Infors HT

Overview

Founded in 1965, INFORS HT has grown from a small, family run business in Switzerland to one of the most important developers and manufacturers of shakers, bioreactors, and bioprocess software in the world. With locations across North America, Asia, and Europe, INFORS HT’s ongoing creativity and ingenuity has driven the company to success. To increase collaboration, innovation, and unity, Sourcing & System Manager Rene Schroeder installed Cisco Meraki cloud-managed access points (APs), switches, and security appliances, all of which can be managed centrally without on-site IT.

Original networking challenges

• No wireless setup at the Switzerland HQ, and each remote site had mismatched WiFi solutions and management interfaces
• As the company is increasingly relying on innovative technologies, IT needed a unified, centrally managed solution that would minimize team resources and provide maximum return

The Meraki solution runs 100% perfectly without any issues. The reaction to the new network has been positive without exception.

 

Rene Schroeder

Sourcing & System Manager

Why Cisco Meraki

• Centralized dashboard allows the single network admin to have full visibility into and control over each of the sites from anywhere
• Highly customizable features for each SSID permit fine-grained control over how users access the network to ensure appropriate usage and an improved user experience
• Unified solution of switches and APs offers a single management platform, rather than various solutions to understand and monitor
• Using the free trial program, the IT team could test each device in their environment before purchasing, without any cost or risk

 

The deployment

• Over 1-2 days, installed Meraki APs and switches in all remote locations, as well as APs, switches, and a security appliance at the Switzerland headquarters
• Company-owned devices access the network via RADIUS, while guests on a separate SSID are limited by Layer 7 firewall rules
• Using group policies, the IT team can schedule when guest users are permitted on the network and which resources they can access
• VLAN tagging enabled on each AP to route traffic appropriately
• Traffic from all branches routed centrally through the main firewall

 

Results

• Access policies applied on a per-port basis on the switches require users to enter their credentials before accessing the network, increasing overall security
• Splash pages, per-SSID and per-client bandwidth limits, billed Internet access, and Layer 3 and Layer 7 firewall and traffic shaping rules are customized as needed
• Guests on personal devices, employees on company-owned devices, and WiFi-enabled machinery are experiencing greatly improved performance
• Using virtual stacking, the network admin can make per-port changes and security updates at remote sites from headquarters
• Built-in troubleshooting features like cable tests, throughput tests, and DHCP warnings have allowed the team to be proactive with network management and save time
• With firmware upgrades and feature releases automatically applied to the network, the team benefits from a future-proof network
• As the company grows and expands, they can add new devices and have them integrate seamlessly into the existing network