Case Study – One of the UK’s largest Independent retailers

Our client is one of the largest independent retailers in the UK, with over 400 trading outlets, a family of around 8,600 colleagues and more than 330,000 regular trading members, working together to provide benefits for their members and customers.

They trade across 16 counties from the Midlands to the East Coast – through more than 250 food stores, 100-plus funeral homes, plus filling stations, post offices, travel branches, florists, opticians, masonry outlets, a crematorium and even a coffin factory. Their vision is to be the UK’s best, by making a real difference to its members and it’s our communities.

The Challenge

Due the issues over bandwidth and the future demands of wireless connectivity over the existing Wi-Fi network our client was looking for a solution to upgrade the wireless network to meet these demands, allow remote monitoring and upgrades and provide a 24/7 SLA backed remote and on-site support facility with a fail-safe cut over service.
The requirement was for minimum disruption to branch activity with all deployment work to be completed within a single day at each site and a full understanding of the upgraded network and wireless propagation. The client and their connectivity provider partnered with ISG technology to design and implement the solution in the UK.

Deployment Solution

The product solution was based on an Aruba solution involving dual controller management with in store over 1,000 Aruba wireless Access Point’s. ISG agreed to complete a pre-deployment desk-based survey using AirMagnet© Survey Pro (Planner Module) to determine optimum AP locations. A set of basic design, signal strength and coverage parameters were agreed and fed into the model.
ISG remote support was set-up to support the on site teams and apply the configurations for the access points to communicate with the main and backup wireless controllers.
All solutions we rigorously tested, configured and installed by ISG technology in line with our client’s corporate standards, over 350 separate store designs were agreed. All deployment was completed within the day required and supported by ISG’s support desk.
Post installation a survey was conducted using Air Magnet© Survey comparing planner surveys with actual results. In 350 store deployments, not a single additional AP was required, bringing deployment in, on time and on budget.

Managed Support

A seamless transition to remote support was agreed. Monitoring of the estate was via the Aruba Central Device Management Dashboard. ISG’s support desk provide remote support and diagnostics to the estate including software & configuration management and firmware upgrades.
ISG provides a 4-hr on site 24/7 support to the client, mapping priority of events, lifetime Return to Base (RTB) warranty and vendor management/call escalation to third party suppliers. Where an issue is determined to require an engineering visit ISG will dispatch and engineer to site and where required replace and return equipment to manufacturer managing the RMA process. ISG provides monthly reporting of incidents and assesses opportunities for improvement.

Business Benefits

  • ISG’s experienced and professional engineers minimised the impact of the works on the customer’s day to day operations.
  • ISG’s experienced and professional engineers minimised the impact of the works on the customer’s day to day operations.
  • Rapid and seamless deployment and though ISG’s expertise in multi-site roll outs.
  • Standard WLAN platform across the entire estate making it easier to manage and update.
  • Optimised WLAN design through the use of sophisticated planning and survey tools
  • Simple, timely and effective reporting and communication with our client’s project stakeholders and Quality Assurance representatives.

Our client now has a fully end to end managed solution providing full ongoing support to the entire estate.
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