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Cisco outed as UTS picks Alcatel

The University of Technology, Sydney has signed a new agreement for hardware from networking vendor Alcatel-Lucent as the institution continues to move old Cisco equipment off the premises.
Written by Renai LeMay, Contributor

The University of Technology, Sydney has signed a new agreement for hardware from networking vendor Alcatel-Lucent as the institution continues to move old Cisco equipment off the premises.

UTS has had an existing relationship with Alcatel (now Alcatel-Lucent due to the mega-merger between the two networking giants) but had recently signed a new agreement for hardware after a formal tender process, the university's director of IT Infrastructure and Operations Peter James told ZDNet Australia this afternoon by telephone.

He declined to specify the value of the deal but said his group spent on average close to a million dollars each year on networking equipment.

Most of UTS's operational network was now Alcatel-based, he added, although some legacy equipment remained from vendor Cabletron (now Enterasys Networks).

A statement issued this afternoon by Alcatel-Lucent said UTS had contracted the vendor in a multi-year agreement to supply its OmniSwitch 6850 solution -- to fit into the distribution and access layer of UTS's Internet Protocol-based network.

That network delivered connectivity to more than 27,000 users across two UTS campuses in Sydney, Alcatel-Lucent said. The new hardware would replace old, primarily Cisco-based legacy kit, according to James.

"The 14,000 network ports that make up the access and distribution network will be upgraded in phases by systems integrator, Integ," said Alcatel-Lucent's statement. "The initial phase has already been deployed to address UTS's immediate requirements."

In Alcatel-Lucent's statement, James said the vendor was selected due to the strength of its portfolio and the seamless integration it offered with the rest of the university's network.

"We have also, through previous projects with them, built up a level of trust in their solutions," James said.

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