Law Firm Picks Savvis

ST. LOUIS -- Leading global law firm Allen & Overy LLP is to outsource its UK server and storage IT infrastructure to SAVVIS in a continued transition to fully managed services. With Allen & Overys recent international investment fuelling record growth, the deal will enable its business to have additional availability, security and flexibility to meet current and future demand.

As one of the world’s largest international law firms, with approximately 5,000 employees at 24 locations worldwide, Allen & Overy requires a massive amount of computing and network capacity to meet daily client requirements, as well as constant communication between its global offices.

The total contract with SAVVIS, a global leader in IT infrastructure services for business and government applications, is worth in excess of £12 million and includes the initial £5.5 million deal (announced separately 31st January 2006). Under the terms of the contract expansion, which is an additional £6.8 million, Allen & Overy will migrate its UK business-critical server and storage area network (SAN) operations to SAVVIS. The infrastructure supports Allen & Overy’s corporate website and intranet as well as applications such as its ERP and document management systems and messaging and collaboration solutions.

SAVVIS will host and manage Allen & Overy’s server and SAN estate at its data centre on the outskirts of London and will also take responsibility for managing and monitoring Allen & Overy’s internal data centre at its headquarters in London. This integrated solution enables consistency and a high degree of resilience and business continuity, all of which are essential for a law firm.

The expanded contract is part of Allen & Overy’s long term IT strategy to grow and strengthen its business by enabling IT staff to focus on value-add projects that maintain a competitive advantage over its legal peers.

“Over the past 18 months, SAVVIS’ hosting services have met our demanding requirements with regards to security, reliability and international reach. SAVVIS has also demonstrated the highest level of performance and service, giving us confidence to expand our contract to include a broader set of fully managed services” said Dave Burwell, CIO of Allen & Overy. “We view the management of IT infrastructure as being mission-critical to our business, but not a differentiator. By allowing SAVVIS to take over the day-to-day management of our IT infrastructure, we can be sure that a high calibre of staff and technology will be maintained whilst our internal IT team can focus its attention on delivering value-add projects to continue to grow our international business.”

Savvis Communications Corp.