BiP Solutions: super fast and robust network keeps consultancy online 24/7

Glasgow-based BiP Solutions hosts and delivers web-based business critical information, data and supply-chain management services to help public and private sector organisations successfully do business together. Hosting a mix of own-brand services, and bespoke portals on behalf of public organisations, it’s critical to BiP and its customers that these services are constantly available.

BiP Solutions chose Virgin Media Business to deliver two fully dedicated internet connections to underpin both BiP’s services and its internal office functions, leaving the business free to concentrate on providing first class expertise to its customers. BiP Solutions is pioneering the use of web-based services to enable public sector organisations to better manage their procurement processes and open up supply chains, while making it easier for private sector businesses to bid for and win contracts. Reliability and constant availability is vital. A secure, superfast network was therefore needed to ensure its services and expertise were accessible to staff and their clients, round the clock. Two DIA connections running over Virgin Media Business’ fibre network ensure that the firm can work smarter and offer an improved online customer experience as well as extremely high service availability.

Top of BiP Solutions’ wish list was boosting the reliability and performance of its web-based portals followed closely by the need for its 150 employees to share more information between each other and its customers. BiP needed a network solution that ensured its online services were always available, whether it’s for procurement, training or consulting. And, it was keen to reduce the amount of time wasted on managing the network internally, which was draining productivity.

“BiP is at the centre of buyer and supplier relationships. We host portals for large organisations, including government departments, and wanted a resilient, future-proof network, so we could just get on and focus on our business. We now have a superfast fibre-optic network with reliability built-in. And because it’s a managed service, we don’t need to worry about maintaining it, Virgin Media Business takes all the hard work out of running a network,” said Steven McWilliams, IT Operations Manager at BiP Solutions.

When BiP moved into its prestigious new office in Glasgow, its IT and management teams took the opportunity to design a highly resilient network solution to fit BiP’s business needs. They chose Virgin Media Business to install two 100Mbit/s DIA connections, to power its online services and internal IT solutions. With two connections in place, there’s no need to worry about potential downtime. With one main connection and one backup, BiP are confident that there’s always connectivity in place, no matter what. And, because Virgin Media Business manages the service and monitors it 24/7, BiP’s staff can ensure that they are fully focused on delivering an exceptional online experience for its customers.

“Our company delivers data-hungry web-based procurement solutions for high profile organisations in both the public and private sector, that’s why it’s absolutely essential that our network is always-on,” said Steven. “When it comes to tendering and procurement, timings can change very quickly, and if any of our clients are affected by a network outage, it could hit their bottom line. We needed a reliable product that could do the job and underpin the delivery of innovative IT solutions to staff. Virgin Media Business offered us two lines over a fibre-optic network and speeds of 100Mbit/s, meaning we are never short of bandwidth.”

Now, BiP Solutions and its customers can do their jobs safe in the knowledge that if something did happen to the main network, they’ll be automatically switched over to the backup without noticing a thing.

Having secured a raft of new public sector business in the last couple of years, BiP needed to keep on innovating to make sure they could deliver even better services to more clients. It realised that by growing and improving its online presence, this could increase its competitive edge. The new network provided a big bandwidth boost which allowed BiP to grow its online offering, creating more user-friendly and efficient online services.

“Virgin Media Business understood the focus of BiP Solutions and worked with us to make sure we got what we needed to provide our customers with continuous service improvements,” said Steven. “This means we can fully support our customers, as we’re safe in the knowledge that we’ve got a strong, reliable and fast network.”

By choosing a managed service, BiP Solutions leaves the ongoing monitoring of the network to Virgin Media Business. So its staff can stay focused on giving buyers and suppliers a high level of attention, without diverting resources to keeping an eye on the network.

“Specialists are the best people for the job. Our staff are specialists in providing services and solutions to buyers and suppliers, linking up the private and public sector. And Virgin Media Business is a specialist in providing connectivity,” said Steven. “We were kept constantly updated during the project and the roll-out went without a hitch. With the network in place, we can now focus on doing what we do best.”