TEST VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL

Extreme Networks Case Study: TEST VALLEY BOROUGH COUNCIL

Based in North West Hampshire, Test Valley Borough Council has a population of over 110,000 and covers approximately 157,000 acres, with its name deriving from Hampshire’s longest river, the River Test.  First becoming a District Council in April 1974, Test Valley was subsequently granted Borough status following the amalgamation of councils in Andover, Romsey and Stockbridge.

The council’s IT infrastructure comprises a network of over 500 network users spread across four different sites, completing daily tasks which range from basic office applications and data processing to customer relationship management and geographical mapping.  A council-wide initiative was instigated to provide all its employees with a resilient IT network that would build user confidence and improve productivity; to achieve this the Council realised it needed to upgrade its ageing network infrastructure.  Extreme Networks’s reseller Neptune Consultancy Services (Neptune) advised on how to improve the network’s performance and provide the capacity for future developments, something that the existing network switches were unable to deliver.

“The previous network infrastructure we had was coming to the end of its supportable life,” said Test Valley Borough Council’s Head of IT Services, Tony Fawcett.  “We were beginning to experience lots of support and infrastructure issues that didn’t comply with our best practise policy.”

Neptune embarked on a review of the council’s requirements and recommended a solution from Extreme Networks that would provide the necessary resilience, support and quality of service the council required, whilst staying within budget.  “We knew that by recommending Extreme Networks, Test Valley would benefit from the best solutions available at a very attractive procurement price point,” said Neptune Technical Director, Andy Heath.  “Even with the budget constraints, Extreme Networks didn’t have to compromise on the design and technology of the network.”

A selection of Summit® X150, X250, X350 and X450 family switches were specified in order to update the IP network.  With the network spread over four sites, the implementation was phased in over a period of three months, following eight weeks of extensive lab testing of all the equipment.

Since implementing the new network, the Council has benefited from reduced downtime, improved reliability and a simplified support system.  The improved resilience and support means that the council can successfully host and derive the operational benefits of VoIP telephony.  It also enables work to begin on a “mirror” site where the original settings are replicated to a second site to act as a backup for all its information, processes and applications.  Similarly, the council is also looking at storage replication for the site, something that would have been unachievable with the previous network.

“The transition was seamless,” commented Fawcett.  “With the new network in place, we’ve been able to maximise our productivity in supporting the council’s goals.  The fact that Extreme Networks’s products all use the same operating system made staff training incredibly easy, and allowed us to continue working with minimal disruption.”

In addition to the new network switches, the Council is also using Extreme Networks’s EPICenter®, a scalable, fully featured network management tool that simplifies configuration, troubleshooting and status monitoring of IP-based networks.  Using EPICenter, the council can determine where the majority of traffic is generated in order to optimise the availability of the network.

Added Fawcett, “Everyone has experienced a real improvement in network operations.  Whereas before we had lots of broadcast traffic, we can now track and trace the areas of most activity to help us improve and increase network performance.”

With a sustainable, scalable and resilient network in place, Test Valley is looking to promote flexible and remote working amongst its staff by introducing shared services across its four buildings.  It is also looking to expand its current VoIP telephony system with plans to upgrade in the near future.

“The professionalism and flexible approach from both Extreme Networks and Neptune Consultancy has enabled us to benefit from a scalable solution which can help us achieve our long term business goals,” concluded Fawcett.  “Every detail was finalised and all our requirements were delivered on time and, more importantly, within budget.”