COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 19, 2005 - Cisco Systems announced today that Novo Nordisk A/S, a healthcare company and world leader in diabetes care, is upgrading its corporate network and deploying Cisco's Internet Protocol (IP) telephony solutions to support converged voice and data traffic throughout its operations in Denmark. The Cisco solution, which is designed with the goal of producing a positive return on investment within 2 years, is scheduled to be fully deployed with 12,000 IP phones and 25,000 network ports within 8 months. Novo Nordisk's network convergence project will be the largest IP telephony system in the Nordic region as well as the largest in the pharmaceutical industry worldwide.
"For Novo Nordisk, moving to Cisco IP Telephony was not a question of 'if' but 'when'," said Sune Andersen, Vice President, NNIT. "The scale of cost savings is expected in the millions and, by working with Cisco and TDC, we have the ability to make a rapid migration to IP telephony."
Cisco Gold certified reseller partner, TDC/NetDesign, is working with NNIT, IT provider to Novo Nordisk, to upgrade the company's network and migrate the legacy telephone system to Cisco's IP Telephony system.
New telephone features, such as extension mobility, corporate directory searching and Netwise's presence and availability management integrated with Microsoft Outlook calendar and e-mail applications, are being introduced to increase the availability, mobility and flexibility of voice communications and reduce the use of costly mobile phones.
The network upgrade will increase traffic capacity by up to ten times using Cisco Gigabit Ethernet technology and NNIT is planning to introduce higher levels of security with Cisco Self-Defending Network technology including Network Admission Control.
"Companies throughout Europe are realizing there is a strong business case for converging voice and data," said Tim Stone, Head of IP Communications in Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA), Cisco Systems. "Novo Nordisk's convergence project, the world's largest in the pharmaceutical industry, is real proof of the scale of savings that is being achieved with IP telephony today."
Novo Nordisk's network upgrade will deliver in-line power over Ethernet and includes the deployment of Cisco Catalyst 3550 Series and Catalyst 3750 Series switches, and 10 Gigabit supervisor module upgrades to existing Catalyst switches in the core network. The Cisco IP telephony solution includes a range of Cisco 7900 Series IP phones and Cisco IP Communicator softphones with Cisco CallManager call processing software integrated with a third party contact management solution from Cisco AVVID Partner, Netwise.
About Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk is a healthcare company and a world leader in diabetes care. The company has the broadest diabetes product portfolio in the industry, including the most advanced products within the area of insulin delivery systems. In addition, Novo Nordisk has a leading position within areas such as haemostasis management, growth hormone therapy and hormone replacement therapy. Novo Nordisk manufactures and markets pharmaceutical products and services that make a significant difference to patients, the medical profession and society. With headquarters in Denmark, Novo Nordisk employs approximately 20,250 full-time employees in 78 countries, and markets its products in 179 countries. Novo Nordisk's B shares are listed on the stock exchanges in Copenhagen and London. Its ADRs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol 'NVO'. For more information, visit novonordisk.com.
About NNIT
NNIT is one of Denmark's leading consultancies in the development, implementation and operation of IT solutions. For more than 10 years, NNIT has applied new technology and advanced methodologies to make software development, business processes and communication more efficient and effective. With its roots in the pharmaceutical industry, and as a company owned by Novo Nordisk, NNIT offers solutions that comply with the market's highest quality and standardisation requirements.
Today, NNIT has more than 810 employees and a turnover in 2004 of DKK 800 million.
About TDC A/S
TDC Business Solutions, a division within TDC A/S, develop and sell communications solutions and products to Danish companies and government institutions. TDC Business Solutions is the market leader in Denmark and acquired last year the company NetDesign which specialises in IP telephony and networking.
