What were some of the challenges?
Mat: The zoo has some flaky power issues. We have had some instances where it has failed across to [DR] because the power has just gone out. We’re on a 24-7 service and when Ashlen called us up we had people out here within 30 minutes sorting out what was going on.
We have an engineer always on standby but that’s more of a reactive service as opposed to the monitoring and stuff. We also had the phone system drop a disk just recently. That’s no longer covered by Cisco and they said, “Can’t help you”.
Ashlen: I have to take my hat off to Subnet. They express-freighted parts out of Melbourne. We only had about five hours of downtime. The [Subnet] guys all reacted, from the desktop engineer right to the senior guys. They were all ready and good to go. We all had ideas. We had solutions and backup solutions, just to get that phone system up and running. They treated it far more critically than I would. I have to take my hat off to them on that.
Service turnaround time with Subnet is excellent. I’ve worked around the world with hosted and managed service companies. I haven’t found one that’s so personal, where they deliver a service on that level – not just “We were here for five hours, there’s your invoice. End.” The [Subnet] guys would see the job to the next day.
One of the Subnet engineers that I’ve worked very closely with, Kris, has been my advisor. He’s been very influential with the zoo. His advice, I think, is paramount to our success as well. We work very closely together [with Subnet staff]. I guess it’s all the late nights which mean we’ve developed a bond.
What’s coming up?
Ashlen: We recently did a complete network infrastructure audit. We’re under lease with Cisco with our current infrastructure until June. We’re at that critical phase now.
With the help of Subnet business development manager Mark Johnson’s sales team and Mat and the engineers, we’ve come up with a list of materials and pricing. Mark’s been really great with the negotiating with Cisco. We’ve got three options at our disposal. We know that we can’t get it any better than that – I’ve done the maths and I’ve made the calls myself.
After we purchase these items, [Subnet will] play a bigger role in setting them up. This time round, we’re going to iron out a few old gremlins in the systems as well as in the switching technology.
We’ve got a long-term plan for the zoo as well. Everything we do now needs to make room for the next 10 years. For example, we’re doing 10Gbps fibre runs between the two switches in order to support our infrastructure.
Zoo-wide, we’re now at a phase where we’re undergoing something called a master plan, as approved now by the board and leadership. According to that plan, Adelaide Zoo is going to change radically. We’ll have upgraded facilities. The services that we’re going to be offering are really beyond first world. We’re looking to take on the Singapore Zoos and surpass them, in technology especially.
The relationship seems to cover both managed to professional services. Is that right?
Mat: Yes, it is, we go from high-end projects to sitting and changing cable.
Ashlen: It’s a robust and diverse relationship. We are a large-scale enterprise operation. But on-site, it’s just myself and my helper. I rely on the 35 people at Subnet. On-site, I don’t look like much but I’ve really got a massive team behind me. Even when I’m not here, I can walk away and trust that Kris and the boys have got it all under control.
THE CUSTOMER
Zoos South Australia
Established: 1883
Locations: Adelaide, Monarto
Industry sector: Wildlife, Conservation
THE SUPPLIER
Subnet
Established: 2000
Headcount: 30+
Location: Forestville, South Australia
Specialty: Managed services, professional services, networking, cloud
THE PROJECT
Situation: Adelaide Zoo didn’t even have an IT team, and its infrastructure was in dire need of updating
Technology deployed: Networking, servers, backup, telephony
Vendors: IBM servers, Veeam backup & DR, Cisco networking, Microsoft Lync
Outcome: Subnet ushered in a new era of technology by overhauling the zoo’s server farm, implementing better networking and unified communications, and improving backup and disaster recovery
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