"We had been adding to the network bit by bit over five or six years and as a result it had become very fragmented," said IT manager, James Dane. "It was giving us performance problems because it was using old technology, for example 10 Megabit networking which was up to100 times slower than the best newer versions. Data sometimes had to run through four or five switches to get from A to B which further affected performance.

"Users were getting frustrated and that had a direct result on productivity because they had lost faith in what they considered to be an unreliable computer system."

When they finally made the decision to upgrade the system, Alexander Forbes called in HP Elite Partner ADA Computer Systems. Based on performance and cost, ADA recommended a ProCurve Networking solution. They were supported by HP's Procurve Networking Business division for whom this represented a significant step into The City's financial services sector.

ADA installed structured cabling for the new building with over 800 Category 5E outlets for voice and data along with a Gigabit fibre backbone across two floors of the new building. The legacy network infrastructure was replaced with a fault tolerant ProCurve Networking backbone. VLANS (Virtual Local Area Networks) were then used to segment network traffic and all servers were connected over Gigabit Ethernet to multiple switch paths on HP ProCurve 5300xl series and 2650 switches.

A new, highly resilient UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) solution was provided to improve business continuity in the event of power failure. The move was completed successfully over a weekend and ADA also deployed an infra-red laser link to deliver connectivity back to a small number of users who had stayed in the old building.

"Although as a group, we have a leaning towards Cisco network solutions we are given autonomy and when we compared Cisco with HP, the ProCurve Networking solution came out on top in terms of both price and performance," added Dane. "The performance of the network is now much faster and the lifetime warranty with ProCurve is another great advantage. Although we have never had one failure with HP networks it is a comfort to know that the equipment is covered by such a comprehensive warranty.

"We have not actually worked out the business benefit in financial terms but having already saved on Cisco prices with our initial investment we find that ProCurve's reliability has increased staff trust and therefore made our business more efficient."

• Networking in the Croydon offices of City financiers Alexander Forbes had grown piecemeal over the years and had become fragmented
• Performance was so slow that staff had lost confidence in it and this was affecting office productivity
• When Alexander Forbes decided to move to new premises it was the ideal time to seek a fresh solution

• Forbes called in HP elite partner ADA Computer Systems who proposed a ProCurve Networking solution
• This serves over 800 access points and provides a fault tolerant environment with increased speed and delivery to the desk.
• ADA also provided an infra red link connecting back to the old building for staff who had remained there.

• The ProCurve Networking solution has dramatically increased performance compared to the old network .
• This has given staff more confidence in the computer system which has increased productivity and improved business throughput.
• Forbes enjoys peace of mind, knowing that the ProCurve Networking equipment comes with a long term warranty.

When you are ready to explore the benefits a ProCurve Networking solution can offer you, call HP at 1-800-975-7682.

To learn more about ProCurve Networking's Adaptive EDGE Architecture™ solutions, visit our home page.

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