Jasco offers a range of Avaya networking solutions as part of their service portfolio and has recently put their money where their mouth is by upgrading their own network to Avaya’s Fabric Connect.
Avaya Fabric Connect is a network virtualisation solution that offers a simplified, agile and resilient infrastructure that makes network configuration and deployment of new services faster and easier.
Jasco has successfully rolled out Phase One – the core network infrastructure and migration of wireless services – at their Midrand Head Office, with a view to expanding the solution to their other branches as well.
“We believe in the products we sell at Jasco,” says Peter Stutz, Portfolio Manager for IT Solutions at Jasco Enterprise, “and what better way to show this than by investing ourselves in the very solutions we promote. Not only does our use of Avaya Fabric Connect showcase our faith in the product, but this rollout will also serve as an effective case study of the benefits of the solution.”
According to Stutz, the solution is more than just a showpiece and will provide Jasco with significant and quantifiable operational cost reductions. Stutz explains, “By migrating to the Avaya Fabric Connect network, we will benefit from faster new service activation, seamless and quick change management without the complexity of routing, and shorter resolution times for issues. Add simplified staff training and upskilling to the mix, and the possibilities for saving are abundant.”
Stutz adds that the solution will also enable easier logins on the network for employees and guests alike by automating access using predefined policies and parameters. On top of the security benefits of proper adherence to set access requirements, this process also eliminates the need for cumbersome paperwork and messy approval processes, allowing people to connect easily on their own devices – provided they meet the appropriate criteria.
“Avaya Fabric Connect delivers the full breadth of desired integrated services including Layer 2 virtualised services, Layer 3 virtualised services, fully optimised IP Routing and IP Multicast services,” says Stutz. “Our entire network becomes interconnected and automated, with traffic taking the shortest route possible across the network, giving us smoother network performance, faster failovers in the event of an issue, fewer cases of human error and a generally healthier network.”
The network is currently in operation at Jasco’s Midrand head office, however Stutz advises that Jasco is adopting a phased approach of which Midrand is phase one, and that they will begin rolling it out at other branches soon. “We aim to have all Jasco branches connected on the same network and benefitting from the simplified systems and integrated bird’s eye view,” Stutz adds. “Once we have rolled out, we will also begin adding other infrastructure onto the network such as our security infrastructure. This will allow us to more easily and quickly provision services for our customers, giving them even better service than ever before.”
