CRN: Tell me about the time pressures.
Graham: We’d started the discussions with JJ’s predecessor and they were debating which way to go. Then I was in Darling Harbour and I got a call saying, ‘We need 11 of these switches and I need them in a week’. Then as soon as those 11 were ordered, virtually the next day, they ordered another 15 or so.
CRN: How available was the product?
Graham: Very few companies hold stock in Australia. We hold some stock, but not that quantity, so we worked with Brocade, and we got the switches pre-built in the States; we express shipped them to Australia and expressed shipped them to the client and they were pretty much here on time.
CRN: You have recently hired Maik Straube, who is a Brocade Distinguished Architect. What will this mean for ASI?
Graham: Where ASI differentiates itself is that we invest in the technologies that we are taking to market. We invest in training, certification levels, stock levels and so on. Initially the discussion wasn’t an architectural discussion, because I didn’t have anybody. But now that I have Maik in Brisbane, that’s going to give us more impetus to be able to bring that to the table. Now we can do everything – not just the logistics, but the design, implementation and installation of the network, whereas we weren’t in a position to do that before.
CRN: Maik, could you tell me a little bit more about your training and certification on Brocade?
Maik: I’ve been working as a network engineer for the past eight years, the last four of them with a key focus on Brocade products, both IP and SAN fibre channel over ethernet.
In my work as an engineer, implementing Brocade products makes my life enormously easier, since their technologies provide simplicity and performance simultaneously. Network engineering has become more and more complex through the years – when talking to customers and analysing their needs, we usually raise topics such as virtualisation, rising demand of high performance on the network, software-defined networking and most important, reliability and redundancy.
CRN: Dreamworld’s parent, Ardent Leisure Group, is a big company. Does that have any broader implications for you?
Jason: When we do acquisitions, such as gyms, they typically have consumer-grade equipment. We have found that going in with a standardised stack from a network perspective has been a really good thing for us.
CRN: Is technology standardised across the group?
Jason :The different brands within the Ardent Leisure Group have different technological requirements, but we standardise where possible to try and gain economies of scale. Some of our sites have public Wi-Fi and some don’t, just depending on customer demand and practicality. Suffice to say, Brocade devices are standardised across the group with Aruba typically rounding out our wireless solutions.
CRN: In this project, what was the bigger focus: the wireless or the switching?
Jason: The bandwidth was a big limitation, more so than the wireless hardware itself. Without the bandwidth, you could draw up a thousand access points, but you’re not going to increase the capability of your network really other than having better coverage. Whereas laying down your infrastructure and having the switches throughout, we can say, ‘Now we have the backbone available to us, where should we put our wireless access points to best gain the maximum coverage?’ That’s what the Brocade 6430s did for us, because they were Wi-Fi access point-enabled PoE.
CRN: How big was the investment?
Jason: Without going into specific costs, the cost savings over traditional manufacturers has been considerable, and that isn’t to say that by saving on costs that we’ve lost anything on quality. Quite the opposite. We feel strongly that the quality of the Brocade product has been outstanding.
CRN: Are there conversations about further increasing your network capacity?
Jason: Yes, absolutely. With the advent of social networking as a marketing tool, and collaboration tools, videoconferencing, Microsoft Lync – collaboration is going to drive a higher and higher need for bandwidth. Strategically, you can throw more pipe at it, but that’s not a smart way of doing business. In my opinion, it is better to utilise data analysis technology such as Riverbed or Brocade’s equivalent.
The goalposts are constantly shifting. Throwing more pipe at it is a quick fix but if you’re not controlling that flow of data, you’re going to max out the size of the pipe pretty quick. In my opinion, it is better to utilise data analysis technologies to determine reasonable bandwidth measures and then implement quality-of-service quotas to ensure maximised bandwidth for prioritised systems.
CRN: How does this project for Dreamworld fit with ASI’s broader strategy?
Graham: We want to work with innovative companies and bigger corporates like Dreamworld and Ardent. That is boosted by getting people like Maik on board, so we can value-add by working directly with customers to help them develop solutions. Any time there’s a new product or innovation from Brocade, we can actually come down and present to them and keep them up to date from a technological perspective.
Jason: It’s important to note that ASI, and Graham specifically, understood us. We’re very willing to spend to improve our overall posture, but we’re also very cost-conscious and always look for value for money. Graham is not here just trying to push something on us because it’s the latest and greatest; he understands that we’re going to be considered in our approach to implementation. So it’s been a really good partnership.
Graham: That’s the takeaway from my point of view. I don’t want to be a box provider – I want to be a business partner who can understand somebody’s business. Not just to sell something, but add real value that’s going to affect the bottom line of the company. In recent times, ASI has put a lot more investment into highly trained people to back up the technologies that they already bring to market.
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