Customer Success Story
>SERONO
Serono Puts BT Infonet at the Heart of Its Network
For many people Serono may not be a household name. In fact the company, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, is the world leader in reproductive health and one of the biggest biotechnology companies in the world. It is at the forefront in the fight against AIDS and in the search for a cure to multiple sclerosis and, through its research programmes, has become a leader in these fields.
With sales of over US $1 billion in 1999, operations in 45 countries across the world and products sold in over 100 countries, Serono is truly a multinational enterprise. Operating, quite literally, around the clock, the issue for Serono management is how best to operate such a corporation in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
John Ardalan, Serono's Senior Executive Director for IT and Information Systems, succinctly identifies the issue, "We have a fast-growing global business and our network is expanding rapidly in line with this. The number of locations has doubled in just the past three years. We need network performance while also keeping costs under control."
Over the past four years Serono's network, Seronet 2000, has supported an important transformation within the company - the increased centralisation of the company's key resources. For example, the financial departments of the group's overseas branches transmit their Oracle financial data via central servers in Geneva.
A similar principle is applied to production. Software related to the production of the drugs is centrally available so that Serono's 12 production centres around the world can work together harmoniously. Security is a major issue. The development of medicine entails the use of highly sensitive data, which must be reliably protected from unauthorised access, at all times.
Centralisation has brought efficiencies and saved costs. "We have saved a great deal," comments John Ardalan. "If we had not centralised our business we would have had to order about 40 servers rather than the four we now have. And we would have had to employ about 20 database administrators rather than the four we now have in Geneva."
Since 1996, Swisscom has supported Serono in the development of its data network. By 1999, though, the network had grown to over 70 locations worldwide and was being used by over 4,000 people. A new solution was necessary. In the summer of 1999, Swisscom, together with BT Infonet, came up with a solution combining local and global requirements. Serono's data will be carried over Swisscom's Managed Bandwidth service and BT Infonet's Global Frame Relay (GFR) backbone. Serono's overseas offices are also being equipped with ISDN back-up solutions, which will guarantee over 99 percent availability for the whole network.
An extranet is also part of the solution. The company's distributors now have access to selected applications via BT Infonet's DialXpress service. This not only simplifies the order process but also reduces administrative costs for both the distributors and the company. Most Serono staff now use the DialXpress service, including Ardalan, who has tested the long-distance access to the intranet on his business trips. The result? "The service functions perfectly," says Ardalan. "And is a clever way of avoiding exorbitant hotel telephone costs."
The partnership of Swisscom and BT Infonet has clearly been a winning combination for Serono. At the local level, Ardalan feels that he has the around-the-clock support he needs. "I can call them at 11 o'clock in the evening or 3 o'clock in the morning and know that they will take care of my problem. I can discuss things with Swisscom's managerial staff and tell them about my needs. That gives me the feeling that I can influence what goes on," he observes.
At the international level Ardalan is discovering a new relationship with BT Infonet. "I am pleasantly surprised," he says. "Network latency is much superior than before; we have very good connections. The new network has become more reliable - and in our business, service quality is linked directly with increased productivity. The network has made it simpler to work in project groups despite the considerable distances between them. It has become much easier to exchange information."
Already, Serono has new plans for the future. Ardalan is looking to integrate data, voice and video and still further reduce the company's communications costs. A particularly important aim is integrating video at a low cost since this medium is already in demand and is an important vehicle for the company and its CEO. The most interesting item on Ardalan's shopping list, though is bandwidth on demand. "I would like to be able to buy more bandwidth on short notice at busy times," he says. "At the end of the month, for example, when we collect our financial figures, I would like to be able to call and say that during this period I want more bandwidth." A new challenge for BT Infonet and Swisscom to meet, together.