REOX HOLDINGS (DAIRYGOLD): Small step to radio means a giant leap in bandwidth for REOX
by
Air Speed
When Reox Holdings went looking for a secondary network to back up its
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgU9OWTKOk8[/youtube]
wide area network. It found more than it bargained for in AirSpeed.Now the bandwidth, resilience and reach of the AirSpeed solution has convinced Reox to make radio its primary network to its core sites.The diverse nature of the Reox Holdings business puts a greater demand on its IT systems than other, non-diversified enterprises face. The IT department in Reox works with four distinct business divisions: the 4Homes DIY retail business; the Dairygold dairy business; a cold foods division; and a substantial property business. The Group IT division is responsible not only for the Reox data centre at Cork AirportBusiness Park, but also for anticipating and meeting the changing needs of the four divisions, each of which has its own IT manager.”We decided that AirSpeed would become our primary WAN circuit to our sites. The wired network will become our backup.”Michael Costello, Group IT Service Delivery Manager, Reox HoldingsIn 2007 Reox undertook an initiative to strengthen its wide area network, as the momentum within the business was toward the centralisation of more IT infrastructure in the company’s data centre. The WAN serves a number of sites in Cork and Dublin, and the first priority in strengthening it was to provide resilience. The company already had an IP MPLS network from another provider as its primary WAN circuit, and it began investigating its options for a secondary network.”It became clear, as we looked at the AirSpeed solution, that we were being offered a very high performance network that offered excellent bandwidth capabilities,” explains Michael Costello, Group IT Service Delivery Manager for Reox Holdings. “So we decided that AirSpeed would become our primary WAN circuit to our sites. The wired network will become our backup.” Radio from AirSpeed — the right technology and the right skill set.The decision to go with AirSpeed was an easy one, Michael notes, because of the total package on offer. Not only did AirSpeed offer coverage and excellent bandwidth to all six sites, but it also offered a fully managed solution using its own Juniper-certified personnel.”Other companies were either providing only the equipment and leaving us to manage it, or were providing a managed solution using outsourced personnel, which would mean more complexity and more people involved whenever support issues arose,” he said. “Only AirSpeed offered just what we needed, including the in-house management.”Michael says the dramatic increase in bandwidth AirSpeed offers over its current provider will provide real business benefits. With the current environment, the company has a 10Mbps connection to the MPLS cloud. But with the implementation of AirSpeed, the company will have a 150Mbps WAN link.”We will be able to start looking at remote-site disaster recovery — our current network just doesn’t have the bandwidth for that,” he says. “We will be open to other business opportunities by allowingmore centralised applications, so from a strategic point of view there are good opportunities.”High bandwidth, limitless possibilitiesThe significant increase in bandwidth will be a major boost to Reox, Michael says, and to its plans to create a stronger, future-proofed WAN for all types of potential projects. With the MPLS networkproviding resiliency and AirSpeed providing a primary network with a large bandwidth increase, Reox is well positioned to get the maximum benefits from its WAN, with AirSpeed radio leading the way.”We have found AirSpeed very approachable and obviously very knowledgeable in their field, and we feel they can help us with our business needs going forward,” Michael says. “They are technologicallyvery good but they also understand from a business perspective what the solution needs to provide us with.”Michael also notes that he’s pleased and encouraged to see the huge strides radio technology has made in just a few years.”I’ve had quite a bit of input into wireless technology over the last few years, and I’ve seen it improve vastly,” he says. “We’re comfortable not just in using wireless technology, but in making it our primary WAN infrastructure. Areas like functionality, security and cost were all taken on board during the assessment process, and we are confident the solution is going to be a huge benefit to the organisation moving forward.”
AirSpeed Telecom provides fast, reliable voice and data telecommunications services to businesses and public sector bodies in Ireland.
Wireless broadband network15 Magna Drive CitywestDublin 24Network redundancy
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REOX HOLDINGS (DAIRYGOLD): Small step to radio means a giant leap in bandwidth for REOX}
