Carta Deploys Next-Gen Networking Solution to Support Its Growth

The Challenge

After enduring years of poor Wi-Fi performance, lackluster support from its previous network vendor and a cost-prohibitive pricing structure, leading global equity management company, Carta, decided to make a change. It needed a partner to support its rapid growth and reduce the burden on its IT team.

• Find a cost-effective alternative to existing vendor that provides secure, reliable user connectivity
• Align IT support with the growing needs of a global organization and mission-critical initiatives
• Eliminate growing guest access security concerns
• Tame unpredictability of lifecycle refreshes to eliminate large capital expenses
• Gain the visibility needed to solve performance issues more efficiently

The Solution

AI-powered Nile Access Service with high-performance wireless and wired was rolled out at four Carta offices in record time, each install taking two days or less. While the global chip shortage impacted Carta’s previous vendor, Nile’s wired and wireless equipment was ready to support Carta’s accelerated network deployments. Users now receive flawless coverage and connectivity, backed by performance-based guarantees. Nile has also offloaded mundane and time-consuming help desk and troubleshooting tasks from IT. And, Nile Secure Guest Service isolates all guest traffic from corporate traffic, while simplifying IT’s management responsibilities.

• 24/7 Nile support combined with proactive network monitoring and automatic self tuning
• Nile Customer Portal enables quick and accurate root cause determination
• Transition to an OpEx pricing structure
• Adoption of Nile’s Secure PoP Guest Service
• A next-gen network with built-in zero trust isolation for enhanced user and IoT security

The Results

Nile’s as-a-service model has proven the ideal solution for Carta. In addition to automated IT operations and near real-time visibility, the Nile Access Service is providing the highest levels of support, allowing the team to focus on delivering the best end-user experience possible. This new way of consuming networking services has also resulted in substantial cost savings, enhanced security and a novel approach to paying for the network and future upgrades.

• Ability to efficiently run a global network with seven team members where no one is a dedicated network engineer
• Troubleshooting is no longer a guessing game
• OpEx pricing model mitigates exorbitant network refresh costs
• Network access isolation provides control, eliminating malware and hacking threats
• Enhanced malware and lateral movement protection for all guest connections

On a mission

Nile Access Service has been deployed at Carta’s offices in Manhattan, Singapore, Seattle and Utah. Next up is the San Francisco headquarters building followed by the Ontario, Canada office. Carta’s Director of IT, Simon Ng, ultimately plans to transition all nine global Carta sites to Nile.

“San Francisco is Carta headquarters, so there will be a lot of eyes on that project, and we’ll be dealing with multiple floors,” Ng explains. “But with Nile on board, I know we’ll be successful.”

Nile is easing the IT burden at Carta by automating mundane manual tasks, using AI and automation to expedite troubleshooting and taking on all of the network management and lifecycle refreshes.

“Carta has grown from 300 employees to 2,000,” says Ng. “We don’t have a dedicated network engineer and we’re still able to provide global support with an IT team of only seven.”

“I highly recommend Nile Guest Service for organizations using NaaS by Nile.”

– Albert Jong, Senior IT Engineer, Carta

Support is key

When asked if he was receiving good support from Nile, Ng replied: “I wouldn’t call the Nile support good, I would say it’s great! I used to be very hands on, flying all over the world for installs, racking and stacking, cabling with the local vendor. I don’t have to do that anymore.”

The difference in support between Carta’s prior vendor and Nile has been night and day.

“I know that Nile is always there for me and they’ll always have a solution,” says Ng. “Our old vendor either put the responsibility for problems on us or denied that there was a problem at all.”

Worse yet, Ng was often told the solution to the problem was to wait for the next firmware release.

“I was sick and tired of the GA and EA releases of firmware that was still buggy,” he recalls. “So it’s been sunny and happier days for myself and my team since we implemented Nile.”

And how do Ng and his team spend their time now that they bask in the warm glow of the Nile experience? They start with prioritizing their end users.

“We’re now able to automate the manual processes to optimize our team and focus on other things, such as improving the end-user experience,” Ng says.

And the efforts have paid off, as Ng reports drastically improved network uptime and no complaints at the Carta facilities powered by Nile. In addition, the IT team now has the time to actively focus on its remote access security posture, a key component of which is Nile Secure Guest Service.

“Nile Guest Service allows us to provide internet access for visitors while isolating them from internal network resources,” says Albert Jong, Carta senior IT engineer. “It decreases the possibility of a data breach and accelerates network troubleshooting.”

Lower cost, better pricing model

In addition to myriad other problems, the previous network solution was simply cost prohibitive for Carta. During the recent renewal process, the licenses alone were going to cost more than $200,000. And Carta was due to replace equipment approaching end-of-life in more than half of its offices.

Nile’s OpEx pricing structure was a welcome change for Ng. Network maintenance and equipment refreshes are included, eliminating large capital outlays.

The Nile and Carta partnership recently reached its one year milestone and Ng anticipates the union will continue to support the IT team and help Carta achieve its business goals.

“It’s truly exceptional to find a vendor that collaborates closely with us and consistently delivers results in a professional and respectful manner,” he says. “I see this as the foundation for a long-term partnership, and I look forward to many more successful deployments with Nile.”

“I see this as the foundation for a long-term partnership, and I look forward to many more successful deployments with Nile.”

– Simon Ng, Director of IT, Carta