The Network Collective

THE COMPANY

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) is an independent international organisation supported by 31 states, set up to produce medium-range weather forecasts for its members.

Originally a European Co-operation in Science and Technology project, ECMWF was established in 1975 when its Convention entered into force. The first real-time medium-range forecasts were made in June 1979. ECMWF has been producing operational medium-range weather forecasts since 1st August 1979.

The principal objectives of ECMWF are:

1. The development of numerical methods for medium-range weather forecasting;
2. The preparation, on a regular basis, of medium-range weather forecasts for distribution to the meteorological services of the member states;
3. Scientific and technical research directed at the improvement of these forecasts;
4. The collection and storage of appropriate meteorological data.

THE CUSTOMER'S CHALLENGE

ECMWF is managing a 42-site MPLS network from Orange Business Services on behalf of the National Meteorological Services connected. The network is mainly used by ECMWF to disseminate the weather forecast data to its supporting States, and by the Meteorological Centres to exchange real time weather data.

ECMWF was reviewing the Orange Business Services contract and wanted to assess this solution and contract against alternatives available in the market. The goals ECMWF wanted to achieve from this review were:

1. To assess the value they were getting compared to other service providers
2. To plan whether or not there was value in going to tender for a new network
3. To look at their options in relation to technical solutions, new technologies and the capability of different service providers to deliver solutions in a wider range of geographies
4. Modelling out a range of scenarios relating to the delivery of significantly-increased bandwidth over a 60 month time period

THE NETWORK COLLECTIVE APPROACH

The Network Collective used their unique Virtual RFP toolset to address these goals for ECMWF. Through this Virtual RFP process, The Network Collective completed the following deliverables:

1. A complete benchmark of all potential providers that ECMWF could consider as a replacement for Orange Business Services
2. Detailed insight into the technical, commercial and service benefits of each service provider
3. The capability of each service provider to deliver new technologies on a global basis
4. The capability of each service provider to deliver the bandwidth requirements of ECMWF over the next 5 years

The Network Collective analysed and reviewed the data to provide detailed recommendations to ECMWF. Once completed, The Network Collective undertook presentations and workshops with ECMWF to discuss and evaluate our findings and to help plan the route forward. On completion of the Virtual RFP process, ECMWF were able to view their options with unprecedented transparency. The Network Collective gave them the ability to make the most informed possible decision and to move forward with the utmost confidence in the suitability and commercial competitiveness of their network.

THE CUSTOMER'S VIEW

"We particularly appreciated the Virtual RFP process. After discussing with The Network Collective potential competitors for the target network, we defined different scenarios. The first scenario was to get from the potential providers the estimated cost for our current network. This is just like an RFP without the hassle of a true RFP. So, it was easier and much faster. The biggest challenge for this Virtual RFP is the accuracy of the results. Thanks to The Network Collective's approach and their market insight, we were quite confident on the correctness of the outcome. The results proved we were right. This gave us very useful leverage with our current provider to agree new commercial conditions."
Remy Giraud, Head of Network and Computer Security Section, ECMWF