Oil Company's Network Moves at the Speed of Business with WWT Managed Services

When an oil company grew through acquisition, it needed a better way to monitor and maintain network performance across more drilling and office sites. 

After trying to manage branch environments using disparate technologies, the client decided to standardize on Cisco Meraki SD-WAN. The cloud-first capabilities of Meraki would allow for the fast and easy provisioning of infrastructure across hundreds of sites, but the client had limited IT resources to deploy and manage its network end to end.

Solution

WWT customized a managed services offering that has enabled the successful deployment and ongoing operations of the client's network for the past four years. Services include:

• Network design and deployment.
• 24/7/365 monitoring and alerting.
• Incident and change management during non-business hours.
• Proactive risk identification.
• CCIE-certified solutions architects available for escalations and consulting.
• Detailed reporting and analytics.

Outcomes and benefits

Only working what matters: WWT tooling filters out noise generated from the client's alerting system. On average, for every 40 alerts generated by the system, only one is a genuine incident. Members of the client's IT team no longer spend time chasing false positives, allowing them to operate more efficiently. Rapid and accurate incident identification also eliminates the risk of incidents falling through the cracks and compromising security or degrading network performance as a result. 

Fewer changes, fewer risks: Since WWT has managed networking services, yearly changes to the client's IT environment have decreased 43 percent. This decrease has reduced the potential for human errors during the change management process, lessening the introduction of risk into the client's environment. Fewer changes also mean less disruption to the business.

A network that's getting better all the time: Overall network availability for the company has trended up each year WWT has managed services, equating to less downtime across all devices and sites. When WWT first managed services, network availability was at 99.75 percent; now it's at 99.963 percent. Even slight increases in availability have a business impact as any interruption in drilling operations can lead to missed production targets and revenue losses.

-Andrew Wozniak, Senior Director, Cisco Americas Partner Managed Services Organization

Areas of expertise

Transformation isn't simply a technology decision. Such undertakings demand the right mix of technology, people, capabilities and areas of expertise. 

Here's what the solution required:

• Wireless site surveys.
• Network infrastructure design and architecture.
• Data center consolidation and colocation strategy.
• Failover and resiliency testing.
• Product configuration, kitting, staging and shipping.
• Branch refreshes.
• Vendor management.
• 24/7/365 proactive monitoring and management.

How we did it

With over 30 years of experience helping the world's largest public and private organizations, we know what's required to create new realities for our clients. Here's how we did it for this client.

We dove deep to understand network intricacies

Before it standardized on Cisco Meraki, the client needed an accurate picture of site requirements. This was difficult because sites varied significantly (e.g., large offices versus remote drilling sites). WWT architects surveyed sites to come up with "t-shirt sizing." Grouping sites based on the number of users, recommended bandwidth and integration complexity allowed for streamlined and accelerated refreshes.

We designed an architecture that meets current and future  needs

While the client's immediate need was standardizing its SD-WAN infrastructure, we wanted to deliver a comprehensive architecture that could grow with the business. We designed an architecture that will allow the client to consolidate its legacy data center infrastructure by moving to Equinix. Meraki switches and routers can live inside Equinix data centers for world-class redundancy, resiliency and scalability. As the company grows, it can easily add network devices inside of Equinix.

We implemented technology on a global scale 

Since taking over the management of the company's network, we've deployed the Cisco Meraki stack at about 50 locations. Leveraging our supply chain and integration capabilities, Meraki equipment is procured, configured, kitted and staged before being shipped to the sites. From there, WWT handles all onsite implementation. This streamlined approach to technology deployment has allowed the company to broaden its network refreshes.

We provided hands-on management coupled with flexible support

WWT manages every aspect of the company's network — from day-to-day monitoring to proactively identifying risks to providing access to solutions architects who are experts in everything Meraki. And while the company's IT organization no longer has to worry about network management, it hasn't lost control of its network. The client isn't locked into inflexible, long-term commitments and always has access to their environments. 

How can we help you?

WWT Managed Services are rooted in best practices, industry standards and decades of enterprise delivery experience. While conventional managed services can lock you into long-term commitments and out of your environment, WWT Managed Services are designed to give you freedom and flexibility.