Hybrid Networks – a case study..

In continuing with our security series, the following is part one of a case study for a small business client of Aquafruit Media.

Small business
Technology in small business is big business. With small business in Australia accounting for 96% of all businesses and with technology playing a vital part within the day to day operations of almost any business (particularly within creative industries), it’s not only imperative that technology works well; it’s imperative that it work’s consistency.

Enter Aquafruit Media.
Aquafruit was approached for a web design makeover for an interior design company (We will call them Interiors). After minor email correspondence the first meeting was scheduled and attended.

Whilst in the middle of this initial meeting, it was apparent that the computer network for Interiors was undergoing minor issues. Issues that had been re-occurring consistently over the space of at least 6 months – that had been repeatedly fixed (by several different technicians) and were causing cascading issues as well.

After posing the question of “who looks after your technology”, the conversation moved into more of a total technology solution as well as defining Interiors need for a web site. It also came to light that there had been two previous attempts at building a web site as well.

The end of the conversation – “please supply a proposal for all of our technology services and a new web site presence”.

The requirements.
Stability, consistency and ease of use. In a nutshell.

Interiors is an interior design company. As such, the complexities of their business are wide and varied. Whilst they have all the same basic needs of a small business, (financial, communication, file storage, printing, internet access, security, stability, disaster recovery etc) they also have special requirements – particularly when it comes to supply chain management.

In dealing with everything from surfaces to fabrics, colors to tints, shades, patterns, materials, architecture and so on, dealing with suppliers and vendors on a day to day business can be complex. Tracking them on a project by project basis can also be challenging.

The Basics.
SME networks are usually simple in topology design for several reasons. Firstly, they  are normally small and therefore, less complex. In it’s basic format, a simple network will consist of a gateway to the internet, a central server (file, storage, print etc), client machines (mac, windows, desktops, laptops) and a printer or two.

More Complexity.
Up until the last 8 years, this was considered the norm. Now, there are also a few additional complexities added in including; spam/anti-virus filters, VoIP phones, integrated phone systems, mobile devices (PDA’s, iPhone, Blackberry, Smart Phones etc) add on storage (NAS or SAN) and the inclusion of wireless as well as wired networks.

In this diagram, you will notice several things.

• more services (hence more devices)
• more devices (hence more support required)
• more integration (hence more complexity)
• more knowledge from a support perspective

Interiors requirements are a little more complicated due to the software requirements (which are not detailed here) – from a supply chain management perspective as well as the day to day running of the business.

In our next article, we will discuss the old and the new ..

Warm regards,
Scott Malpass
Aquafruit Media