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Merck, the global pharmaceuticals and chemicals group, has signed a five-year IP VPN contract extension with Orange Business Services. “The key criteria for us in making the decision were not only Orange’s global organization and the seamless network coverage it provides, but also the price and great flexibility with regard to contract terms and Service Level Agreements,” said Nigel Rixon, Senior Manager, Networking and Telecommunication Services at Merck. “Another very important aspect for us was the low risk of migration, because the majority of locations were already connected to the network.” In addition to 115 Merck locations previously served, Orange integrated 35 Serono branches into the existing global MPLS-based IP VPN. Merck sealed the purchase of Geneva-based Serono in January 2007 and issued a call for bids for its global MPLS-based IP VPN. Orange Business Services won the bidding against BT Infonet, Serono’s previous provider. The kick-off for the migration of the Serono locations was mid-2007 and was completed on schedule at the end of 2007.