Tata Communications, KION Group ink $20 million Global WAN deal

NEW DELHI: Tata Communications has signed a USD 20 million deal with the KION Group to provide global WAN services to the group’s 280 sites and 22,000 employees across 30 countries worldwide.

“The USD $20 million deal will see Tata Communications replace the KION Group’s existing stable of multiple WAN providers with a single, global, intelligent network,” a statement said.

“The innovative network will utilize a combination of cutting edge technologies to allow the KION Group to handle data more intelligently and with greater visibility than ever before. For the end user this will mean faster application delivery to any device, anywhere, at any time,” it said.

The fact that the WAN will run on Tata Communications’ wholly-owned global dedicated backbone and utilize Tata Communications’ cloud-based security solution means the KION Group will have direct access to internet-based applications, improving both user experience and cost effectiveness.

The KION Group’s IT department will benefit from lower management costs, greater control of the end user experience and the ability to respond rapidly and visibly to the changing needs of the business.

The new global network will form an important pillar of the KION Group’s Strategy 2020 plan to create economies of scale across the entire group with its six global and regional brands. The strategy is designed to grow the €4.5 billion KION Group, focusing also on profitability, resilience and capital efficiency.

"Consequently, the group needs to create an environment where IT is an enabler of productivity and innovation as well as the key connection between the KION Group’s sites spread across 30 countries,” the statement said.

“A single global provider would enable us to simplify our network management, but the advanced services that Tata Communications provides are going a step further in allowing us to take complete control of the traffic on our network. We can now take a truly user-focused approach to our services,” said Dr Walter Grűner, Chief Information Officer, KION Group.

“Taking advantage of customized software and networking technologies, the KION Group’s new network will be application aware. This will allow an understanding of the types of data flowing across the WAN, and provide new levels of understanding to the IT department for faster, more responsive applications. Tata Communications’ Application Aware Networking approach enables IT departments to examine not just the performance of applications being used on the network, but how effectively they are being delivered to users on a person-by-person basis,” it added.