Broadband communication systems offer a real possibility for fundamental change in the way that distributed organisations interact and inter-company transactions are carried out. But their use has to be tailored to SME capabilities and needs.

Bourbon - the BrOadband Urban Rural Based Open Networks project - was therefore set up in 1995, supported by the EU's Advanced Communications Technologies and Services (ACTS) programme, to develop a means of providing SMEs with cost-effective, scaleable access to such advanced capability. Its ultimate objective was to stimulate their full involvement on a European scale by facilitating the adoption of new means of reaching global markets. The project was coordinated by Lake Communications in Ireland and involved partners, mainly research institutes, from nine EU countries. The results of this applied cooperation, enabling European SMEs to enter the Information Society fully, were featured at last November's IST '99 conference in Helsinki.

Understanding SME business processes
As Aimo Maanvilja, Research Director of the Helsinki Telephone Company (HPY) and a leading participant in Bourbon, observes, "Service development is simple when you are dealing with one major organisation, but the diversity of needs in SMEs demands more complex solutions. We really have to understand each customer's business processes."

To achieve this, it was necessary to explore both user-focused and technical issues. At the start, the partners had a clear vision of the benefits that SMEs could derive from broadband communications. However, they recognised that the facilities must be easy to use, as smaller organisations would generally not be able to employ specialist IT support personnel. Scaleability would also be important, to allow users to take advantage of future innovations without needing to make major investments in their own internal systems.

The expense of using the 155 Mbps ATM broadband communication facilities available in 1995 presented an initial barrier to the involvement of SMEs as full programme partners. They were therefore included as associate partners, with whom field trials could be carried out in a number of test areas in different countries.

Shared experience
As a first step in the process, a series of carefully structured interviews was undertaken in all the test areas, to collate any pre-existing information and establish an accurate picture of users' specific requirements. This continuously updated input formed a basis for network integration studies, application development and field-trial planning.

The trials themselves were a participative exercise involving telecommunications utilities and service providers, together with some 20 SMEs. Commercial and pre-commercial heterogeneous broadband ATM/IP (Internet Protocol) and ISDN networks were employed in Ireland, Finland, France, Austria, Germany, Scotland, Italy, Greece and the Netherlands. These supported user access at a variety of speeds using ISDN, xDSL and optical links.

Learning together gave the SMEs hands-on opportunities to discover the potential of the new technology to solve their particular problems. The organisation of national SME user-groups also provided valuable forums for the exchange of ideas and experiences. And with environments varying from country to country, collaboration enabled the providers themselves to gather valuable insights into requirements for the longer-term introduction of generic services with the flexibility to meet differing needs.

Impact in Finland
In the Helsinki region, which was the major test location, a laboratory test network, pre-commercial pilot networks and commercial network services offered by HPY and its associate companies were all utilised - with IP access speeds ranging from 64 kbps (ISDN) to 155 Mbps (ATM).

The graphical industry was selected as a key target for the trials. Because personnel expenditures represent by far the largest cost element for companies in this sector, there was real interest in any services that could increase the efficiency of production and project management.

Understanding the meaning of digital media, telecommunications and IT in their business processes has encouraged the users to become networked. HPY is already seeing a potential revolution in print production methods for the national media. Material for publication can now be assembled and supplied in digital form rather than as conventional films. This eliminates time-consuming pre-press procedures and has speeded up the overall process dramatically.

Equally important was the possibility for advertising agencies and reproduction houses to charge broadband communications costs to specific jobs, in the same way that they have calculated film costs in the past.

Net tools for toolmakers
Another test area was in Ireland, involving a group of SMEs located in the north-western county of Sligo, a major manufacturing area and the country's tool-making centre.

The selected companies, active in the production of injection moulds for the plastics and die-casting industries, were linked via the Bourbon ATM ADSL network. Their in-house activities extend from software development and tool designing on 3D CAD/CAM systems, to manufacturing, metrology and testing. This frequently entails collaborative working, much of which could be conducted over the Internet using broadband communication. Employing PCs equipped with 25-Mbps ATM network adapters and, in some cases, video capture cards, it became possible to hold virtual meetings and run shared AutoCAD applications - as well as enjoying rapid and sophisticated e-mail, audio and video services.

Although the full speed of the ADSL connections is available in one direction only - the reverse path functions at 640 kbps - this was more than enough to demonstrate the advantages of the underlying methodology.

"Our approach to service development under Bourbon has been to propose an innovative solution, seek the customer's views, refine the service offer - and price - and, if necessary, try again until we reach a satisfactory conclusion," explains Aimo Maanavilja. "This is not just user-friendly, but positively user-centred: an excellent example of fitting technology to customers' needs."

Contact

Jim Clarke Lake Communications Ltd - Sligo (Irl) Fax: +353 71 71181 Jclarke@lake.ie

Glossary ADSL: Asymmetric digital subscriber line (or loop) A digital telecommunications technology designed to allow high-speed data transmission over the existing copper telephone lines between "clients" and "servers". ADSL is much faster than ISDN (for example) and offers rates of up to 9 Mbps when receiving data and up to 640 kbps when sending data. It can handle voice, data and compressed broadcast video ATM: Asynchronous transfer mode A broadband telecommunications standard which integrates voice, video and data and offers bandwidth on demand. It functions by establishing a fixed link between two points when it starts transferring data - making it easier to track and bill data. It is seen as the key to activities such as video on demand. ATM can be carried over traditional copper telephone lines, coaxial and fibre optic networks. ISDN: Integrated services digital network This international communications standard makes it possible to send voice, video and data over both digital and normal analogue telephone lines at speeds up to 64 kbps. The Euro-ISDN standard allows full transparent interworking between all European countries. xDSL: Digital subscriber line An emerging family of similar techniques and devices including ADSL, and other DSL technologies.