A Stable Network for Sensitive Sensors
With meticulous precision, ifm electronic GmbH has adopted SD-WAN by VeloCloud, thereby opting for a flexible and highly available network.
Company Profile
The ifm Group develops, manufactures, and distributes sensors, controllers, and systems for industrial automation in the machine and plant engineering sector worldwide.
High-quality products “Made in Germany”
This medium-sized family-owned company, headquartered in Essen with a production and development facility on Lake Constance, has strong ties to Germany. The majority of its products are developed and manufactured here. With additional international production facilities and branches in over 70 countries, ifm ranks among the global industry leaders.
ifm currently employs approximately 6,700 people worldwide at over 130 locations and offers a wide range of standard and industry-specific solutions on the international market.
Initial Situation
- Lack of sufficient bandwidth to efficiently transfer large amounts of data
- Long startup times
- Zscaler desired as a cloud-based security solution
Results
- Significantly higher bandwidth availability for existing internet connections
- Improved end-user experience
- Fast and easy deployment at over 130 locations
- Secure and fast internet access with Zscaler
Challenges
Due to its wide reach and the need to connect thousands of employees, ifm’s network was extensive and complex. Instead of expensive MPLS connections, ifm used high-quality internet lines and VPN solutions to maintain connectivity.
As part of the digital transformation, the increased use of cloud-based applications led to more frequent performance issues. Since these applications were no longer located in the data center, accessing them via a “hub-and-spoke” architecture was cumbersome. The necessary bandwidth was lacking to meet the requirements for transferring large amounts of data and enabling employees to maintain a productive workflow. The end-user experience was poor, and connections regularly experienced disruptions.
In addition, ifm used a separate router at each location that could not be configured via a central management tool.
For every new network configuration, the routers at each individual location had to be manually configured by a service technician. This increased complexity and resource requirements and led to inefficiencies in managing the entire network.
ifm realized that the current network limitations would have long-term implications for the company. Therefore, ifm decided to find a solution that offers higher bandwidth, good Quality of Service (QoS), and agility.
“We were facing issues with insufficient bandwidth and inconsistent quality, which was no longer acceptable for us as a global and innovative company. To remain competitive and innovative, we needed to optimize our network. T&A SYSTEME helped us implement the necessary changes using VMware SD-WAN.”
Switch to VMware SD-WAN with T&A SYSTEME
Problem-solving
Proof of Concept (POC)
To gain practical experience with the SD-WAN solution, ifm electronic conducted a Germany-wide proof of concept. For this purpose, a preconfigured SD-WAN platform developed by T&A SYSTEME was shipped to three selected ifm locations and commissioned remotely.
In the field test, ifm quickly recognized the benefits of SD-WAN, which are made possible by intelligent link optimization via Dynamic Multipath Optimization. T&A SYSTEME was commissioned to carry out a Germany-wide rollout and another, global proof of concept. The international POC was successful, leading to the global SD-WAN rollout also being commissioned.
Implementation
All branch offices were supplied with SD-WAN equipment. In addition to the VeloCloud Edges, this includes WAN connectivity equipment specially configured by T&A SYSTEME for SD-WAN and each location. Connecting the locations was quick and straightforward. The SD-WAN equipment simply needed to be connected and automatically established a connection to the NSX® SD-WAN Orchestrator by VeloCloud. The devices could be put into operation remotely immediately.
T&A SYSTEME networked all 130 locations of the ifm Group with VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud, provided occasional support with line procurement, and manages the network.
Results
The user experience has improved since the rollout. The network is stable and reliable, employees can work flexibly, and they find the quality of VoIP and video calls, as well as the data transfer speed, to be very satisfactory.
These improvements are made possible by the unique Dynamic Multipath Optimization (DMPO) feature, which enables intelligent, application-specific load balancing.
"With VMware SD-WAN by VeloCloud, we were able to offer the ifm Group a solution that allows them to fully utilize their existing internet connections and future-proof their network. Employees immediately noticed the changes and are very pleased with them."
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