When Barloworld decided to move its PPC head office from Parktown to its head office campus in Sandton, it was also taking on the major challenge of relocating key components of the group`s WAN infrastructure including the core campus switch.
The project was made more challenging by the fact that there was a fixed deadline. The building in Parktown had been sold and PPC had to be out by 1 March.
The fact that this was completed within the deadline and without major hiccups, highlights the value of strong partnerships between client and suppliers, says project manager and Barnet Network Manager, Collin Kally.
"This was a project that could only have been successful if the key players were involved from the start. The initial planning started in September and had to take into account the end of year holiday period. We`re a 24/7 group so our planning had to be meticulous and the switchover seamless. The only option was to go with a `Big Bang` approach and as a result of proper planning, the roll-out proved to be very successful in the end.
"The project entailed the rerouting of some 70 virtual circuits for PPC sites around the country and the WAN connectivity to the other four business units previously utilising the Parktown WAN node services. Coupled with this was the challenge of getting a new R3 million data centre ready at the main Barloworld campus," says Kally.
Barnet is the WAN service provider for the Barloworld group, which transacts over a common shared platform. The multinational Barloworld group comprises numerous industrial and service brands including PPC, Avis, Plascon, Robor and more. It employs 23 000 people in 32 countries with an annual turnover of nearly R35 billion.
Barnet`s technology partner, Business Connexion, was a key player in planning the migration. The first step in the migration was the delivery of the necessary infrastructure to various sites in Sandton.
"During this critical period, risk needed to be kept to an absolute minimum, so in terms of our strong relationship with Barloworld, Business Connexion and its vendor Nortel, loaned the necessary components for the transition period. We enabled the key WAN components to be in place before the physical move," says Billy Bezuidenhout, Business Connexion Network Consultant.
The next step was the physical relocation of some 300 PPC staff and 30 servers from Parktown to Barloworld Corporate Office in Sandton. This was followed by the major data centre moves including Nortel routers, Lucent Frame Relay WAN backbone switch and the PPC Parktown Campus LAN components.
The plan included a bedding down period to ensure that fallback options were always available to reduce any risk exposure. Disaster recovery formed part of the migration process and fortunately did not need to be invoked.
"For me, the most gratifying thing was having users call me to ask when the switchover was going to take place, when if fact it had already happened and they hadn`t noticed. It`s all about proper planning and the right partnerships," concludes Kally.
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