Expand Networks Wins Space Engineering As WAN Optimisation Boosts Customer Service Levels
SYDNEY, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Expand Networks, a leading provider of application acceleration solutions over the Wide Area Network (WAN), today announced Space Engineering Services, a facilities management company and provider of refrigeration, HVAC, mechanical and electrical services to the UK's large supermarkets and retailers, has implemented Expand's WAN Optimisation technology. The integrated technology has improved the performance of the WAN and is accelerating the organisation's business critical applications, enhancing the customer experience of their client base whilst maximising the cost and productivity of existing network assets.
Space Engineering has seen an increased reliance on IT systems and web traffic since its inception in 1988. As a rapidly growing organisation, the increased traffic levels placed a huge strain on its WAN infrastructure, which struggled to cope with the added pressure of delivering critical applications to its dispersed workforce. In particular, large engineering CAD files sent via e-mail became very bandwidth intensive, whilst sensitive Citrix applications became dominated by more aggressive applications causing congestion. Space Engineering looked to WAN Optimisation technologies to alleviate the problem, as Adam Bess, IT Manager at Space Engineering Services explains:
"Our refrigeration systems are the lifeblood of our retail customer base, and as a support and maintenance company, our administration, customer services and engineering teams have strict SLAs to adhere to. Slow and cumbersome communications and applications was simply not an option and we quickly turned to WAN Optimisation specialists, Expand to help us improve network performance across the business."
The integrated WAN optimisation technology within Expand's platform has enabled Space Engineering Services to immediately compress and accelerate traffic across the WAN and put the users in virtual proximity of applications as Adam Bess comments:
"The optimisation capabilities of the platform quickly delivered the bandwidth increase we required, significantly improving throughput on our WAN. In addition, Layer 7 QoS technology gave us visibility within the Citrix/ICA protocol to prioritise the server-based applications, protecting our business critical Citrix applications from congestion, and at the same time, acceleration techniques overcame any latency. Whilst we anticipated the significant impact the technology would have on our e-mail application and web-traffic, we were amazed by the success of Expand's platform when it came to Citrix-based applications, which are notoriously tricky to accelerate."
Alongside the efficiency benefits experienced as a whole, the WAN Optimisation solution has enabled Space Engineering Services to make increased efficiency gains, whilst maximising existing networking infrastructure to add to the bottom line.
Mike Betz, VP Sales EMEA at Expand Networks comments, "In the current economic climate, many organisations, particularly in the retail sector, are under increased pressure to reduce margins. For service-oriented businesses like Space Engineering Services, increased productivity is critical. This is where WAN Optimisation solutions can afford real efficiency gains across the whole organisation, which can inevitably be sold back to customers.
WAN infrastructure is a costly central overhead if not managed appropriately. Space Engineering Services understood this, and by utilising Expand's technology they have now maximised their existing network investments, and now have better visibility of all network traffic, enabling them to better plan for future projects and understand where further efficiency gains can be made."
About Expand Networks
Expand Networks is the pioneer and leader in the WAN Optimization market and is positioned by Gartner Inc. in the ‘Leaders' quadrant in its Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers, 2007[i]. Expand helps organizations simplify their IT infrastructure while delivering remote offices fast, reliable and secure access to networked applications. This results in improved user productivity and cost-effective IT management. Expand offers a multi-service integrated platform that ensures superior performance for any application over any network. From its headquarters in Roseland, NJ and its global locations, Expand Networks (www.expand.com) serves more than 3,500 enterprise and public sector customers in over 100 countries including: American Express, Bacardi USA, BMW, Continental Airlines, Carr America, Colgate, Elizabeth Arden, Reed Exhibitions, Target and United States Department of Defense with over 40,000 units deployed and over 2,000 MS Terminal Services and Citrix customers. Expand is the largest supplier of WAN Optimization products to US Government and Military agencies (greater than 6,000 units) and also has the most units deployed at a single corporate location, (4,500).
[i] Gartner Research "Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers 2007" by Andy Rolfe and Joe Skorupa. Published December 14, 2007. Report ID Number G00153256
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