CASE STUDY
Germains shines a light into its global network with Highlight from NetEvidence was having data problems and speed issues or if people were hammering the lines, I had no way of seeing what was happening. So we went direct to NetEvidence.”
Solution
www.germains.com
Overview
Germains Seed Technology, part of Associated British Foods, exists to help its customers maximise the productivity and costeffectiveness of their crops. Created almost 150 years ago in California, Germains has grown to become the world’s largest independent seed technology company and today operates in over nine locations across six countries – United Kingdom, Holland, Spain, China, Poland and the USA. The company employs the latest technological and biological tools and techniques to significantly enhance the natural potential of seed. Germains has extended its use of the Highlight reporting tool from NetEvidence to provide clarity and visibility into its full network infrastructure. The Highlight tool ensures Germains delivers a world-class network to its multinational organisation spanning eight locations in five countries. Most recently, Germains has invested in a hybrid multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) and public network solution to deliver high-speed connectivity to its remote offices and deliver better control over its applications. NetEvidence’s Highlight is in place to provide visibility via a single point GUI across the company’s entire IP infrastructure.
Need
As a global seed technology company, many of Germains sites are located in isolated agricultural areas. These remote sites often have issues with their networks and data communications and in the past, Germains had no way of identifying where the problems were originating. Adam Fairless, IT Operations Manager at Germains says, “Our network service provider was not very forthcoming about what they were providing. They gave us their standard network reporting tool but it was impossible to understand. We were unable to see what was happening or get information on how the routers and networks were performing. It was like working in the dark.” He expands, “Visualisation and reporting of data was a major issue. If I had a problem relating to a new line, if a business
NetEvidence began working with Germains about three years ago. As Germains’ business has grown and evolved to use more IP services, NetEvidence’s services have been extended to wrap around the network and ensure that Germains delivers fast and dependable communications across its global operation. “The new MPLS link to our US operation in Gilroy, California spans nearly 9000 miles,” continues Fairless. “It is very expensive and we needed to ensure it worked at full efficiency. With Highlight, I can keep a close eye on how it is operating and Highlight’s graphical display lets me see at a glance when the traffic is flowing correctly or if anything is amiss.” From Germains’ IT operations centre in Norfolk in the UK, Fairless and his team can see instantly using Highlight’s colour coded charts if any part of the global network has a downtime or if a router is not working correctly or is overworked. Fairless adds, “In the early days, Highlight revealed that a London router was so overworked, it was dropping half of its traffic - we had been totally unaware of the problem and invested quickly in a new router. And when someone calls up to say the network is slow, I can report on what is actually going on within seconds. The Highlight tool is invaluable.”
Results
Fairless identifies that managing his network providers had been an issue in the past. “A major benefit of Highlight is that we can keep our network provider honest. I can see instantly what is going on and I don’t require a degree in monitoring software to understand how it works. This visualisation into our networks is vital.” Since using Highlight, Germains has made positive changes to its network including the upgrade to the London routers based on actual usage feedback. Highlight’s detailed reports ensure Germains has accurate and timely knowledge to make informed decisions and to take a commanding position when dealing with service providers.
CASE STUDY
“The relationship with NetEvidence has been an end to end success,” concludes Fairless. “With a tool like Highlight, our small team in Norfolk can deliver excellent support across our
About NetEvidence NetEvidence has been in operation for 10+ years and works with T1 Service Providers through to boutique VARs. 6000 enterprise networks representing 40% of the FTSE100 across 63 countries rely on Highlight to give unprecedented levels of visibility into the performance of their networks and applications. Highlight is a telco-grade solution reporting on the things customers actually care about, such as expensive, heavyweight applications that support the business, in a way they can properly understand in management level reporting. This enables trust and a solid relationship to be built that gains and retains customers – Highlight reduces customer churn by 4x.
complex global network. We can ensure the network and our applications work at optimum performance and can maintain high service levels to our businesses. In fact, I’d go as far to say that Highlight is our most valued and important tool in the IT operation.”
With Highlight, I can keep a close eye on how it (the network) is operating and Highlight’s graphical display lets me see at a glance when the traffic is flowing correctly or if anything is amiss. Adam Fairless, IT Operations Manager
“
“
www.net-evidence.com Copyright © 2010 NetEvidence (SLM) Ltd All rights reserved. Highlight and the Highlight logo are registered trademarks of Net Evidence (SLM) Ltd. All other trademarks are the properties of NetEvidence or their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change without notice and NetEvidence reserves the right to change product specifications without notice.