CASE STUDY this year to support continued network automation and improvement . The additional scope of work will see SD-WAN technology cover additional sites in the US .

As a Critical National Infrastructure ( CNI ) provider with more than 19,000 employees globally , Bakkavor operates across the length and breadth of the country and supplies all of the UK ’ s major supermarkets with a diverse range of freshly prepared food products . To ensure the smooth running of its operations , a robust , resilient network that maximises uptime and productivity is of paramount importance .

The project has seen Neos Networks deploy a comprehensive SD-WAN solution across 22 UK sites and one international site in Spain . The network has been built to support secure , reliable connectivity across Bakkavor ’ s entire footprint including all its food production and data centre locations .

Bakkavor ’ s legacy network had become outdated and wasn ’ t flexible enough or able to adapt to the company ’ s cloud and Digital Transformation plans . By bringing Neos Networks on board , the business has already begun to gather much greater visibility of its operations ; with real-time network insights providing diagnostic data , better traffic management and greater value for money as well as enabling the all-important shift to the cloud .

The resilient network transformation afforded by SD-WAN is also helping Bakkavor to connect its large , data-rich warehouses and fast-moving supply operations both reliably and securely . The technology allows the full utilisation of bandwidth across multiple connections offering automation and improved delivery of service to its users .

Bakkavor will now be able to undertake tactical work focused on improving overall performance and productivity , with the adoption of SD-WAN also providing the business and its UK-based IT team with added control and uniformity over its growing network .

Pete Asman , Managing Director for Public Sector and Enterprise , Neos Networks , said : “ We ’ re very excited to be working on such a large-scale project with Bakkavor , helping to provide the connectivity to digitally transform the UK ’ s leading fresh food provider . As a fellow CNI organisation , we are well positioned to support it with resilient , robust networks ensuring uptime and reliability .

“ This project is the perfect example of SD-WAN ’ s effectiveness in providing network resilience , performance and visibility in a fast-moving , multi-site environment . We ’ re incredibly proud to continue to play a vital role in helping large enterprises transform their digital operations within key UK industries through our connectivity solutions .”

Richard Barton , Network & Datacentre Domain Lead , Bakkavor , said : “ As a CNI provider , ensuring our production facilities and multiple sites have a reliable , resilient network to operate is essential . In support of our continued Digital Transformation and international growth , we selected Neos Networks due to its vast experience in similar projects and knowledge of managing large scale network transformations .

“ We firmly believe in the power of SD-WAN technology to help bring independence to our sites with network visibility and resilience , ensuring maximum uptime for our essential production facilities . We ’ re looking forward to continuing the relationship in the coming years .”

Intelligent CIO Europe caught up with Richard Barton , Network & Datacentre Domain Lead , Bakkavor , to discuss the implementation and its benefits .

Can you tell us about your role as Network & Datacentre Domain Lead and what this entails ?

My role is to look after the Bakkavor group network and data centre facilities . We cover all of the UK and the US , as well as Asia . We look after everything from the local area network , wide area networks and all of the connections and factory systems that interconnect into our network .

Why did you decide to work with Neos Networks and how does / did this particular vendor stand out from the rest ?

The delivery by Neos Networks has been such a success that the initial contract was extended earlier

We went through an RFP process , evaluating multiple vendors , and we narrowed that down to the select two

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