Lambeth is one of the most densely and diversely populated of all the 33 boroughs in London and is home to approximately 330,000 residents. Intercity Technology has worked with Virgin Media Business (VMB) to deliver support and infrastructure to keep the borough and the users of its network connected and productive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year since 2011.
The seven-year contract was to provide a flexible and modular solution on the convergence of Lambeth’s voice and data networks while reducing costs and improving the user experience. This enabled the council to drive forward on its ambition to enable cooperative and new ways of working.
Working with Virgin Media Business, Intercity specifically provided services linked to Lot 2 on the RM1045 framework focused on Network Services management which included the monitoring and management of services across the network, enhanced configuration, hardware fixes within set SLAs, and provision of on-site engineer resources, to name just a few.
“It’s important for us to work with a provider that is receptive to our needs. Intercity is a forward-thinking, intelligent supplier and throughout our seven-year partnership, we’ve always been able to adjust the services we need as and when.” – Paul Wickens, Head of ICT Lambeth Council
Following on from their initial partnership with Intercity back in 2011, Lambeth Council experienced difficulty in keeping and retaining skilled network resources in-house. It therefore required a trusted and reliable partner to help relieve the burden on in-house resources while also ensuring the continuous availability of its services for the public.
Lambeth will now extend the assistance provided by Intercity to include a fully-managed on-site network support service, taking advantage of Intercity’s in-depth back office knowledge of the council’s network estate. This includes having the support team on-call 24/7, business liaison and responsibility for day-to-day running of the entire Lambeth Local Area Network. The company also acts as the interface between VMB services.
The flexibility of the service offered by Intercity means that the council will be able to tap into extra resources during peak times, including the annual local elections.
“Building longstanding relationships with our clients is something we hold in high regard at Intercity. Both our team and Lambeth have worked closely and openly to decipher what services are needed to operate efficiently and responsively throughout the year.”
“Solidifying our partnership with the council through a fully-managed service demonstrates our commitment to adapting to customer requirements whenever they need us to. We look forward to continuing this relationship with the council and helping to deliver a secure, continuous and quality service to the people of Lambeth.” – Ian Jackson, Chief Commercial Officer Intercity Technology
Intercity continues to respond to the evolving needs of Lambeth, and there are always ongoing conversations about how it can provide even greater support and act as an important part in the council’s project scoping process.