ERG S.p.A.

Overview

ERG SpA, a multi-energy services company founded in 1938, is the leading wind energy operator in Italy and has been growing rapidly in surrounding countries. Dedicated to increasing renewable energies, ERG’s mission extends beyond protecting the environment to ensuring the digital security of employees and company assets. To support 600+ employees requiring reliable network performance and access to mission critical resources, the company deployed Cisco Meraki Access Points and switches at their Italian offices.

 

Original Networking Challenges

• Zero visibility into traffic passing through each access point or how the network was being used by employees and guests
• Changes to wireless network had to be done manually or via on-site wireless controller, taking valuable time and effort

There’s not only one reason why we chose Meraki. It’s a mix of price, performance, capability, and reliability.

 

Alessandro Fravolini

Organizzazione e Sistemi Sviluppo Tecnologie

Why Cisco Meraki

• Unified wired and wireless dashboard provides visibility into devices, clients, applications, configurations, and more
• Ability to broadcast up to 15 SSIDs per network permits varied authentication processes for different types of users
• Dedicated security radio built into each AP provides 24×7 WIPS and full-time security protection from network vulnerabilities
• Remote management capabilities allow the small IT team, based at one site, to monitor and make configurations at any locations

 

The Deployment

• 50 Meraki MR34 APs and 8 MS220 24- & 48-port models deployed between sites
• Chose the MR34s for their 802.11ac capabilities, dedicated security & RF optimization radio, and high throughput
• Installed the first set of APs and a switch in their Rome location in a day, then took only 4 days to deploy nearly 40 APs and 7 switches in their Genoa location
• 4 SSIDs enabled with different authentication requirements and bandwidth restrictions depending on client type: WPA2, WPA2-Enterprise with RADIUS, and captive portal

 

Results

• Positive feedback from users on the faster and more reliable network performance
• IT team able to identify and resolve potential issues remotely using built in tools such as Air Marshal and packet capture
• Group policies, which enforce certain restrictions, are automatically applied by device types like Android, iPad, iPhone, Windows, etc.
• Traffic shaping rules limit the amount of overall bandwidth available per SSID to consultant or guest devices
• Alerts and live troubleshooting tools in the Cisco Meraki dashboard enable the IT team to keep the network healthy proactively