The customer is a Russian financial conglomerate, one of the largest universal banks in Russia and Eastern Europe.
The bank required network infrastructure upgrades in certain branches to tackle the following issues:
— resolving existing structural issues in the architecture of the local area network (LAN);
— enhancing LAN efficiency,
— replacement of obsolete equipment not supported by the manufacturer,
— providing the necessary reliability and fault tolerance levels for LAN,
— adhering to the bank's corporate standards for LAN setup in administrative buildings, both technically and architecturally,
— enforcing the bank's security protocols,
— optimizing time and staff resources for service, detection, and localization,
— resolving incidents during LAN operation.
To achieve this, the company sought the expertise of ICL Services.Key Challenges
- Inspect the operational locations
- Develop and approve a technical solution for replacement of active LAN equipment for each location
- Prepare and perform construction and installation (including marshalling works and optical and electrical patchcord installation)
- Perform commissioning on the LAN of the facilities taking into account the current settings of LAN active network equipment, the approved technical solution and ensuring the continuity of the bank's business processes
- Develop a set of as-built documentation of LAN for each facility
- Dismantle the existing active network equipment
Implemented our solution
The project kicked off in August 2022.
First, a team comprising a project manager, four architects, 17 data center infrastructure engineers, and 15 field support engineers was assembled: they handled the installation of network equipment and network cable connections.
The field support engineers also took on the role of team leads managing on-site subcontractor engineers who were also involved in installation and network cable connection. Over 100 third-party engineers from the contractor were engaged in the projects across 11 cities.
Inspections of the bank branches were conducted in September and October 2022. The engineering team and field support installation teams visited each bank branch slated for LAN upgrades, gathering data on the current situation: equipment in use, its location and configuration, as well as the status of power supply and available space in server room racks and cabinets. Engineers and structured cabling system professionals visited 20 bank branches in 11 Russian cities.
From October to December 2022, as updates on the status of the facilities were received, the development of technical solutions for LAN upgrades commenced.
A technical plan and work timeline for equipment replacement were drawn up for each facility. The project design and timeline had to consider:
— The bank's corporate standards for LAN setup
— Security policy stipulations
— Existing configurations of active network equipment
— Requirements to ensure uninterrupted bank business operations
The technical plan and timeline for each facility underwent a process of review and approval.
Replacement of the equipment began in December 2022.
An equipment delivery schedule for each facility was devised, factoring in the warehouse space constraints and the work timeline. Upon receiving a shipment of the equipment, its preliminary setup and testing were carried out to minimize the time required for immediate launch of the new equipment and to reduce LAN downtime. Equipment replacement was planned exclusively for night hours and/or weekends.
The equipment replacement process involved disassembling the existing structured cabling network switching, removal of the existing equipment, installation of new equipment, rerouting the structured cabling network to the new equipment, and testing LAN functionality in accordance with the infrastructure upgrade project.
By June 2023, all planned work was successfully completed.
However, various challenges were encountered during the project implementation, specifically:
— There were frequent delays and rescheduling of work and technical gaps due to the client's failure to approve internal business processes
— Work was often stalled in some cities due to the relocation of the client's employees: works could not proceed until all employees had moved to the new office
— Duration of the work and additional business trips increased due to the client's failure to provide necessary materials on time
— The work by ICL Services professionals was directly dependent on the contractors tasked with upgrading the structured cabling network or power supply system
Strict limitations were placed on work hours due to the bank's 24/7 services (ATM service team, call center, etc.).
Products and technologies
- Corporate, campus, and office data networks
- Cisco, Huawei Switches
Results
- The LANs in 19 bank branches across 11 cities were upgraded on schedule.
- Existing structural issues in the LAN architecture were resolved.
- LAN performance was enhanced and the required reliability and fault tolerance of the LAN were achieved.
- Security policy requirements which could not be implemented with the old equipment were successfully put into place
- LAN maintenance labor costs were reduced.
- The number of LAN operation incidents has decreased.