GOING PLACES
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
LGA and Cisco Systems share a long
and fruitful relationship that has seen
LGA grow from a tiny Singapore startup into a full-fledged Internet Service
Provider (ISP) with offices in the United
Kingdom, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
LGA is currently a major Cisco partner in
the Voice-over-IP (VoIP) space, selling
Cisco's solutions to small and medium
sized businesses (SMBs). LGA believes
that Cisco has the best VoIP products
and is looking forward to expanding its
relationship with Cisco in the future.
THIS IS THE POWER OF THE NETWORK. now.
BACKGROUND
LGA is a one-stop, total ISP based in
Singapore. From a small start-up in
1995, the company has grown to more
than 40 employees. LGA offers services
such as broadband connectivity, Virtual
Private Networks (VPN), web hosting,
managed networks and utility
computing. LGA is also a Cisco Premier
Certified Partner specializing in IP
Telephony.
Today, close to 2,000 Singapore-based
enterprises use LGA to conduct
business. Its customers include Keppel
FELS, John Hancock International,
Hong Leong Asia, Murata
Manufacturing, the Singapore
Technologies Group, Parkway Shenton,
the Meiban Group, Trend Singapore,
Discovery Asia and the Singapore
Commodity Exchange.
LGA BELIEVES THAT A STRONG RELATIONSHIP WITH CISCO
AND ITS CONVERGED SOLUTIONS WILL ENABLE IT TO
DELIVER CUTTING-EDGE SOLUTIONS TO ITS CUSTOMERS.
THE ISP CHALLENGE
Being an ISP today is not easy
according to LGA founder and CEO,
Daniel Ang. "There is price erosion
because of the increased competition
and a weak market. In addition, being an
ISP now means going up against deeppocketed telcos who are going after any
niche they consider profitable."
For a relatively small and young
company like LGA to survive in this
dog-eat-dog world, it is on the constant
lookout for new technologies. It also
has to be nimble so as to seize on
emerging opportunities. Good partners
can help lower the overall risk.
In order to stay ahead of the
competition, LGA develops value-added
solutions that it can offer its customers.
These days, that value-added solution is
in the IP-telephony space.
LGA is a big believer in Voice-over IP.
Said Mr Ang, "We believe that voice is
the next big thing. At LGA, we believe
that voice completes the picture for us.
And we are excited about Cisco Internet
Telephony products and solutions."
LGA now offers Cisco IP phones and
Cisco's Internet Telephony Systems to
its corporate customers. Said Mr Ang,
"The convergence of data and voice
applications in a single Cisco-based IP
voice and data network brings benefits
such as higher productivity, ease of
maintenance, operating cost reduction
and better network scalability."
LGA is not just jumping on the VoIP
bandwagon. They have been looking at
it for some time but only now believe
that it is ready for prime time.
Said Mr Ang, "We tried out VoIP when it
first surfaced on the Internet in 1997.
We were appalled by the quality. It was
certainly not ready for prime time. Even
during the dot-com years, we were not
convinced that it was ready.
“This time, however, it is different. Now
the market is ready. Voice is poised for
exponential growth. The number of
voice applications will be exploding. It
is not just voice minute revenues but
voice applications."
Even so, LGA approached VoIP very
carefully. They conducted a nine-month
trial to test user acceptance. This was also
a way for them to get used to the
technology and to understand the kind of
support it could offer to its customers.
WHY CISCO?
For Mr Ang, going with Cisco to deliver
VoIP was an obvious and sensible
decision. "There are not many good IP
solutions in the market. We would
rather work with Cisco than some
unknown company. We prefer to sell a
known brand than an unknown one. If
they close shop, we will be left with no
support and no upgrades. There is no
danger of this with Cisco."
Cisco and LGA have had a long and
very fruitful relationship. When LGA
first started in 1995, all it had were two
19.2Kbps modems, a server and a Cisco
router.
In 1999, LGA built its first data centre in
a modest 1,000 sq ft facility. It was a
complete Cisco shop and LGA built it
without any external funding. In 2000,
Cisco Capital saw the potential of LGA
and helped the company build its
second data centre.
Since then, LGA has branched into
many new areas of business. But any
time a network is involved, LGA has
depended on Cisco. Said Mr Ang, "We
try to rollout a new service every
quarter and that adds a lot to stress the
relationship. Fortunately, the Cisco-LGA
partnership has stood the test of time."
He said that there is constant dialogue
between the two companies. "The Cisco
guys provide us training and updates,
both in terms of technologies and
markets. Our R&D teams work very
closely to thresh out technical issues."
CUNO FILTRATION, AN LGA CUSTOMER, PRAISES LGACISCO PARTNERSHIP FOR ITS COMBINATION OF
EXCELLENT TECHNOLOGY AND GOOD INTEGRATION.
THE RESULTS
LGA has implemented VoIP solutions
for a number of companies in
Singapore. One of them is Cuno
Filtration, a US-based company with a
regional office in Singapore. LGA
helped them set up a communications
channel between the Singapore
regional office and the subsidiary
in Shanghai.
The solution was a Cisco-based Virtual
Private Network (VPN) and IP voice
network using Cisco CallManager
Express routers. This resulted in a
single IP network converging the data
and voice applications.
Said Mr Dennis Moh, the MIS Manager
at Cuno Filtration, "This enabled us to
have frequent communication with our
subsidiary via conference calls,
telephone discussions and interviews
without worrying about high
telecommunication costs."
Mr Moh said the return on investment
would be in the region of 12 months.
On the Cisco-LGA partnership, he said,
"The Cisco-LGA partnership resulted in
a combination of excellent technology
and good integration."
Another of LGA's customers is the
Singapore-based law firm of Yeo,
Leong and Peh LLC. It was looking for
an integrated IP solution to converge
data and voice applications for
themselves and their legal partners
across China. They chose the Cisco PIX
Firewall and IP VPN solutions to
address both the IP security and wide
area network (WAN) issues.
Said Mr Ang, "Today, they are able to
talk to their Chinese partners with Cisco
IP phones and share customised legal
applications on their private IP network.
This results in higher productivity and
better communication with their
overseas partners."
THE FUTURE
LGA is already planning for the future.
It is evaluating Cisco's IP Centrex
solution, a carrier-grade PABX solution.
This is a business phone service in which
all the functionality lies in a Class 5
switch on the carrier's network. It offers
business-class services such as call
transfer, conferencing and forwarding.
Because voice and data share the same
circuit, fewer dedicated voice circuits
are needed, so end users may see a
reduction in overall
telecommunications costs. In addition,
an IP Centrex service can simplify
network configuration.
Ang has no problems putting his faith
in Cisco. He said, "The Cisco team is
tremendous. They know what they are
doing and their products are technically
superior. Cisco is clearly a leader in the
network market. Our working
relationship with everyone, from the
sales and marketing to the technical
consultants, has been very, very strong."
He noted that to Cisco, size was never
an issue. "They wanted a competent
partner in this region and LGA was
never too small for them."
He added, "LGA’s R&D, operational and
sales teams have benefited from the
training, close collaboration and
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-1706
USA
www.cisco.com
Tel: 408 526-4000
800 553-NETS (6387)
Fax: 408 526-4100
knowledge sharing. We conduct
thorough testing on Cisco equipment in
house and together with Cisco.
"This research and testing is essential
because we want our customers to
have the highest quality of experience
possible using our network and services.
The more we iron out the problems
before we launch products and service,
the better for them and for us."
"Cisco has been a great help in the
market place by bringing customers to
LGA. Their commitment to partner
success is well known. With a strong
partner like Cisco, we cannot help but
be committed to our customers’
success too.”
THE LGA TEAM, FROM OPERATIONS TO SALES
TO R&D, HAVE BENEFITED FROM CLOSE
COLLABORATION WITH CISCO.
As LGA grows and expands, Cisco will
continue to be the partner of choice.
"We are going places. LGA offices in
the UK, Hong Kong and Malaysia have
now been set up. As a global player,
Cisco is represented in these places
and we will continue to stretch our
relationship as we move together into
new grounds. Our partnership in the
past had been fruitful and going ahead
is certainly going to get better."
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Fax: 33 1 58 04 61 00
Cisco Systems, Inc.
170 West Tasman Drive
San Jose, CA 95134-1706
USA
www.cisco.com
Tel: 408 526-7660
Fax: 408 527-0883
Cisco Systems, Inc.
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#28-01
Singapore 068912
www.cisco.com
Tel: +65 6317 7777
Fax: +65 6317 7799
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Printed in Singapore
(03/04)