Vanco can SeeBeyond disparate systems

Virtual telco Vanco has turned to Sun Microsystems subsidiary SeeBeyond for a major implementation of middleware.

Vanco will use the Sun Java Integration Suite, formerly SeeBeyond ICAN Suite, as part of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). SOA, like the wider web services concept that involves pulling together software components over the internet, marks a big shift in software usage and the telco is using it to better connect to suppliers and customers.

The virtual network operator (VNO) model that Vanco and a handful of others employ relies on taking capacity from various facilities-based telcos and providing a single contract for a customer.

Mark Robinson, service delivery manager at Vanco, said: "We are using the software to connect our problem management system with the systems of suppliers and customers. We detect customer issues before they notice them."

Automatically detecting problems that come about when bridging the divide between different networks and customers' locations around the world has always been part of the Vanco proposition but Robinson said the SeeBeyond implementation especially helps where the volume of information being communicated is high.

The value of the deal has not been disclosed but it is on a straightforward licensing plus maintenance basis, the companies said. The contract had a relatively short tender process of just three to four months.

On the future, Robinson added: "There is a lot of potential we haven't yet used and that potential is more about integration [of software] internally within Vanco."

Major Vanco customers include Accor Hotels, Avis Europe, BA and Pilkington and the operator is part of the IBM-led seven-year outsourcing consortium at bank Lloyds TSB.