Capability Statement. Six Degrees Group.

Six Degrees Group

Your Enterprise

Service Partner

Contents

What makes Six Degrees 4

Group Different Key Benefits 4 Management Structure 4 Services Offered 5 At a Glance 5 Datacentre Services 6 Key Benefits 6 Managed Connectivity 7 Key Benefits 7 Private Cloud 8 Key Benefits 8 Technology Partners 8 Support Services 9 Key Benefits 9

Managed Service Suite – 10 Key Facts

Key Benefits 10

Technology Partners 10

Project Experience 11

Key Benefits 11

Quality & Compliance 12

Key Benefits 12

Corporate Social 13

Responsibility

Key Benefits 13

Six Degrees Group provides integrated managed data services linking

people, places and clouds.

We design technical solutions that leverage our core capabilities and

next generation network assets to deliver a fully integrated range of

cloud, datacentre, connectivity and voice services. We support these

with some of the most technically able and innovative individuals in

our industry.

Qualities such as independence, financial stability, resilience, service and agility are all key requirements demanded of any suppliers.

During 15 years of practical experience as datacentre and managed infrastructure services, the company has created exception cost-effective design solutions for an extensive range of clients throughout the world. The central focus of the company is excellence achieved through active collaboration with clients underpinned by a strong service culture.

We understand that the end users of modern Information Technology developments have come to expect a high level of reliability, innovation and fresh approaches to infrastructure design. Six Degrees Group places great emphasis on working closely with its clients to identify and develop solutions for delivery of secure highly available outsourced hosting and network solutions. This is achieved by:

Developing forward looking approaches in technology and its application to meet market needs - both short and long term

Continuing to enhance core competencies needed to design and deliver professional services

Simplifying IT infrastructures that satisfy operational needs at lower costs and with increased reliability

Provide a realistic approach to environmental issues.

Six Degrees Group has provided best of breed IT solutions based on its privately owned and funded Tier IV aligned datacentres for 15 years. We are respected as a leader in our field, having gained increasing market share, and ongoing recognition from industry analysts. Through word of mouth, Six Degrees Group has become the ‘trusted advisor’ to a number of market verticals, national brands and government organisations. Six Degrees Group’ financial stability and focus on core services is a defining factor in its differentiation from competitors. Due to this financial strength, we have been able to invest money in the development of our datacentres, network, technical support staff as well as new products and services which align to our core values.

In today’s business environment, where technology is vital for survival, organisations need to feel safe in the knowledge that their technology supplier is financially secure. As one of the most financially stable companies in the IT and technology sector, Six Degrees Group can provide that peace of mind.

Introduction

Six Degrees Group is pleased to present this Company Profile.

It’s a humbling and empowering thought to think that, as the “six degrees of separation” theory describes, we are, on average, only six steps away from every other human being on earth. The ability to connect with each other to share ideas, friendships and commerce has helped us to achieve great things and to improve our collective well-being.

Inspired by this theory, we are Six Degrees Group and we exist to bring people and information together. Six Degrees Group vision is to become the UK’s most admired mid-market provider of managed data services. We will generate an outstanding customer proposition focussed on products, service and reliability. Our capability and reputation will be envied throughout the industry.

At Six Degrees Group, we like to be in control of the services we deliver to our customers. To do so effectively, we like to own the core assets that enable our overlay services. We own our own datacentres that house some of our equipment, we have a 30 PoP network with equipment in the UK, New York and key points of interconnection in Western Europe. Our voice network is built on our own Class 5 voice switches, including a diverse IP softswitch core, giving us complete ownership of how we route customer calls. We are interconnected with five tier 1 voice network operators and over 20 data network operators for maximum resilience.

What makes Six Degrees Group Different

At Six Degrees Group, we believe that there’s a clear gap in the market. Micro-sized businesses buy from local providers and mega-corporations only deal with global tier 1 operators directly. But for people in the middle – mid-sized companies and mid-market corporates – the choice is limited. If you’re looking for a supplier with the firepower and technology portfolio of a tier 1 but with the agility and service of a mid-market player, then you’re looking in the right place. Six Degrees Group was formed to fill that gap. Below are six reasons why we believe we’re the logical choice:

1. Capabilities: We firmly believe that we’ve got the strongest end-to-end, core-to-edge capabilities in the mid-market space, giving us control over what we deploy.

2. Service: We refuse to compromise on excellence in service delivery and we believe that only a mid-market player can be as flexible as us in looking after you.

3. People: We believe our people are amongst the best in the industry at what they do; more than that, they’re passionate about customers and are unwilling to let them down.

4. Focus: We don’t try to be all things to all men; we don’t want hundreds of thousands of very small customers – we want to be the best mid-market provider out there.

5. Delivery: You only need to look at our customers and our case studies to see that some big names trust us to run their business – we have to deliver and we do, time and again.

6. Performance: There should be no need to apologise for sector-leading organic growth and profitability – it proves that we’re great at what we do and that benefits our customers, shareholders and staff.

Key Benefits

Mid-market & Corporate Focus

We focus exclusively on mid- to large-sized customers with complex solution requirements.

Asset Ownership

We own the voice and data switching assets that form our solutions, giving us end-to-end control.

Compelling SLAs

We offer 100% SLAs on our managed services (connectivity, cloud and SIP) and 15 minute fix on voice quality issues.

Tier 1 Partnerships

We have interconnections in place with major network operators giving flexibility and diversity of routing.

Managed

Data CommsUnified

Connectivity Cloud Voice Systems

Six Degrees Group

Datacentre Mobility

Organisation Chart

What makes Six Degrees

Group Different

Personal relationships and service True innovation through our

independence

Bespoke technical support Flexibility in choosing the right

services appropriate for each individual customer

A dedicated Account Manager with full customer service support

Six Degrees Group can assist with the design and development in a range of areas.

Our proven track record ensures your system can be designed and developed with industry best practice and certification in mind. We have a detailed and long term track record of delivering hosted/managed solutions to major corporate and enterprise customers, which we demonstrate through customer endorsements and personal recommendations. Our hosting/managed services, when combined with our network and wider support services combine to deliver an excellent value offering and future proof solutions.

Datacentre Services

Based in two dedicated, custom built facilities 90 miles from London.

Flexible Space

Single server through dedicated 450m2 _{suites with mixed power density.}

Network Services

Owned and operated international core network for the delivery Internet access services, content delivery and MPLS (private WAN) solutions.

Private Cloud

Enterprise class virtualisation with a full infrastructure-as-a-service solution delivering virtual machines and compute resource pools.

Support & PS

Multi-skilled support teams based at the datacentres provide support of networks, firewalls, security, servers, storage and virtualisation. Skills extend to design and specification professionals services.

Managed Services

Enterprise class managed services including messaging and web filtering, managed backup, penetration testing and vulnerability scanning, and managed two-factor authentication.

SIP Trunks

Access to wholesale SIP trunks delivered on-network, directly connected to the Six Degrees Group core for security and reliability.

Services Offered

At a Glance

Datacentre Services

Key Benefits

Choice of Grade

Align availability needs with expenditure by choosing between N+1 or 2N power resiliency over two datacentre properties, both offering 2N cooling.

Flexible Space

Single server through dedicated 450m2

suites with mixed power density.

No Reliance on London

Utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure.

Datacentre space is available to meet project requirements:

Dedicated suites up-to 450m2

Private "PODS" up-to 33 contiguous racks

Dedicated private racks

Dedicated quarter racks

Individual server hosting

Sample specification (dedicated co-location rack in our North facility):

1 cabinet in a shared suite

Full 42U rack - 600mm x 1050mm

Ventilated front and rear doors

Combination Locks on front and rear doors

2N (dual feed) power supply

•

•

8kW guaranteed 24 x 7 continual draw

24 x 7 Customer and Contractor Access to Data Centre

Six Degrees Group operates two privately owned and operated Data Centre facilities in Studley, Warwickshire, designed to align with the broad concepts of Tier-IV and Tier-III classifications. This provides the highest level of resiliency and redundancy to ensure continued availability of equipment hosted within the facility. Our North facility operates as a 2N (or N+N) configuration, and our South facility operations as N+1 power and N+1 cooling.

Six Degrees Group believes that having access to N+N infrastructure services are essential for modern high-availability services and solutions, with particular relevance to the availability of ‘mission critical’ data.

Managed Connectivity

Key Benefits

Owned and Operated Core

National and international core with service deliver nodes in major cities for onward connection to domestic tails.

MPLS & QoS Enabled

Utilising market leading technology the core network is optimised for low latency and high availability.

No Reliance on London

Utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure.

Supported In House

Trained and qualified network engineers, based in our Studley NOC, manage the network 24x7.

Full IPv6 Support

Operating and passing IPv6 traffic for customers since 2009.

LLU Footprint

Six Degrees Group provides flexible Ethernet First Mile (EFM) directly through unbundling of local exchanges, enabling direct delivery of copper of fibre based services removing any sole dependency upon the incumbent. Six Degrees Group operates a fully resilient and diverse international Ethernet MPLS network.

This provides a scalable core on which to provide diverse connectivity from client facilities to the nearest Six Degree network nodes.

Six Degrees Group has an excellent track record for delivering complex Ethernet MPLS networks, working closely with customers to ensure a seamless migration from existing networks. Six Degrees Group has invested extensively to provide flexible Ethernet First Mile (EFM) options

directly through unbundling of local exchanges (LLU), enabling rapid delivery of copper and fibre based services.

Six Degrees Group provides “multi-service ports” enable private clouds / MPLS / Internet and inter-site connectivity to be aggregated, providing efficiencies and cost savings.

Six Degrees Group’s resilient core network is built upon equipment from the industries leading network vendors, including Cisco Systems and Juniper.

Our strategic partnerships with local access providers such as BT, Virgin Media, Level 3, Colt, C&W, TalkTalk, Telia and others complement our own reach to enable Six Degrees Group to provide you with the most cost effective local access services, allowing us to provide fully diverse service delivery to your remote offices using multiple different local access providers. Six Degrees Group supports the core network and our customers’ networks with our own highly skilled 24x7x365 in-house NOC and certified network engineers. Our managed service provides you with a proactive response, comprehensive SLA and online performance reporting to provide you with the highest level of service. Our consultative approach ensures we work with our customer to plan for future upgrades and cater for new requirements and will constantly review the network performance to ensure it meets your requirements now, and in to the future.

The Six Degrees Group IP platform has been architected to a carrier grade strategy as our clients expect. Our extensive private and public peering at LINX, LONAP and NYIIX ensures traffic is routed to the destination network efficiently, for global transit we have direct relationships with multiple Tier-1 networks. There is no IP dependency upon London or Docklands, by utilising diverse transatlantic fibre routes the network has no single point of failure from our datacentre facilities.

Monument InterXion Frankfurt IP House Tutis Point Meridian Gate TC Level 3 Goswell Road Level 3 Braham Street Telecity Bonnington House Telehouse 2 Paris Iomart Epworth Street City Lifeline InterXion Baynard Clerkenwell Telecity HEX 8/9 London Hosting Centre Nikhef Amsterdam Telehouse East Telecity Kilburn House TC2 Amsterdam Telecity Sovereign House BT Faraday House Telecity Hex 6/7 Global Switch 1 Telehouse North Global Switch 2 Telx 60 Hudson Telehouse Metro Services Key IP PoP IP & Core Voice PoP

Connectivity Key

Wave (Over Fibre) Leased wave IP PoP & Colo IP, Cloud PoP & Colo IP, Core Voice & Cloud PoP

IP & Cloud PoP

Studley South Tier III

Aligned Studley North Tier IV

Private Cloud

Key Benefits

Flexible – grow and shrink

Starting with a single core of CPU, each virtual machine can be scaled with either dedicated or shared CPU power.

Secure – know where your data is

Built on best of breed and hosted within Six Degrees Group highly secure datacentres, you will always know where your data is.

Simple Delivery

Delivered via a secure Multi Service Link into existing rackspace or directly accessible from the Internet.

Service Level Agreement

You will always have access to the resources you order, and using the High Availability options we will manage hardware failure with seamless migration.

Private interconnect to Cloud Storage Services

Private Interconnect to Customer Rack Leased Line to Customer Office Private interconnect to MPLS WAN

Remote Access VPN with 2 Factor Authentification CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE Internet Cloud managed firewalls Cloud managed firewalls Cloud managed load-balancers Cloud managed load-balancers Cloud Virtual Machines

Six Degrees Group Cloud Deployment

Using a broad range of managed data services, a cloud infrastructure can be deployed which includes security, load balancing, storage, backups and of computing power.

We operate a Private Infrastructure Cloud architecture delivered using VMWare Enterprise platform, the accepted best of breed virtualisation technologies. The Six Degrees Group platform resides within the same highly secure and fault tolerant hosting environment as our traditional dedicated rack services, offering you total peace of mind around data security and service quality.

Each Cloud Virtual Machine is private for your use. The amount of fixed resources are allocated and always available for your use, along with the ability to increase or burst as options within the service. The compartmentalisation of each virtual machine is at the core of the design to support security.

Dedicated Cloud Resources

Cloud virtual machines (CVM’s) are simple to use, scalable and resilient. A range of other Cloud services compliment and support both the CVM’s and traditional rack hosting to improve user experience and provide value for money.

Private Cloud Resource Pools

From a pool of CPU, Memory and Disk you make the decisions. From within these scalable pools you have control to define service quality and access to resources by individual machines. Combined with a range of default images for operating systems, new Virtual Machines can be brought to service in minutes.

Cloud Storage

Cloud virtual machines (CVM’s) are simple to use, scalable and resilient. A range of other Cloud services compliment and support both the CVM’s and traditional rack hosting to improve user experience and provide value for money.

Support Services

Six Degrees Group makes significant investments in maintaining the accreditation levels and knowledge base of our technical support staff. We work with the leading suppliers in the industry to build our solutions so our people are fully trained to support products from the likes of Cisco, Citrix, Dell, Microsoft, HP, Juniper and VMware. It’s by taking the best products and the best people that we deliver the best services we can. Our support teams are organised into four major teams:

Systems team: for hardware and software support on servers and cloud machines Networks team: for local switching and Internet access/MPLS support

Security team: for firewall and intrusion detection system management Voice team: to look after our own switches and manage third party relationships

These teams take pride in being an extension of our customers’ ICT departments. It’s a cliché to say we’re partners of our customers, but that’s the only way to describe the relationship. We have pre-determined service expectations and we understand the ICT strategy of your organisation and our part in delivering your desired outcomes. Our datacentre customers have the choice of “Remote Hands” or “Smart Hands” support or to cover out of hours access charges when needed. Customers are provided with an assured response time matrix for engaging queries; although due to the nature of some faults no guaranteed time-to-fix can be offered on customer equipment. For our hosting (colocation or cloud) customers, we provide a bespoke reporting service at a schedule of your choosing that will give you board-level reassurance that your information is safe with us. This proactive approach to technical support is deemed to be highly valuable by our customers and is a classic example of how we strive to deliver services you want in a manner that suits your business.

Key Benefits

Remote & Smart Hands

On-site engineers to assist when you need us.

Infrastructure Management

Routine inspections and checks of your hosting environment delivered with management.

Managed Service Suite – Key Facts

Lower TCO and Simplified Administration:

Our hosted service can be set up quickly and does not require dedicated IT staffing. The cloud-based delivery model allows you to reduce on-site hardware and software expenses, has low deployment costs and predictable operating costs allow for effective budgeting.

Updates, upgrades, and maintenance are all included in your service providing the most up to date levels of threat protection.

Reduce Risk:

Our service offers protection from multi-protocol attacks by drawing from several technologies to detect threats in email, Web, and Instant Messaging, sharing intelligence across services for enhanced protection. It provides defence against threats by employing multiple commercial and MessageLabs proprietary scanning engine, Skeptic™ which is able to identify previously unseen “zero hour” threats.

Improve Productivity:

Company employees that misuse Web, IM, and email resources can unwittingly put your business at risk. Sites for online gambling, social networking, and peer to peer file sharing not only reduce employee productivity and waste valuable bandwidth, but have also been known to harbour threats. By automatically applying ‘Acceptable User Policies’, controlling content and scanning for inappropriate images, the service can help improve employee productivity and minimise misuse of company resources.

Secure firewalls, VPN’s, and applications:

The service delivers hassle free two-factor authentication (2FA) services without the need for complex integration, up-front investment or on-going support. When trying to connect to the corporate network or web server, users are asked to identify themselves using their unique OTP and PIN, this request is then sent to the service, the user is then authorised and given access to the enterprise network.

Use with Confidence:

Our Email, Web, IM & 2FA services are backed by industry leading SLA’s to provide you with a highly available, effective, accurate service.

Key Benefits

Email Security

Provides highly accurate protection against email threats and spam without interrupting the flow of legitimate business email.

Email Policy Management

Enables the enforcement of Acceptable Use Policies, helps control sensitive information without requiring on-site hardware or software.

Web Security

Helps to safeguard your business against web-borne malware including new and difficult to detect threats using commercial scanners and Skeptic™.

URL Filtering

Automatic, flexible enforcement of your Acceptable Use Policy helps prevent Web misuse.

Instant Messaging Security

Applies Antivirus, URL Filtering, Content Control, and Logging Services to help protect and control traffic on public IM clients such as Yahoo, MSN, and AIM. Delivers the benefits of IM use while mitigating the risks.

Compatible with Hosted Email Encryption services

Helps to protect sensitive email by enforcing encrypted links with nominated partners or automatically encrypting outbound email based on predefined policies.

Security with 2-Factor

Helps to protect sensitive email by enforcing encrypted links with nominated partners or automatically encrypting outbound email based on predefined policies.

Project Experience

The Six Degrees Group project delivery team are professionally trained to deliver solutions via our bespoke delivery methodology. Our project capabilities can be customised to meet your individual requirements in order to maximise project success, and minimise risk. Using a tailored Prince2 methodology as a guide we will manage your requirements from:

1. Initial query and technical pre-sales design

2. Project initiation (incorporating technical planning, and requirement confirmation)

3. Project execution (including scope, costs, quality, risks and issues management)

4. Closure (including a review of deliverables and customer sign off).

Six Degrees Group Project teams include stakeholders from all divisions of the business engaged in the delivery and support of the service including: Sales & account managers, Service Delivery, Networks, Systems and Datacentre.

Key Benefits

Formal & Flexible

Projects kick off calls with stakeholders set the client led tone for project delivery.

Structured Programme

Detailed internal processes for quality and service delivery management ensure consistent and professional projects time after time.

Accountability

Full visibility of project team and escalation matrix through to named Director level.

Quality & Compliance

Six Degrees Group takes an organisation-wide approach to Quality management, whether it is relating to the ‘ground-up’ design of our data centres, the technical capabilities of our staff and best of breed partners, through to understanding the customer requirement and consistently delivering solutions within budget, on time and to customer’s expectations.

New security risks emerge on a daily basis and as a result Six Degrees Group have a progressive and multi-faceted approach to security incorporating both physical (hardware), logical (Internet), and human (physical access controls) elements to ensure that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of data are preserved.

Key Benefits

Knowledge

Full awareness and processes built to help you reach and maintain your own compliance with ISO27001 and PCI-DSS.

Skill

Organisation-wide awareness and resources for relevant standards including Compliance Director.

Environmental Impact

At Six Degrees Group, we are aware of our social responsibilities and as such have designed our second datacentre on the Studley site to offer high specification space and reduced environmental impact for critical systems. The facility has been designed and built to offer high specification hosting using the very latest energy saving technologies and equipment.

Where possible we use fresh air, rather than refrigeration to reject heat from the data floors. The lack of windows to suites reduces solar gain, and increases security. Together with our cardboard recycling scheme, we strive to make as minimum an impact on the environment as possible. The following measures have been taken:

UPS systems selected on the basis of power factor and efficiency

(input power factor greater than 0.99, efficiency up to 98%).

Air conditioning systems use a “free cooling” system, to reduce compressor runtime and make use of natural cold air and constantly monitored for load levels and configurations adjusted accordingly. Electronically commutated fans (EC fans)

now fitted as standard to reduce air handling unit fan power requirements.

Cold aisle containment installed and unused rack blanking installed as standard to control airflow and increase availability of free cooling.

Data floors are run ‘warm’ (excluding air supplies to hosted equipment) to improve efficiencies and reduce power.

Lighting in server rooms and office spaces controlled by presence detectors to minimise redundant illumination. Generators selected on basis of efficiency. Six Degrees Group internal cardboard and

paper is recycled.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Key Benefits

Datacentres

Built with consideration to efficiency and environmental impact.

Operations

Ongoing management of facilities and site with due consideration to our impact to the environment and our neighbours.

Outreach

Sharing our time and skills with industry organisations, educational institutions and other interested groups.

Industry & Education Engagement

Six Degrees Group is involved with a number of industry organisations, and has been an active contributor to UK Internet Governance since joining LINX (London Internet Exchange). Tutorials, tours and interest events are organised for interested parties such as the British Computing Society, schools and local universities.