Ster-Kinekor Theatres has settled on using IT services company, I-Fusion, to deploy and maintain its networking infrastructure, including cabling and hubs, across 50 of its local movie theatres.
With traffic on these networks taking the form of ticket bookings and catering orders, the organisation requires its networks to be up and running all the time. "As I-Fusion is branched across the entire country, technicians can get to any of our theatres within minutes - ensuring a fast turn around time.
"However we have not yet had the need to test them," says Rob Haynes, systems manager for Ster-Kinekor Theatres. "Since the start of the deployment we have not had a single minute downtime on any of the newly installed products."
Apart from I-Fusion`s national presence, Haynes also cites competitive pricing as a key reason for awarding the contract. "Ster-Kinekor was looking to obtain service and products at a reasonable cost without sacrificing expertise," he says. "I-Fusion enables us to provide our customers with good service and timeous installations."
Each theatre has its own LAN, with I-Fusion providing the infrastructure to enable the network connectivity utilising mainly 3Com and Krone. "Depending on the size and needs of a particular cinema we designed a solution that will allow for future growth," says Dennis Southee, network consultant at I-Fusion. "To date we have installed 45 sites to the value of R1 000 000,00."
Haynes points out that this is but the start of the transformation process for Ster-Kinekor Theatres. "Not all the theatres possess the same equipment therefore we need to implement new technology gradually. I-Fusion has the expertise to coach us through this process - particularly in areas where our own specialists lack knowledge," Haynes says.
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