Agile Networks, a specialist network integrator in Dublin, has successfully completed a €200,000 contract with leading asset management firm, Pepper Ireland.
Agile Networks won the contract to develop and install state of the art robust networks in Pepper’s Shannon and Dublin offices, following the company’s entry into this market in September 2012. Since that time, Pepper has embarked on an ambitious growth strategy and now has over €10 billion of assets under management.
The newly-developed network includes VPN (Virtual Private Network) secure connections, real-time application availability and instant access to critical information for Pepper’s customer service staff.
The network currently supports over 240 employees – which is due to grow to 270 by early 2015. Intelligent routing and next generation firewalls from Juniper Networks were installed to ensure compliance with the stringent regulatory requirements demanded in the sector. Wired and wireless networking capabilities were also added.
The IT Infrastructure Manager with Pepper, Darren Delaney, said: “Given Pepper’s rapidly expanding business, and the diversity and complexity of the various portfolios we manage on behalf of clients, we need to ensure that our customer service centre, remote VPN and corporate networks are always on and available, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. As our business continues to grow, both in terms of people and new clients, we need to expand and manage the network in parallel and being able to consult Agile Networks on future projects, enables us to manage ICT more proactively.”
Speaking at the completion of the project, Darragh Richardson, Agile Network’s Managing Director, said: “Pepper Ireland is in a highly regulated sector and operates across two sites, with an expanding base of end users here in Ireland. Therefore, reliability, security and flexibility were all key considerations when we were designing and developing the new multi-vendor network solution. We took the very best technologies that both Juniper Networks and Cisco have to offer, in order to meet the rigorous demands of this network project.”
Agile Networks (www.agilenetworks.ie), which was set up in 2011, offers a full lifecycle of integration services for organisations such as the RDS, HEAnet, Analog Devices and the ESB. It also works with 14 of the top 25 internet service providers in Ireland.
Impressively, the Blanchardstown-based company has grown its client base from just seven customers in 2011 to 60 this year alone. It currently supports over 1.2 million end users, across 1,200 sites and represented Ireland at the European Business Awards in Greece this year, picking up ICT Excellence Awards and Small Firms Association Awards along the way.
Pepper is a leading servicer of third-party loan portfolios, asset management and advisory services spanning a range of asset classes including residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, auto finance, unsecured loans and equipment finance. Pepper in Ireland is part of the Pepper Group, a global financial services business, specialising in Lending, Advisory and Asset Management Services. Pepper Ireland is ranked by S&P as ‘ABOVE AVERAGE’ for its Residential Servicing and ‘AVERAGE’ with a Positive Outlook for its Commercial Servicing. The company has also been named as a National Champion for Ireland in The European Business Awards 2014/15.
