Background
South Africa has some of the most expensive bandwidth in the world. Coupled with frequently unreliable connectivity and unpredictable speeds, this poses a challenge for multi-branch businesses that run multiple applications.
PPS was facing similar problems with connectivity, and a lack of visibility and control over their networks. A new branch could take 90 to 120 days to get online, a testament to an ageing and increasingly expensive network that just couldn’t keep pace with their growing needs.
For more than 75 years, Johannesburg-based PPS has provided tailor-made insurance, investment, and healthcare services to professionals . PPS’ 1,600 employees in 25 branches across South Africa and Namibia, work hard to provide a highly responsive, confidential, and personal service to members and their families. But in order to do so, PPS needed more reliable network connectivity.
As a business that prides itself on providing great services for their members, however their network just wasn’t helping them deliver on their business promise.
Network issues in a nutshell
- Speed: 3 – 4 months to get a new branch online
- No visibility of what was going on across their network
- Cost: Their network size on an MPLS network was just not economical
- The quality and performance of the network was not keeping up with their business needs
Tackling PPS’ network issues
With growing connectivity issues and key infrastructure up for a refresh, PPS decided to move much of its applications to the cloud and engaged Intelys to implement a next generation network for the business.
Intelys took the time to understand their business. This meant unpacking their exact requirements, taking into account their existing investments, before architecting a network solution specifically tailored to meet PPS’ needs.
PPS’ network needs
- Site availability – they need to be up 100% of the time
- More bandwidth and at a good price
- Resilience
- Performance
- Speed and reliability are critical
Recommendations
Intelys recommended PPS implement Citrix SD-WAN as the most suitable technology, and managed the design, implementation and transition end to end to deliver a software defined network to meet and exceed the requirements that PPS identified were crucial to create an IT platform for growth, innovation, and new products and services.
Why was Intelys the right choice for PPS?
- They architected a network solution unique to PPS
- They built a business case clearly articulating the ROI for Board approval
- Intelys managed the full solution and the transition from end to end
Outcome/result
Intelys deliver the solution as a fully-managed service so PPS haven’t had to invest more resources and can rely on them to manage the network transition and solution delivery.
“So far, it’s been a great success, says Head of IT Operations, Derik Scheepers. “We’ve cut costs, reduced business risk, and our people have a much more stable platform to do what they do best — looking after our members.”
“Our network is much more stable and reliable so our people are able to concentrate on working for members. In fact, they’re completely unaware that the technology is operating in the background, constantly selecting the best route that will deliver our data at high speed.”
