Foundry scores PWC contract

By ADAM GIFFORD

Foundry Networks has won the contract to supply switches and routers for PricewaterhouseCoopers' new Auckland waterfront offices.

It is a significant victory for Foundry, which has won 27 sites in New Zealand since establishing a direct presence here a year ago.

Market leader Cisco pulled out of the tender, with New Zealand manager Tim Hemingway giving the consulting firm's decision to negotiate separate deals with the equipment suppliers and the installation and maintenance companies as a reason to walk away from "a million-dollar piece of business".

Most PWC sites around the world use Cisco equipment.

Extreme was the other vendor to make it on to the shortlist. Nortel and 3Com equipment was also evaluated.

Foundry Networks New Zealand manager Martin Mooney is confident he would have won the bid even if Cisco had stayed in.

"We're the performance leader in end-to-end switching and routing. We're faster, we have better architecture," he said.

The installation includes BigIron 15,000 gigabit ethernet layer 3 switches in the core, FastIron layer 2/3 switches and IronView Network Management tools. It will cover at least eight floors of the 32-storey tower.

The installation will be managed and maintained by Datacom subsidiary InterConnect, which has developed a sizeable Foundry practice over the past year.

While the network being installed is suitable for PWC's present applications, Mr Mooney said it was "future proofed" for services such as voice over IP (internet protocol) and video conferencing.

"The move to VOIP (voice over internet protocol) is a simple cost issue. With video conferencing, people are not travelling as much, and having 10 people moving between Wellington and Auckland just for a meeting can be extremely costly."

Other Foundry customers here include Clear, Waitemata Health, Zivo, Weta Digital, Unitec and the Manukau Institute of Technology.

PWC IT manager Brian Price said PWC's existing network infrastructure included both ethernet and token ring technologies.

Foundry Networks