A CTO’s nightmare solved: aged infrastructure and poor network performance fixed with AI-driven service

The Challenge

When Neil Clover came to SDI as its new CTO, he quickly realized he’d inherited a network that was long on problems and short on connectivity. While user frustration over unreliable Wi-Fi was the most obvious clue, Clover’s extensive infrastructure background told him that the issues were bigger than an unreliable network. This was a network in need of an entire overhaul. But a project of that scope only added to an already-growing priority Iist. He and his very lean IT team needed a new approach to deploying a network that wouldn’t be all consuming.

Challenges:

• Total and immediate replacement of failing network infrastructure with limited support from internal IT staff
• Fix inconsistent connectivity that was hampering employee productivity
• Remedy complex security policies that were causing vulnerabilities
• Gain control over unpredictable, costly and complex network refresh cycles

The Solution

Coming from the SDI supply-chain-as-a-service provider perspective, Nile’s simpler, more secure access service made sense to Clover. Nile took over the entire network, from planning, installation and operations through maintenance. Offloading that from the IT team eliminated energy spent on tedious, time-consuming and complex tasks. Today, Nile provides always-on, secure connectivity and coverage for SDI.

• Nile Access Service provides the stable foundation that was missing at SDI
• Nile owned the network refresh, and delivered infrastructure in record time
• Granular visibility into network performance through Nile Customer Portal
• Fully enclosed zero trust campus network

The Results

Full-site coverage and high-performance capacity enable an uninterrupted user experience regardless of where employees are and what applications they’re using. With Nile’s zero trust architecture, Clover can overcome intimidating security challenges with confidence. Nile has also freed up IT to focus its time on product releases on its customer-facing software. And Nile’s Opex model ensures that aging equipment will never impact network performance.

• Timely replacement of underperforming network without creating additional burden for lean IT staff
• Secure, always-on, performance-guaranteed network that provides seamless, reliable access and capacity for all users
• Holistic, pay-per-user subscription model gives ultimate cost predictability
• Built-in zero trust secures network with host-based isolation, end to end
• IT staff adds value by prioritizing business-critical projects that help drive revenue

Radical simplicity moves focus from the network to the business

“I never thought I would outsource my network, but that was before I started working with Nile,” Clover explains. “When I saw what Nile was doing, I was immediately very interested. The relentless simplicity of the Nile model just makes sense.”

The beauty of the Nile experience comes from eliminating the complex nature of planning, designing and monitoring a network. Nile sensors conduct 360˚ continuous monitoring to analyze and self-optimize the network to guarantee performance.

The simplicity of network management with Nile’s AI networking and automation features has significantly changed where SDI IT spends its time and effort.

“Network problems were always in the back of our minds, and that stress distracted us from diving deeper into other issues,” says Clover. “Nile eliminated that worry, making us more effective as an IT team. And Nile’s elimination of configurations reduces real risk, it takes human error out of the equation.”

The level of insight enabled by the Nile Customer Portal helps the IT team troubleshoot issues outside of the network for faster resolution time.

“When you’re having performance issues and you don’t know why, it’s frustrating and a huge time sink,” says Clover. “But Nile takes the network out of the equation and the slotting of different views in the portal lets us troubleshoot outside the network.”

A mind-blowing shift in wireless experience

Connectivity on the SDI network was spotty at best – certain wireless access points were oversubscribed and others undersubscribed, leaving employees with an interrupted user experience. A congested network environment left the IT team to deal with network latencies and hair pinning.

“People always complain when the Wi-Fi is bad and never say anything when it improves,” says Clover. “But with the Nile Access Service, we have users proactively commenting on the performance. It was a big jump and people noticed.”

In a major departure from his long-held belief that video conferencing must be hardwired for high-quality performance, Clover embraced what the Nile network guarantees. He left his cables behind and hasn’t looked backed. High-definition video carts are now wirelessly connected and more reliable than ever.

Gone rogue? Not on our watch. 

“Rogue devices are a reality, there’s no getting around that, threats are ever present in today’s world,” says Clover.

Nile’s unique zero trust use of TPM-certificate authentication for each Nile element prevents unauthorized devices from gaining access to the network and its data.  Zero trust isolation only allows for traffic to flow north and south, eliminating malware proliferation.

End-to-end MACSec encryption protects network data, abolishing snooping and sniffing. This zero trust network model eliminates man-in-the-middle and rogue device threats. To further bolster security, IEEE 802.1X authentication across wired and wireless assures Clover and his IT team that threats like physical social engineering can no longer pose a threat to the SDI network.

Added bonus: security reduces costs. Many companies, including SDI, are required to protect themselves and their data with security insurance. At its recent insurance policy review, the carrier was so impressed with the quality of the Nile network that SDI’s premium was lowered.

CFO vs CTO no more

It can be a difficult balancing act between CFO and CTO when it comes to sourcing infrastructure equipment. There’s a fine line between extending the life of networking equipment and risking network performance. Clover was looking to upgrade a switch that was severely impacting network performance, but the finance team showed that the equipment was passable by meeting the bare minimum.

Nile’s pay-per-user model eases these tense conversations around budget priorities and network performance. This subscription encompasses the entire network, eliminating all capital expenditures and the unexpected costs and complexities that come with configurations, delivering a highly-predictable OpEx model.

“Thanks to Nile, we don’t have to worry about aging infrastructure impacting our network or procuring expensive gear. We only pay for what we use and need – not a dollar more,” says Chris Moore, SDI CEO. “Conversations with my team have now shifted from hard, inflexible CapEx costs to predictable OpEx costs that we can rely on.”

“When the foundation wobbles, everything wobbles. Our network infrastructure was no longer a solid foundation, and the only way I was going to address that without letting other things slip through the cracks was by relying on Nile.”

– Neil Clover, CTO, SDI

“I never thought I would outsource my network, but that was before I started working with Nile. The relentless simplicity of the Nile model just makes sense.”

– Neil Clover, CTO, SDI