Through project NICNet, HCL Comnet will set up and manage NIC''s network across 1,000 locations in India. A landmark project and one of the largest in the domain of network management, NICNet will be a turnkey solution deployment that will entail both onsite and offsite infrastructure management for a period of three years. HCL Comnet is partnering Cisco systems Inc, a leading global networking company, for the project.

Starting June 2003, the project entails setting up a network to enable customer-developed business applications, messaging and workflow applications and voice and video-conferencing. Since voice and video are among the top priority applications an end-to-end QoS-enabled network has been built with high resiliency for latency sensitive applications. A dedicated network operations centre (NOC) equipped with quality processes, best-of-breed tools and skilled workforce, will be set up at NIC''s headquarters in Kolkata, to monitor and manage NIC''s network across all locations.

Says HCL Comnet CEO Vineet Nayar: "The NIC win is an endorsement of our quality-promise to provide customised and cost-effective infrastructure management solutions to our customers. HCL Comnet was among the first to perceive the potential of network management in India and these orders are a strong validation of both our strategy and capability."

Says NIC chairman and managing director H S Wadhwa: "Networking our offices will empower NIC to effectively meet the challenges posed by the dynamic insurance industry, besides strengthening our internal communication system. The long-term objective of this deployment is to extend the concept of ''anytime-anywhere insurance'' by enabling our customers to access information about their insurance policies from any branch, across the country, irrespective of the policy purchase location. HCL Comnet''s network management solution, their technical expertise to manage complex infrastructures and deliver within time lines, were some of the key criterions for choosing them as our networking partner."

With four dedicated operations and management centres (OMC) across India, one disaster recovery centre in Chennai and a central OMC located in Noida, HCL Comnet currently monitors and manages over 25,000 devices for more than 76 clients. The ISO 9002-certified and ITIL process-compliant OMC carries out over 6 million measurements a day.

For successful implementation of the project, HCL Comnet will:

1. Set up and integrate a converged voice-video-data network
2. Design and implement Windows 2000 active directory — to be implemented across all the locations providing user access control, domain-based services and enhanced user management capabilities
3. Offer infrastructure security to ensure data integrity and security
4. Provide 24x7 network health monitoring and management both onsite at the captive NOC in NIC head office in Kolkata and offsite through the state-of-the-art OMC at HCL Comnet, Noida
5. Provide ongoing trend and root-cause analysis to sort out performance issues and deliver consistent performance
6. Provision for end-to-end quality of service to ensure good voice and video quality over the network
7. Provide service-level agreement (SLA) management and compliance by providing device management, Telco management and enhanced reporting on network health and service levels

• Converged WAN with voice, fax and video facilities, delivering cost benefits in terms of reduced communication and travel expenses
• Highly rugged and scalable design catering to all 1,000 current locations, with adequate scalability for future expansion
• Consistent and predictable application response time to the end user
• A strong network backbone on which NIC can build further value-added services to enhance customer satisfaction
• Complete visibility into the network through the integration of the best-of-breed tools deployed to the HCL OMC and the NIC NOC