Network Planning
The name says it all: Netplan - a carefully selected name for a company which performs network planning. Network planning is our absolute core competence. Network planning involves a number of connected disciplines with aspects of both technology, commercial and organizational nature. An efficient and stabile network is key to most customers, and we leave no issue untouched. Netplan's specialists are trained to map customers needs into solutions of very high quality, combined with commercial aspect keeping costs at a minimum level. Our network planning services are always tailored to the customer, and we always meet customers with top level competences. Our solutions, suggestions and specifications will result in networks and plans for networks that are at the technological front, dimensioned and planned to meet future requirements, and put into the context of the customer.
On the commercial side, we have top level competence in benchmarking different solutions, in doing business cases on top of various designs, and managing tender processes when purchasing network services world-wide. On the organizational level, Netplan delivers assistance in project management, planning major migration projects, governing the process of changing technology, process support and decision making. Our project managers work in accordance with the PRINCE2 principles, and our entire company are following approved ISO 9001:2000 quality assurance procedures.
Technology and Product Evaluation
Netplan's projects are typically tailormade to the customers individual needs, and are based on technology or products that the customer has become aware of. Examples can be IP-telephony, new MPLS networks, multicasting broadband/fibre networks etc. Netplan can evaluate technological platforms, and we do so from typically three different angles:
- Future proof: Is the technology standardized, flexible and will it fulfil the expectations to a modular and upgradeable solution.
- Cost-effective: is the technology economically feasible in both short and long run?
- Vulnerability: Are there security issues related to the technology, or will it prevent future utilization of network or services in the years to come?
Especially in the areas of international standardization, Netplan's consultants are highly skilled. Actually several of our staff participates in international standardizations work around the globe, and Netplan's managing director has worked with ETSI and Danish Standards.
Infrastructure Dimensioning and Design
One of Netplan's core competencies is network design and planning. With our tools and skills we can build networks from the earliest design phase to the project management for realizing a network, a service or a functionality in a network. Projects may consist of tasks ranging from establishing the fundamental network structure for a communications carrier layer, to highly performing services in fibre based broadband networks. Typical projects are FTTH (Fibre to the Home), broadband infrastructures (we have designed Denmarks Radio (the national broadcast cooperation in Denmark) transmission network, infrastructure and Internet connectivity).
Requirement Specifications
"If you don't tell what you want, you will rarely get it". The logic to this statement is evident, but when it comes to complicated IT- and communications projects, this logic seems to take another term. Writing a clear and unambiguous requirement specification is one of the keys to a successful project. Netplan has years of experience in developing and writing requirement specifications for both large and small-scale projects, and we can use that experience in your project.
Actually, only few hours of work may mean the difference between a success and a project that may lead to endless discussions with your supplier. Especially in the telecom sector, people have many conceptions of how services "should" be, and what "should" be included - often inspired by historically facts that no longer are true in the IT business.
Netplan knows what it takes, and we know how to write it. We are working under both local Danish contracts and system descriptions, and international projects under a US or UK legal system - an advantage if your organization is represented worldwide.
Project Management
All of Netplan's consultants are graduates from Danish universities, and beside their education they are all skilled in various disciplines from technical knowledge to project management. When we suggest a team for a given project, we always select consultants with the best fit of technical and practical experience. In projects where the project itself is part of a process (i.e. changing a running network, moving to a new telephony platform while everyone is working with the phones etc.) we typically assigning to the projects, consultants who have a project manager profile.
To support such projects several of our consultants are trained in the PRINCE2 project management model, which means that they can work directly in your organization, with your staff and project managers, on the same lines and with the same way of "seeing the world".
In some projects our consultants are hired primary for their project management skills. In many projects this turns out as a good solution, because our project managers have an undisturbed direct line to all experts in Netplan. If or when unexpected situations occur, top expertise is just at the project managers fingertips, and what could be major problems can be solved within hours or minutes.
We always sign off project by leaving everything well documented and in a state where you as a customer can continue the process on your own - you are not dependent on a year-after-year expensive consultant contract with us.
IT-strategy
In a modern IT department, strategy is not something you just do for fun, and then store it on a shelf, just to show if someone from management should care to ask. The technical development in the IT and communication area is so fast that you got to have a working strategy for how to keep up with the still more demanding requirements to run an efficient, well shaped and well functioning IT infrastructure.
Without a strategy you will end up with many different systems, phone exchanges that cannot communicate or WAN networks that are much too expensive to run. And even worse: You are running the risk of investing new money in something that will not bring your organization or your infrastructure forward. Throwing good money after bad, is not just a bad idea - it may prevent you from ever getting your infrastructure to work.
Netplan develops IT and infrastructure strategies for a number of large national and international customers. Doing so, we are not only using our technical skills, but also all of our knowledge on economics, business strategy and development - and not least - our profound knowledge on international standards and trends in the technological area.
Mobile solutions
The mobile market is changing rapidly - especially in Scandinavia. New technologies are constantly introduced to the market, and companies are beginning to realize that mobile phones also are becoming a part of a modern organization. Netplan has substantial knowledge in this area, and we a currently planning several large scale mobile solutions for international customers. In these projects both technology and service planning are essential. If you supply all your employees with at mobile phone, what will happen? And what if you do it to employees who travel around the world - Are you ruined? And can you maintain a data connection to the phone and use e.g. Microsoft's presence products (Office Communications Server)? And what happens if someone looses the phone?
These, and many other questions are answered as part of our mobile network planning services.
Security
Networks are security. No network today is used unless security issues are planned. Net type of networks changes the security aspects, and the consequences need to be analyzed. In Netplan we are using a number of advanced tools, to control and check network traffic. Not only can we analyze what goes on in your LAN or WAN, but we also can probe your wireless networks to test if they are secure and cannot be tampered with.
We are using some oft the most sophisticated equipment on the market to do penetration tests in both wired and wireless networks, and we can do detailed reporting of security aspects within a broad range of areas.
We are working with the "Norm for IT-security (DS 484-1 and DS 484-2)" issued by Danish Standards as a frame work for general IT-security. Further we are working with the US FIPS standards and the ISO/IEC standards (27001:2005 and 17799:2005).
For a number of customers we have edited handbooks on security containing both vulnerability analyses, risk analyses and technical and administrative procedures for gaining maximum network security.
All of Netplan's consultants, including our secretary and the members of the board, are security approved by the Danish Ministry of Defense, in accordance with the NATO codex.
Standards and Standardization
The cheapest technical solutions are usually not the cheapest in the long run. Conformity to international legal standards and de-facto industry standards is not only required in EU-tenders, but is a generally good idea. If your equipment does not conform to a standard you may in time be forced to dump the solution since nothing will communicate to you in your own proprietary way.
Netplan's participation in ETSI and other standardization bodies means that our customers get first hand information on new and coming standards - and not only that. We can pinpoint the direction of new standards, what to expect and when to expect it. This may save you from investing in the wrong technology at the wrong time. This knowledge is perhaps among the most valuable in Netplan because it ensures that our consultants are at the absolute forefront in development, and that they can use this knowledge when they suggest solutions and products Netplan's consultants have participated in forming the Hiperlan standard for ETSI, one of the early standards that later became the famous 802.11a (b and g) better known as the WiFi standard. Besides following the standardization work, Netplan is actively following the development of a number of other standards. It can be absolutely crucial to choose the right standard like X.500 for your directory services, but there are no guarantiees. The WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is a good example of that.
EU-tenders
Within the European Union any larger purchase of telecommunication equipment and services must be done in accordance with the EU directives. Netplan has conducted more than 500 such public tenders over the last 10 years. Not only have we helped a large number of public customers, we have actually made the frame contract used today by the public procurement office (SKI) in Denmark. These contracts alone have a turnover of more than M.EUR 200.
Netplan's role in a public EU-tender can range for being a simple sparring partner, to be the full responsible for the entire process. Further, in some situations we help companies that want to enter the European or Scandinavian public sector market. Our experience in this field may prove very valuable to companies new to dealing with public procurement in the EU.
Feasibility Studies
A part of any proper project evaluation is to answer one simple question: Does it pay off? or is it worth while? Answers can be derived in a number of ways, from simply comparing various quotes, to doing very thorough analyses of hundreds or thousand of parameters. No matter if you are a small organization considering a change to IP telephony, or you are a large international corporation planning a global WAN with telephony and legacy communications, we can provide the number and figures you need to decide if the ideas are feasible.
