With 100 workers operating in three buildings in Brussels and 30 very demanding clients, it is imperative that Dentsu has a high performance network with the bandwidth and resilience to constantly transfer large packages of data, including the complex imagery that it works with on a daily basis.

While it had experienced no particular problems with its previous network, Dentsu needed to upgrade from 100Mb to 1Gb capability. This was because the Apple computers it uses for design and rendering require 1Gb speed and also because Dentsu wanted to prepare for a possible Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) implementation.

“We chose HP ProCurve because of its unique combination of technical quality and reasonable price,” says Eric Hudebine, IT manager for Dentsu. “The lifetime warranty♦ is also really important because if you buy from other vendors and the warranty runs out or newer versions come along, you are left in a difficult situation. When I buy something like a network, I want to use the equipment for a minimum of four or five years. The lifetime warranty means that you are covered with ProCurve in the unlikely event of network failure. This value-add is a major reason why we decided on ProCurve.”

Since Dentsu often receives highly confidential data and images of new car models for example, to use in creating launch advertising campaigns, it also needs a secure network that can help protect its business assets. The inbuilt security features of ProCurve identity-driven ports were another factor that drove the purchasing decision.

Once the decision was made, Dentsu benefited from the expertise of HP’s specialist partner Nexis which carried out installation, implementation, configuration and fine tuning of the new network which is based on a combination of HP ProCurve 5412 series switches and HP ProCurve 8212 series switches. ProCurve Manager Plus (PCM+) software was used to install the switches and to analyse and monitor the network to eliminate response delays that could adversely affect the business.

The chassis-based ProCurve 5400 series switches are award-winning Layer 3/4 Intelligent Edge switches that offer flexibility and a high-performance. The ProCurve Switch 8212 is a high-performance, high-availability, chassis switch platform that enables unified core-to-edge adaptive network solutions. It has platform and software high-availability features to ensure system continuity, enhance productivity and reduce technical complexity to provide lower total cost of ownership (TCO).

“When I install something I want it to work without problems,” says Hudebine. “It is really important for me to be able to trust the networking hardware that I use because if I can’t, then I will change it immediately. We have never had any problems with the stability of our new ProCurve network and because it can support 200 users, we know that it will meet our needs well into the future.

“We cannot run the risk of having any downtime because we work in the advertising world where deadlines are always tight and most people work out of normal office hours. Everything has to be available 24x7 because if the network goes down for one day, I still have to pay staff for doing nothing. If we lose things like email, we lose business and we have some very unhappy customers.”

Company: Nexis SA
Headquarters: Wavre, Belgium
Telephone: +32 (10) 81 81 81
URL: www.nexis.be
Business: IT infrastructure consultancy
Products: HP servers, storage, software and networking solutions

HP ProCurve is the Network of Choice for best-in-class solutions, products and services for wired and wireless networks. ProCurve's Adaptive Networks vision enables customers to implement an open, standards-based network infrastructure that adapts to the changing needs of users, applications and organizations. ProCurve was positioned in the Leaders quadrant in research and advisory firm Gartner Inc.'s 2008 Magic Quadrant Report for Global Campus LANs and is No. 2 worldwide in Ethernet switch market revenue and ports according to Dell'Oro Group.

Further information on ProCurve networking solutions and products is available at www.procurve.com.