Further extending the footprint of its Global Service and Support (GSS) programs, CoSine Communications Inc., (Nasdaq: COSN) Monday (Jan 29) announced a services relationship with IBM Global Services.
The relationship will allow CoSine to tap IBM resources to help expand its domestic support programs throughout the U.S., while continuing to develop its own international GSS programs for customers in 12 countries throughout Europe and Asia. According to the agreement, IBM will provide CoSine customers with 7×24 and 5×9 next business day on-site machine maintenance service. IBM will also offer regional and local distribution network locations for replacement parts.
“As the leading provider of network-based IP Service Delivery Platforms for Service Providers, CoSine already provides extensive service and support — including access to CoSine’s service technicians in all major cities nationwide,” said Johnny Batten, vice president and general manager of GSS for CoSine. “By leveraging additional resources from IBM, we can significantly expand our services scope and better support our growing customer base.”
“This agreement will enhance CoSine’s ability to address its customers’ hardware maintenance needs,” said Sam Khanna, vice president for alliances at IBM Global Services. “Now CoSine will be able to access IBM’s renowned hardware support services on behalf of its customers for equipment that is eligible for service under the agreement.” CoSine customers will now have the advantage of a support relationship that utilizes the IBM Global Services support network coupled with CoSine’s GSS team. By leveraging the support power of the two companies, customers will enjoy a high level of responsiveness and on-site maintenance.
CoSine will contract its Reliance family of support programs under customer service agreements. The company will roll out these service and support offerings in the United States during the first quarter of 2001. CoSine delivers existing GSS Reliance support programs from field offices located worldwide in Denver, Colo.; Arlington, Va.; Redwood City, Calif.; Paris, France; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Tokyo, Japan; Singapore; Hong Kong and Melbourne, Australia.
CoSine’s solutions include its IPSX 9000 Service Processing Switch, a carrier-class solution that marries scalable computing, switching and routing hardware with an open architecture operating system and market-leading application software. The platform also includes the InVision Service Management System (SMS), and the InGage Customer Network Management (CNM) system.
This solution enables Service Providers to create, manage and deliver value-added IP services to enterprise customers, who in turn can monitor and control their services over the public IP network. CoSine’s platform is designed to support managed, network-based IP application services such as VPNs; Network Associates Gauntlet Firewalls; McAfee WebShield Virus Scanning; PGP Security’s CyberCop Monitor Intrusion Detection; IP-Enabled Frame Relay, Frame Relay to IPSec Interworking and Frame Relay over IPSec; Secure DSL; Secure Virtual LAN; URL filtering; virtual routing, and more.
CoSine also announced today an alliance with Portal Software Inc. (Nasdaq: PRSF), a leading provider of business infrastructure software for broadband, wireless Internet, and next-generation communications services. As part of the agreement, CoSine has integrated Portal’s Infranet customer management and billing platform with the CoSine IP Service Delivery Platform. The alliance gives Service Providers predefined billing modules for managed IP service packages such as Secure Internet, Extranet VPN, Dial-up Remote Access, and more.
“As Service Providers rush to provide network-based IP services, they still need to develop defined service packages and determine a way to bill for these services,” said Ellen Schwab, vice president busines
s development for CoSine. “By integrating Portal’s best-in-class billing software with our IP Service Delivery Platform, providers have a single platform solution for developing, creating, and billing for high-value services that will decrease time to market and increase revenue.”
Through this integration, the Service Provider can quickly market and sell high-value network-based service packages focused on enterprise subscriber requirements. These packages include the connection as well as the security services, such as firewall, Network Address Translation (NAT), and IPSec, required to effectively offer network-based services for Intranet, Extranet, dial-up, and remote applications. Additionally, the Service Provider can bill for these packages in either a flat rate or usage-based model, whichever fits their existing accounting structure. All packages have three levels of service — Gold, Silver and Bronze — and include the individual bandwidth and connectivity requirements of each enterprise network.
“Billing systems are quickly becoming front-office ‘selling systems’ that strategically support the business,” said Vijay Iyer, vice president of market development at Portal. “Through this alliance, we’re providing a new breed of billing solutions designed to support the evolving dynamics of network-based IP service creation and delivery.”
“The integration of two best-in-class solutions offers a breakthrough to Service Providers looking to deliver and bill for network-based, value-added services,” said Ron Westfall, Broadband Infrastructure Senior Analyst with Current Analysis. “Together, CoSine and Portal are making it easier for Service Providers to market and deliver high-margin, differentiated services to the end user. Because the service offerings are so clearly defined and developed, end users will have an easier time selecting the solution that best fits their business needs.”
