Efficiency in details: analyzing cases of network infrastructure development from Extreme Networks

YEREVAN, September 15. /ARKA/.  Modern enterprise networks should be flexible and productive enough to facilitate the company’s development instead of hindering it — this is an overarching idea in all Extreme Networks solutions. The vendor is committed to helping clients in all industries and of all sizes achieve goals of any complexity.

In this article, I’ll explain how these ideas work beyond marketing leaflets and whether Extreme Networks products help all clients to achieve the claimed level of flexibility and productivity. For this, I’ll briefly analyze four cases where the vendor’s solutions were implemented for customers from Europe and the United States in the retail, automotive, sports, and municipal sectors.

Case #1: scaling in fast-growing retail

Client: Savers – the largest thrift store chain in North America. The company was created as a second-hand store, and over time has grown into a chain of vintage clothing stores with more than 300 retail locations in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Context: Savers’ growth necessitated an upgrade and modernization of the network infrastructure, and emphasized the need to switch to wireless Wi-Fi networks in the stores. In addition, although the store's IT department had 60 employees, there were only 4 network specialists. For this reason, they also needed an easy-to-manage and deploy solution that would enable them to create and maintain a high-performance wireless network to improve internal processes and customer experience.

Solutions used: ExtremeCloud™ IQ on AWS, ExtremeWireless™, ExtremeSwitching™. 

Results: 

• Improved inventory management system. Savers purchases goods from all comers through charitable organizations and foundations. So, they need a high-performance and stable inventory management system, which they have achieved by implementing Extreme Networks solutions. The actual inventory management software now runs over a wireless network, providing the flexibility required for all stores and suppliers.

• Significantly optimized corporate processes, including an improved guest network for head office visitors.

• The wireless infrastructure was upgraded, which allowed using Bluetooth to obtain data and insights into the store's operations. This helped with store management and strategic decision-making.

• Remote network management and RF scheduling tools were made possible thanks to the flexibility provided by ExtremeCloud IQ on AWS.

• Better network management has made it possible to provide a more secure network infrastructure in corporate offices. Corporate offices are configured with two separate SSIDs with VLANs to segment corporate and BYOD devices. In other words, the network in retail outlets is configured with one SSID for operational and production devices, and another – for corporate users and their personal devices, creating a mirrored corporate experience for visitors.

Case #2: improving user experience at a stadium

Client: McLane Stadium at Baylor University in the United States. This is a full-fledged sports facility that can accommodate more than 45,000 spectators nominally, and the record attendance has passed the 50,000 mark.

Context: Baylor University wanted to provide an exceptional experience for its fans when attending games at its home football stadium, McLane. This included installing a reliable and secure high-density wireless network, providing access to real-time content through an app, and creating visibility and control over users, devices, and applications across the network.

Solutions used: ExtremeWireless to improve connectivity and ensure an overall better experience for the fans.

Results: 

• High-speed Wi-Fi for all the fans. Baylor believes that visitors perceive the availability of a powerful Wi-Fi network as a norm, not as something special. The lack of such an opportunity is therefore perceived as a disadvantage. Therefore, the high-speed network is a response to the modern mobile culture and doesn’t hinder the fans’ ability to share their experiences online right at the stadium.

• Unique user experience. Extreme's highly resilient solutions have enabled tens of thousands of fans to simultaneously and consistently access the unique Baylor InGame app. With this app, fans at McLane Stadium have access to real-time content, including live media content, news, live scoring, player biographies and statistics. It also helps navigate the stadium itself by showing the location of individual objects.

• Detailed visibility and control. Baylor has now achieved detailed visibility into how the solution is performing, as well as the ability to seamlessly connect personal devices and set detailed network policies for their operation from a single location. In other words, the network can support a simultaneous, consistently powerful connection of thousands of fans and also provide full visibility into all processes and devices.

Case #3: network scaling for an Eastern European automotive giant

Client: ŠKODA AUTO – a well-known car manufacturer from the Czech Republic that is one of the oldest automakers in the world. Today, ŠKODA AUTO has more than 30,000 employees who have been working as part of the Volkswagen Group for more than 30 years. And the ŠKODA network infrastructure currently consists of more than 130,000 ports in total.

Context: ŠKODA AUTO faced an increase in deliveries and an expanding product portfolio. This led to the fact that their network infrastructure began to strain, resulting in 1-2 unplanned outages per year that the company could not do anything about. An additional challenge was the overall complexity of the network, with operations distributed between the head office, assembly bases, and remote offices. All this led the company to the need to expand its network infrastructure.

Solutions used: ŠKODA AUTO implemented the Extreme Fabric Connect solution using ExtremeSwitching. This allowed them to create a stable and virtualized network.

Results:

• Sufficient network capacity to meet business requirements. The network load that was slowing down business development and application performance has been removed.

• Improved business process efficiency. With Extreme's virtualized solution, ŠKODA was able to reduce the time to market for new services without delays or service gaps.  

• Increased staff efficiency. IT teams have become much more efficient, focusing more on innovation and development projects rather than support and maintenance tasks. In addition, Extreme Fabric Connect solution has unified separate networks into one with logical service distribution, simplifying network management.

Case #4: Improving user experience and efficiency of municipal services for the entire city

Client: Memphis, USA – one of the leading cities in the United States in terms of digitizing government services and urban services. The city has a population of over 650,000 people, making it the second largest in the state of Tennessee and the 19th largest in the USA.  

Context: The city of Memphis sought to build a better experience for its citizens by providing a reliable network for critical services like police and fire, as well as high-speed wireless connectivity in libraries and community centers.

Solutions used: Extreme Wireless™ та Extreme Fabric™

Results:

Thanks to the implementation of Extreme Networks solutions, the City of Memphis was recognized as one of the most advanced smart cities in the United States. The Extreme network has provided reliability for public safety services, flexibility for planned smart city initiatives, and support for third-party technologies. In addition, thanks to the network's performance, the Memphis team was able to focus on improving the quality of digital services for citizens.

Conclusion

The described cases demonstrate the versatility of Extreme Networks solutions for entirely different customers and needs. The same solution can work well both in a large production facility and in a city, providing high-quality connections where it is critically needed. In addition, customers report easier network administration and improved visibility into internal processes. All of this combines to provide the necessary flexibility that unlocks growth — by getting more out of the network with less time spent on it, customers free up resources for innovation.  For more information about the cases, please visit the page https://extreme.bakotech.com/en-extreme-cases.  -0- 

This material was prepared by Dmytro Kozlov, Business Development Manager, BAKOTECH.

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13:09 09/15/2023