Inside CHOGM's IT network design

Challenges

The CHOGM network challenges were logistical and service-level, rather than technically - oriented.

With regional attention focused on the outcomes of the meeting, Yin conceded part of the challenge was the pressure to keep the network up.

"I was there for the [leadership] retreat physically to make sure all was OK," he said.

The ASG team ran morning and evening checks on the network to make sure everything went smoothly.

"I came in one morning and found everything had rebooted itself because somebody had forgotten to stop all the Microsoft updates in that build," Yin said.

"That was on the day setting up for the conferences so we fixed that up by six o'clock before anyone came in."

Being responsible for IT at an event like CHOGM also means addressing user issues in real-time.

"If a user had a problem we can't get back to them in our usual four to six-hour type SLA structure," an ASG spokeswoman said.

"Everything had to be handled quickly there."

Yin said that the CHOGM taskforce - the organisers of the meeting - were given priority during the event itself.

"They were probably the most important customers at that time because they were highly stressed," Yin said.

"We made sure they were always looked after well".

Delegates and media with IT problems called a helpdesk, answered by support staff in Canberra who, if necessary, escalated to ASG staff on the ground in Perth, including Yin and ASG's other CHOGM project manager, Cheryl Goodall.

Yin said a third-level support team in ASG's Perth office stood ready to assist.