Verizon Business Wins Contract from Leading International Law Firm Ashurst
READING, UK - Verizon Business, the new provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large businesses and government, today announced that it has won a new contract from Ashurst, a leading international law firm of more than 150 partners advising corporate and financial institutions, to provide Verizon Private IP, a fully-managed MPLS-based Private IP solution across 11 countries. The solution connects Ashurst offices in Brussels, Dubai, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, New Delhi, New York, Paris, Singapore and Tokyo.
Ashurst's international presence is needed to support the extensive work with clients on the complex legal and regulatory issues relating to cross-border transactions, such as M&A, corporate and structured finance, which regularly involves several of their offices working on international transactions. Verizon Business was chosen for its ability to support Ashurst's increased bandwidth requirements, connect all of their offices on one highly resilient global network, and provide a service that could simultaneously manage both their voice and data traffic.
"If our lawyers can't talk to each other, or send and receive vital documentation, then they are not earning revenue," commented Christopher White, director of Information Technology at Ashurst. "We simply cannot afford to have an investment banker on the phone expecting to close on a million-dollar deal, having to be told that we can't complete because we can't get an e-mail between our Frankfurt and London office because the network is down. The resiliency of our entire communication service is therefore crucial, as it is our reputation and our business that are at stake if this fails."
Verizon Private IP services provide Ashurst with high network reliability and availability, delivering to them some of the best service levels in the industry supported by comprehensive end-to-end service level agreements. For Ashurst these are a necessity when time-sensitive voice and video and mission-critical communications take place between their offices in a 24x7 environment.
"Verizon Business was our existing supplier and having evaluated the available options we decided that there was no compelling need to change carriers," said White. "Verizon's MPLS-based solution enables us to use voice, intranet, e-mail, videoconferencing and distributed computing systems over one flexible, scalable IP convergence architecture with any-to-any connectivity at an acceptable cost, with Verizon Business taking full responsibility for its management. An important differentiator was Verizon Business' global reach and local knowledge, enabling us to work with just one carrier with a wholly-owned network, rather than having to use separate providers across Europe, America and Asia."
"Verizon Private IP global MPLS solution provides Ashurst with a simple, versatile and fully converged private infrastructure that protects their data from intrusion whilst reducing the total cost of ownership," said Stuart Curzon, who heads up sales and service in the UK and Ireland for Verizon Business. "IP is becoming the standard for enterprise networking, offering a common communication language to meet a growing customer demand for anytime - anywhere - anyhow communications."
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.
Ashurst is a leading international law firm advising corporate and financial institutions, with core businesses in M&A, corporate and structured finance. Their strong and growing international presence is built on extensive experience in working with clients on the complex legal and regulatory issues relating to cross-border transactions. With a team of over 150 partners in 11 countries, they provide advice of the highest quality to organisations around the world. Over the years, they have designed and built their business around the expertise clients need.
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