Concentric Network Corporation White Paper, Outsourcing Remote Access Services
10/1/1998 5
conducted by Inverse Network Technology, which rates the performance of service providers
on a letter grade system, from A+ to D, each month. For call success rates, Concentric
Network will meet or exceed industry average for business hours. For initial modem
connection speed, Concentric Network will also meet or exceed the industry average. If
Concentric fails to meet these measurements, it will credit the customer's monthly bill for 10
percent for each grade level below the industry average. And, in another first for the
industry, Concentric is the first provider to handle SLAs proactively—if Concentric fails to
meet these SLA commitments, it will credit the customer account automatically. Most
providers today require the customer to prove that the agreement wasn't met, to request a
credit, and to give the service provider 60 days to address the problem.
4) Network architecture: Private ATM partially meshed T3 backbone network with SuperPOPs
supporting local access. Two data centers, equipped with onsite UPS and diesel generators,
provide for reliable network operation.
5) IP Security: Concentric has deployed the Bay Network’s Baystream Dial VPN Service
tunneling technology which creates secure tunnels through the network. Concentric will also
be offering an encryption option for the service.
6) Physical Security: Concentric SuperPOP locations are in secure, hardened
telecommunication facilities. Concentric is a privately managed network, hence customers
data traffic will never touch the open Internet.
7) Authentication, Authorization and Accounting: Through the use of RADIUS proxy calls, user
authentication and authorization is controlled by the customer, NOT Concentric. Concentric
is also able to return RADIUS accounting information to customer premise located
Authentication Servers.
8) Ease of Use for the Mobile User: Only standard dialer software already present on all
remote systems is required. However, Concentric has developed a WIN95 Installshield
compliant client/server application, called Access Finder, that determines the nearest local
access phone number. Through a single button selection, an 800 number is dialed and
automatically returns to the client application the local access phone number(s). The remote
user can then dial the local number. In addition each time this application is used, a
complete local access list is updated on the client system. The end result is that a remote
user can always find a Concentric local access number easily and connect.
9) Minimal infrastructure changes: No change to remote client application system on the PC.
Standard Frame Relay circuit required between Concentric Gateway router and the customer
network. Any RFC 1490 compliant frame relay WAN port off of a CPE router is required
(Cisco , Bay, etc.).
10) End User Support: Concentric provides two levels of support for a RAS customer. Concentric
can provide second tier escalation support for the customer’s in-house support desk if the
customer supports its end users directly. Alternatively, Concentric can provide direct first tier
telephone based support for RAS end users for basic connectivity on a 7 x 24 basis if the
optional support service is purchased.
11) Cost Reduction: Concentric Remote Access can reduce costs by over 40% below the cost of
in-house managed RAS solutions, depending on the nature of the implementation. In
addition to direct reduction in costs, Concentric can shield customers from the headcount
responsible for supporting these services.
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