SPIE is awarded an order worth CHF 130 million by the Canton of Berne

SPIE ICS AG, a subsidiary of SPIE Switzerland Ltd. and supplier of comprehensive ICT services, has been awarded the contract from the Office for Information Technology and Organisation (OIO) of the Canton of Berne to provide all the network services for BE-Net from 2020 onwards. The contract with a total volume of CHF 130 million has been awarded for 8 years and can be extended for another 6 years.

BE-Net (formerly called “BEWAN”) is the central administrative data network for the Canton of Berne that also links organisations close to the administration such as secondary II schools (middle schools, vocational schools), the police service and local authorities.

SPIE ICS AG won the strict evaluation process with an offer that proved to be the most economical. The services offered cover managed services for internal data transport, internet feed, transfer media, security services and network services as well as the corresponding process requirements for these services.

BE-Net includes network services relating to WAN, LAN and WLAN, internet services, services for managing DNS, DHCP and IP addresses as well as various customer-specific special solutions. The whole data network covers around 680 WAN connections, around 20,000 active LAN ports and around 1,100 active WLAN access points.

The SPIE ICS AG services for operating the infrastructure and security cover operational services (transfer, operation and support) for such infrastructure elements as DDI, connecting partner networks, IT room tasks and such security services as intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, anti-virus/anti-spam, proxy and DMZ. The complete operating services will be fully outsourced to SPIE ICS which will also act as a single point of contact to negotiate directly with the individual operators. The framework agreement was concluded for a fixed period of 8 years and can be extended for another 6 years.

“This contract confirms our efforts to offer flexible, innovative and reliable solutions and advanced technologies with competency, experience and the necessary process standards as an operatorindependent ICT service provider,” comments Pierre Savoy, CEO of SPIE Switzerland Ltd. “For SPIE ICS AG this contract is of key importance because it enables us to continue the path we have taken and further expand our competences relating to managed services,” he continues.

The operation of BE-Net (formerly BEWAN) is a SPIE success story. Even in the past, SPIE ICS AG and the predecessor companies successfully operated the WAN for the Canton of Berne. With the innovation already introduced, the future value-added services and expected cost optimisations will enable SPIE to further increase efficiency and achieve significant economic benefits for the Canton of Berne.