BACKGROUND
Optare is a leading bus manufacturers, with a reputation built upon quality, innovation and developing long-lasting relationships with its clients both here and abroad. The need for a robust and reliable network infrastructure is therefore business critical.
The new IT management team were aware of the issues that faced them “The LAN was often down for 2 days per week and was connected with DIY CAT5 cabling. The cables were running over rooftops and between buildings and were practically untraceable. There was a dial-up connection to the internet and limited security on the mail and proxy servers. The WAN was based on a bridged network with an inappropriate static class C IP Structure and there was no documentation available.”
APPROACH
SICL initially carried out a thorough analysis of the network infrastructure and from this made a series of recommendations for Optare to consider. The company made the decision to go along with SICL’s recommendation and accepted that both new cabling and network restructure was the only solution to their issues, in both the short and long term.
IMPLEMENTATION
SICL designed the network around the high bandwidth users (CAD designers), which allowed the CAD data to be moved from the departmental server, to a central server (at the core of the network) enabling a single, secure point-of-management solution. A 2Gb server connection was given to the Design Office with the rest of the company upgraded to a 1Gb connection. The network was segmented using VLANs and a Layer 3 Switch infrastructure was incorporated. As a result, troubleshooting and visibility of network activity was available through port monitoring, packet error detection and fault isolation.
RESULTS
Once complete the impact on the organisation was instant: LAN and WAN availability, access via VPN (from home/remote) and a vast reduction in connection charges (ADSL replacing the dial-up connection).
In terms of customer service, the improvements to the network infrastructure have resulted in more timely responses to queries and sales related issues thanks to 24/7 server access from anywhere in the world. The Optare employees took full advantage of the benefits the new network capability gave them, working smarter both on site and remotely.
“SICL was the only provider I spoke to who was able to implement a suitable and scalable solution without running away with the budget. SICL provided a design which exceeded our requirements and was capable of growing with the business. Other providers either cut corners to provide a “cheap solution” or quoted astronomical figures. I was not pressured by SICL into buying anything and I consider my relationship with them to be a partnership in which they are always prepared to help or offer advice.”
Alan Horsfield
IT Manager.