GTE Internetworking

The RFP Proposed Solution Unabridged Response

GTE Internetworking recommended two Compaq Computer Corp. 1850Rs machines with 512 MB of RAM and two 9.1-GB hard drives to act as our Microsoft Windows NT-based Web servers. It also recommended two additional 1850Rs, each with 1 GB of RAM, as our database servers, plus another as an e-mail server. If traffic increases, GTE Internetworking suggested upgrading the database servers to Compaq 6500s or 7500s.

We liked the fact that the Windows NT servers were to be installed at geographically dispersed data centers for reliability. To get the performance we demanded, those centers are connected directly to GTE Internetworking's Internet backbone routers. For failover and traffic distribution between data centers, GTE offered its LoadBalancer services.

GTE Internetworking took a straight-shooting approach to integrating e-commerce with Widgets R Us DB2/SQL legacy database management system for inventory and shipping, and armed it with the means to capture critical information about buying behavior. It specified Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition 3.0, Microsoft SQL Server database, CyberCash Cash Register for credit card and payment processing, and VeriSign digital certificates.

To protect inventory and order data, GTE recommended a VPN (virtual private network) or a dedicated link from the hosted environment to the in-house systems. It also suggested installing a Check Point Software Technologies firewall (offered as part of its Site Patrol service) at the corporate site, a smart move for any business concerned about safeguarding its data.

The provider tabbed startup fees, including database setup, at $17,500. Monthly support and hosting fees, including bandwidth of up to .5 Mbps, were estimated at $21,800. Professional service fees were estimated in the $45,000 to $50,000 range, which would be on target if GTE Internetworking fulfills its extensive plan for designing, prototyping and deploying Widgets R Us' site based on assessment of its business needs.

The company immediately and appropriately focused on a critical issue for a growing business taking its first big step into e-commerce: scalability. Create an environment too big and you could end up with an expensive, inflexible nightmare. Go too small and you could run up against bottlenecks that keep valuable customers away.

GTE Internetworking's pitch was that it would create an extensible platform that could handle the initial traffic and quickly expand to deal with Widgets R Us' millions of customer transactions if necessary.

If bandwidth utilization in the data center reaches 50 percent to 60 percent of total exit capacity, GTE Internetworking promised to install additional circuits. GTE Internetworking also offered a strong SLA (service-level agreement): Customers who use the LoadBalancer service are promised 100 percent enterprise performance uptime, network uptime is guaranteed at 99.9 percent and server availability is promised at 99 percent. The company uses a Tivoli enterprise management system to monitor customers' servers.

On the downside, though it's difficult to compare prices because of the amount of detail provided in each RFP solution, GTE Internetworking's base price tag seemed a bit steep in contrast to that of Frontier's. At the same time, the list of support staff skills seemed slim compared with Frontier's. Finally, the customer was offered few alternatives to the vendor's product selection.

Enterprise Advantage, (Enterprise Hosting, Enterprise Performance and Enterprise Commerce), GTE Internetworking, (800) 472-4565, (781) 262-4000; fax (781) 262-2310. www.bbn.com or net-info@bbn.com