This summary will identify and demonstrate how PSINet is uniquely qualified to provide Acme.com with the cost solutions and connectivity tools it needs to improve and enhance its existing network. PSINet proposes using its IntraNet service, a superior, managed Internet-access scalable service providing a full-time dedicated Internet connection. PSINet's proposal addresses Acme.com's five main objectives for improving its existing network.

· Reduce current WAN connectivity costs. PSINet proposes connecting all of Acme.com's implementation sites to PSINet's IP-optimized, switched Internet network, which will reduce leased-line infrastructure costs. In this configuration, Acme.com can use shared public Internet space as well as private communications capabilities, all on the same network. The PSINet proposal offers all the advantages of a WAN without the associated costs of ownership and maintenance.

· Enable a centrally managed security policy/solution. The PSINet proposal provides four main security benefits: (1) frame relay PVCs (Permanent Virtual Circuits) will ensure private, secure communications among sites; (2) firewalls at the research and development, accounting and personnel sites will provide the strongest available site security (protecting the LAN) and transit security (protecting communications between the LANs); (3) strong authentication will allow remote-user or branch-office dial-up site access to the intranet similar to a dedicated location; and (4) PSINet's management of the Global IntraNet Security Policy will provide centralized control while allowing, to the greatest extent possible, decentralized decision-making.

· Allow network access for remote users. Used in conjunction with the Acme.com intranet, PSINet's InterRamp service will allow mobile users to make local phone calls to more than 1,400 POPs worldwide. InterRamp will provide remote users with POP access to the Internet as well as Acme.com's intranet. The use of cryptocards will ensure strong authentication for remote users. PSINet's Account Management System will assist Acme.com's helpdesk in administering and controlling individual accounts through an easy-to-use Web-based interface. This system performs a variety of functions, including the addition and deletion of accounts, enabling or suspension of accounts, change of passwords and use of e-mail aliases.

· Allow easy expansion and integration of Acme.com's vendors and suppliers into the supply-chain network. Integrating entities, such as vendors or suppliers, into the Acme.com intranet will improve EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) data flow and all other IP traffic that Acme.com deems necessary, making it possible to add entities at any time. Acme.com remains in control of the central security policy.

· Direct access to the public Internet. Each site will have access to the public Internet, a factor that will reduce traffic flow on Acme.com's private WAN. Reducing public Internet traffic on the private WAN will restrict nonessential traffic flow.

PSINet's proposal will achieve all the tasks and objectives stated by Acme.com through a cost-effective and scalable solution, using IntraNet and InterRamp service to improve Internet access for the organization. Enhanced connectivity and budget-conscious remote access will contribute to an increase in Acme.com's employee productivity rate by leveraging increasingly valuable Internet resources.

Network Computing's Evaluation of PSINet's Response

PSINet's answer to our RFP highlights some of the confusion surrounding the term VPN. PSINet is a strong contender for WAN access and Internet connectivity, but its VPN solution is based solely on frame relay PVCs and managed firewalls. VPNs are meant to be dynamic, secureconnections between two end points. PSINet's solution nails up connections between central sites and terminates ISDN connections into PSINet's POPs. Though these connections no longer travel across the Internet, they still travel across PSINet's private network, where the data is vulnerable to interception. Access control provided by firewalls is an important part of the security puzzle; authentication and encryption are equally important for Acme.com. In PSINet's scenario, Acme.com's data is subject to attack on its own network, which poses a greater--and possibly more likely--danger.

Of course, PSINet's solution has distinct advantages. QoS is easier to quantify and implement for data paths that travel across PSINet's network. Since PSINet owns the infrastructure, it has a higher degree of control over network usage than any vendor with a hardware-only solution leveraging the Internet. Yet these advantages are possible with most of the other vendors' solutions, such as Ascend's and Bay's, if Acme.com were to move its WAN infrastructure to a global provider such as PSINet.

PSINet's managed solution relieves Acme.com of the complex task of configuring and maintaining security. PSINet's NOC (Networks Operations Center) is manned 24x7, 365 days a year, providing constant management of the physical infrastructure while also off-loading the firewalls and threat management to PSINet. Security for remote users is through a complex process involving smartcards and telnet sessions. While this may work for technically savvy users, the ease-of-use issue for inexperienced users may be costly in terms of satisfaction and productivity.