained allowing you to drive cost-effective innovation
of the office. It’s important to have easy picture with them and their business.
sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), volunteer counsellors comfort, advise and within your business, to plan and to capitalise
access to our customers, good transport
links, and a few decent bars! And finally… and audio (podcasting) are part of a wider protect children and young people who may on your investment in the new architecture.
With the appointment of Michel Robert (MD) sense of ownership and accountability. network of social media. feel they have nowhere else to turn.
How do you spend your working day? and Olivier Beaudet (COO) , Claranet has I am fortunate to be surrounded by competent
As a Technical Account Manager (TAM) grown as an organisation. Our approach to people in Presales, Technical Implementation Gartner Symposium ITXPO
my mission is to strengthen relationships with the way in which we engage with customers, Group (TIG) , and the Managed Applications MASH-UPS
our key customers by ensuring the solutions manage their solutions, and manage our roles Technical Team and Service Management. Emerging Trends
A web application that combines data from
Claranet provides are an appropriate fit, and responsibilities, means there is a strong We make a great team! 12th - 15th May
more than one source into a single integrated
Palau de Congressos de Catalunya,
tool; an example is the use of cartographic
Barcelona
data from Google Maps to add location
information to real-estate data from Craigslist, Gartner Symposium/ITxpo is the industry’s
thereby creating a new and distinct web largest and most strategic conference for
service that was not originally provided
Competition
senior IT and business professionals. The
Almost 1,400 volunteers provide a
by either source. entire event experience is based on Gartner’s
counselling service, supervised by a team
Mash-up originally referred to the practice in best-in-class research and information.
of professional supervisors and managers.
pop music (notably hip-hop) of producing a new Every day around 4,500 children call Gartner Events in Europe:
song by mixing two or more existing pieces. ChildLine, but lack of funds means that www.gartner.com/events
Send us your digital photos and you could only 2,500 of them will get through to
win vouchers to spend at Jessops, the largest their counsellors for comfort, advice
photographic retailer in the UK. WIKI and protection.
Software that allows users to create, edit,
What best captures the
More about ChildLine at:
and link web pages easily. Wikis are often
used to create collaborative websites and to
www.childline.org.uk.
statement ‘Community’? power community websites. They are being
installed by businesses to provide affordable
Top prize: £300 - 2nd prize: £50 - 3rd prize: £30 and effective Intranets and for Knowledge
Management. One of the best known
is Wikipedia.
Congratulations to Ben Marshall of ITG Technologies,
who was the lucky winner of the Xbox 360 from the last
edition of livewire.
Email your digital photo along with your contact details to mkt@uk.clara.net.
Entries must be received by midnight June 30th, 2008. Winners will be announced
in the Autumn edition of livewire. This competition is not open to Claranet employees
and their families.
15