“We work with intangible things, so we need computing and communications systems that will allow us to create, manage, manipulate and move lots of complex information, quickly and accurately,” says Mark Porter, Network Services Manager for CUNA Mutual Group. The company has taken advantage of local area networking (LAN) technology for nearly 20 years, evolving from Token Ring to Ethernet technologies. When it came time to update its network again, CUNA Mutual Group chose ProCurve Switch 5400zl series for the company’s network edge, selecting the ProCurve switches for their reliability, feature set – including Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Gigabit connectivity to the desktop. The standards-based ProCurve switches interoperate with CUNA Mutual Group’s Cisco-based network core and Avaya voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) solution.
When CUNA Mutual Group’s seven-year-old Cisco network edge switches were ready for normal lifecycle replacement, Porter decided to initiate a complete request for proposals (RFP) process. Some of the requirements of the RFP were that the networking equipment support and provide excellent quality of service (QoS) control for the company’s existing Avaya VoIP system; be reliable; that it deliver PoE to the desktop; and that it offer good value for the money.
After extensive research that included verifying their options with leading industry analysts and confirming the financial health of prospective vendors, CUNA Mutual Group narrowed the contenders to Cisco and ProCurve Networking by HP. “We brought in equipment from each vendor for a side-by-side bake-off,” says Porter. “We were impressed with both vendors’ equipment, but in the end we chose the ProCurve Switch 5400 because it offered even more than what we required, as well as superior value.”
CUNA Mutual Group replaced 220 stackable Cisco switches with about 84 chassis-and-blade ProCurve 5400 switches.
Although both the Cisco and ProCurve equipment met the technical requirements outlined in CUNA Mutual Group’s RFP, the ProCurve equipment presented a notable point of difference: The ProCurve 5400 switches offer Gigabit connectivity to the desktop as a standard feature, whereas the Cisco equipment offered only 10/100 connectivity.
“Gigabit connectivity was not a requirement – the RFP specified only 10/100 capability – but by providing the advantage of Gigabit performance without any extra cost, we feel we are future-proofing our network edge,” says Porter.
ProCurve’s industry-leading lifetime warranty* was another factor in the decision, representing both additional cost savings and future-proofing. Additionally, CUNA Mutual Group appreciated that ProCurve did not make the company pay for features it did not need.
In the summer of 2006, CUNA Mutual Group opened a new office in Fort Worth, designed to take over as the company’s primary call center facility. In this new office, the company selected and deployed its first VoIP system to support the office’s 150 employees.
CUNA Mutual Group chose Avaya as its VoIP provider, and compatibility with and support for Avaya was another requirement that the ProCurve equipment was able to meet. ProCurve’s approach to converged media (i.e., combining data, voice, video, etc. over a common IP infrastructure) is to focus on the network infrastructure so that customers can choose the best-of-breed solutions that work best for them.
A strong commitment to industry standards – not only supporting them, but also working to help shape and propagate them – is one of ProCurve’s fundamental values. Standards support enabled the ProCurve switches to interoperate with the Avaya VoIP system.
“We look for deeper relationships with our IT vendors, and we’re not scared of multivendor environments, within limits,” says Porter. “We believe that by using a couple of main vendors, the incumbent is less able to become complacent.”
Still, deciding to add ProCurve edge devices while maintaining a Cisco network core was not an easy choice. “My staff was concerned that if something didn’t work in the network, there might be more finger-pointing than problem-solving,” says Porter. “Those fears proved to be unfounded. We have experienced no significant problems integrating the ProCurve equipment into our environment.”
During the deployment of the ProCurve 5400 switches, a total of 12,000 ports were converted – and CUNA Mutual Group’s IT staff received fewer than 10 support calls, most of which were due to incompatible equipment that Porter was just as happy to identify and replace.
“The deployment of the ProCurve equipment went so smoothly, I had the luxury of standing back and just watching things happen,” says Porter. “I am very happy with our purchase decision. I feel we are getting excellent value from the ProCurve products, with even more features than we originally specified. And so far, the reliability has been great.”
CUNA Mutual Group has also discovered it can rely on ProCurve’s support and expertise. During the proof of concept phase, the company was impressed that ProCurve sent a highly qualified system engineer (SE) to its sites several times.
“The SE knew technically how to integrate ProCurve equipment into a Cisco world,” says Karl Lasse, Senior Network Analyst at CUNA Mutual Group. “We had to be sure to get it right, and the ProCurve SE was very helpful through that process.”
“I’ve found that ProCurve’s people are exceptionally responsive in identifying what we needed and in finding creative solutions along the way,” says Porter. “It means a lot to know that we can count on ProCurve.”
The ProCurve Networking business unit of HP delivers wired and wireless enterprise networking products, services and solutions. The foundation for ProCurve's business model is the Adaptive Networks strategy in which networks are adaptive to users, applications and an organization's needs. ProCurve was positioned in the challenger quadrant in research and advisory firm Gartner, Inc.'s 2006 Magic Quadrant Report for Global Campus LANs and is the No. 2 networking company worldwide measured in both ports and Ethernet switch market revenue according to Dell'Oro Group.
Mark Porter
Network Services Manager
CUNA Mutual Group
