City of Airdrie Reduces Total Cost of Ownership with Move to New Switching Environment

1. City of Airdrie Reduces
Total Cost of Ownership
with Move to New
Switching Environment
C A S E S T U D Y : C I T Y O F A I R D R I E
City of Airdrie
Industry: Municipal Government
Population: 54,892 people
Location: Alberta, Canada
Website: http://www.airdrie.ca

2. Background
The City of Airdrie offers its residents a small town lifestyle with big city
amenities. This popular locale is one of the fastest growing regions in Canada
with 54,892 people located 10 minutes north of Calgary. The vibrant, caring
community puts a great deal of value on creating a healthy, sustainable
environment for its residents. This mission extends to city employees who
are championed to examine what they do each day in an effort to establish
efficiencies while maintaining or improving service levels for its workers and
constituents.
Challenge: Unsustainable total cost of ownership (TCO)
The City of Airdrie’s IT team is mandated to deliver long term solutions
while maximizing budget dollars. With the current networking infrastructure
reaching end of life over the course of the next few years, the City began to
take a closer look at the cost of sustaining their existing environment. Facing
rising equipment costs, they had a hunch that it might no longer make sense
to continue down their current path. They started investigating their options,
making a list of critical requirements and taking stock of the features they
were currently paying for and not using.
The network engineers had also run into quality of service (QoS) issues. They
required Power over Ethernet (PoE) technology in all new networking gear;
however, this functionality came at a steep premium with their existing
provider.
S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .
C A S E S T U D Y : C I T Y O F A I R D R I E
Objectives
• Reduce capital and
operating costs of the
networking environment,
reducing overall TCO.
• Simplify the deployment
and ongoing management
of the switches.
• Increase visibility into
the equipment to assist
with the identification
of network issues and to
resolve problems quicker.
Solution
• Brocade ICX 6430, 6450
and 6610 Switches
• Brocade Network Advisor
Benefits
• Reduced TCO
• Able to apply firmware
updates without the fear
of impacting users
“ When we began looking at Brocade, we
brought in Scalar as we knew they were
the right partner to broker the relationship
with the Brocade team”

3. Evaluation: Dipping a toe in the water
City of Airdrie took a look at a variety of networking solutions and zeroed in
on Brocade. “When we began looking at Brocade, we brought in Scalar as we
knew they were the right partner to broker the relationship with the Brocade
team,” said Paul Hurst, Network Engineer, City of Airdrie.
They started out slowly by replacing just one switch. The sole purpose of this
first switch was to run a set of security cameras. It was a relatively low risk
test; Hurst knew that if the test failed and they had to start from scratch,
they would be able to revert back and not be out a great deal of money. They
were in for a pleasant surprise when they made the transition – not only did
everything go smoothly, they found they were able to deploy the equipment in
a fraction of the time with no issues, paving the way for a complete upgrade
on gear that had reach end of lifecycle.
Rollout: Smooth cut-over, improved visibility and control
Starting in February 2014 over the course of 3 months, Hurst installed
fourteen new switches across 5 departments. “We mounted the hardware,
powered it on and cut over while users were away at lunch; we were able
to literally cut over hundreds of machines with no impact to our users,” said
Hurst.
While disruption was kept to a minimum for users, the IT team is pleased with
the new centralized management tools at their disposal. Network engineers
now have visibility and control to proactively manage installed hardware right
from their desk. “I can now apply updates without the fear of bricking the
C A S E S T U D Y : C I T Y O F A I R D R I E
S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .
“ The Scalar team has been fantastic throughout this process.
We have leveraged their relationship with Brocade and they
have come to the table ready to help,”

4. switch,” said Hurst. A unique feature in the network management software
allows Hurst to apply new firmware to a secondary flash – if any issues
arise, he can quickly revert back to the earlier version. “From an upgrade
standpoint, we don’t have to be years behind on firmware updates simply
because we are worried about the impact of updates on the equipment. The
primary and secondary flash capability gives us peace of mind that we can
easily fall back,” Hurst continued.
Total cost of ownership of the networking gear has been favourably impacted
as well. “The move to Brocade enabled us to replace almost twice as many
switches with our capital replacement budget while including 3-year support
on all the equipment,” said Hurst.
With a successful deployment under their belts, the City of Airdrie continues
its investment into the new infrastructure. They have confidence in the
new direction they have taken and have now expanded the rollout to
encompass equipment that supports operations that are critical to the city’s
infrastructure. “The Scalar team has been fantastic throughout this process.
We have leveraged their relationship with Brocade and they have come to the
table ready to help,” said Hurst.
For more information, please visit
http://www.scalar.ca
For the latest news, visit our blog at
http://blog.scalar.ca
C A S E S T U D Y : C I T Y O F A I R D R I E
S c a l a r D e c i s i o n s I n c .
Phase 1
Network Upgrade
Focus Areas:
• Procurement Fleet Services
• Recreation Centre
• Building Operations
• Arenas
• City Hall
(to support new employees)
• Call Centre