Tomorrow's network today

21CN is a software-driven global IP network that will enable the delivery of a new, simpler portfolio of next generation services that will meet your requirements now and in the coming decades. 21CN is part of our customer service driven vision of the future where we can continue to offer you an innovative range of new products and services.

21CN will enable you to: Consolidate global infrastructures to a managed single contract. Converge global infrastructure to transform performance. Extend global infrastructures to facilitate global collaboration and flexible working. Operate an application assured infrastructure – optimising the performance of corporate systems.

At the heart of 21CN is a world-class Service Oriented Infrastructure Platform (SOI). It means we can deliver virtualisation, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and enable re-usable capabilities that transform service delivery, lower cost, and accelerate deployment cycles.

21CN SOI platform will enable you to:

• Consume and control 21CN services via a self-service portal.
  The SOI platform enables you to manage your networked IT dynamically provisioning your servers, storage and bandwidth.
• Meet business demand with autonomics and virtualisation.
  You will benefit from improved agility as you can move from a business model where you own hardware to one where you use network services as you need them.
  Collaborate more effectively.
• The platform enables you to not only converge voice and data, but to add mobility services such as Field Force Automation and Fixed/Mobile convergence. It also boosts collaboration through tools such as audio and video conferencing.
• Improve business process performance – lowering costs and increasing agility.
  By consolidating onto the SOI platform you are able to share enterprise applications from any point, to any desktop – and so reduce cost.
  

Find out more in the BT Matrix Architecture case study. See link on the right.

Coverage
BT’s 21st Century Network extends to over 80,000 customers across 174 countries worldwide, including over 8,500 multisite government and private sector organisations. There are currently 1,250 PoPs, a figure that is growing at the rate of one per day.

Infrastructure
21CN helps you securely connect your operations and consolidate your global infrastructure. It helps you converge voice and data networks, reducing multi-vendor overheads and driving real business performance through services such as mobility and flexible working. The network will enable you to distribute network services to every part of your business regardless of location.

In addition, we can help you optimise the performance of corporate systems using application assured infrastructure (AAI) to monitor the complex interactions that occur within your infrastructure – from desktop to data centre. As a result, you can be confident that the performance of your networked IT is tailored to support your business priorities and processes, improving operational efficiency.

21st century security
There is much talk in the industry about Security as a Service, which is:

• An autonomous function
• Multi-tenanted
• Remotely delivered

Key drivers for adopting Security as a Service going forward are outsourcing initiatives, the general adoption of Software as a Service, the increasing choice of Service Providers, little or no maintenance costs, and (last but not least) little or no CAPEX requirement – of ever-increasing relevance for CFO’s and senior management teams.
With the above in mind, these developments in the market will enable enterprises to benefit from services such as:

• Messaging Security
• Remote Vulnerability Scanning
• Secure Web Gateways (content and URL filtering)
• Security Information and Log Management (adoption currently seen in smaller organisations where data volumes would not inhibit the effective delivery of this service)
• Identity and Access Management
• Security Intelligence
  

Understanding some of the characteristics of Security as a Service – such as ‘can be delivered without on-premises equipment,’ is latency tolerant, and requires minimal customisation (to mention a few) – enterprises no longer have to invest in the hardware or the extensive resources required to manage these domains. BT will be able to move organisations from the physical world to the software/virtual world while providing expert managed services to support their roll-out and ongoing operation. Enterprises can also benefit from adjacent services such as ethical hacking services which offer constant protection for applications, data and networks.

Investment
21CN represents a multi-billion pound investment for BT in infrastructure development. In addition, we are investing extensively in developing a Service Oriented Infrastructure Platform (SOI) so you can design and deploy key enterprise applications quickly and cost effectively.