NetworkFlow

The Bland Group, a family-owned international enterprise which owns a diverse range of companies across the transport, leisure, and tourism industries, has turned to NetworkFlow’s MPLS core http://www.networkflow.com to power its booking systems for travel to the Isle of Wight.

Almost 200 years old, the Bland Group boasts a long, proud history of service spanning four generations of the famous Gaggero family.  In 2008, GB Airways, the Group’s wholly owned airline, was sold to easyJet.

Over the years, a number of existing companies within the group have experienced a period of underinvestment in IT.  They were reliant on low cost DSL lines, managing interconnections which were very resource hungry; they had no stability and no SLAs in place.  As a result, they decided on a competitive tender in order to secure a collaborative, secure network for sharing information and access to the Internet.

Lance Edwards, Director of Information Technology for Bland Group UK Holdings Limited, explains: “After reviewing 3 other suppliers, we have hooked into NetworkFlow’s next generation MPLS cloud to safeguard our intercompany data communication and secure private client information.  As a technology, we knew that MPLS was inherently secure.  You simply order; lines are installed, the box arrives and it’s plug and play.”

“We chose NetworkFlow because other providers don’t have their own network and have to rely on BT and NTL.  As well as saving costs, we can now link to our trading businesses; this means that we can expand to acquire sites and plug in and share documentation.  We’re also using the network to enable the deployment of our booking and travel system for Hover Travel to the Isle of Wight.  Customers can now book online, which is a major step forward.”

Edwards concludes: “If you have sites that are in difficult locations, for example hovercraft sites in disused military bases, NetworkFlow work very hard and diligently to ensure you get the connections you require.  We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to others.”

David Alexander, commercial director of NetworkFlow, comments: “Working together, Bland Group has reduced costs and the stability of its lines is massively increased.  The Group can also take advantage of one single high end firewall, and as a company they have been able to implement a user policy business wide.”