阿鲁巴EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform helps leading labor and employment law firm improve productivity and client service

在最佳情况下，导航复杂的劳动和雇佣法是具有挑战性的。在全球大流行中，随着企业试图确保运营和工人安全的挑战。它需要额外的注意和关注 - 再加上顶级律师事务所的专业知识。这就是为什么公司转向福德哈里森有限责任公司的原因。

福德哈里森（Fordharrison）首席技术官斯科特·肖（Scott Shaw）说：“使福达里森（Fordharrison）与众不同的是我们能够向客户提供个人，高质量的法律服务。”但是，不一致的网络性能威胁着IT和整个公司履行其服务质量承诺的能力。

网络问题损害客户服务

A reliable WAN the keystone of the business, essential for FordHarrison attorneys and staff to access communication systems like voice and email, or document management and litigation support systems running in the firm's central data center. If any of these applications are slow or unresponsive, the legal team simply can't service clients effectively or efficiently.

Historically, FordHarrison relied on a single-provider MPLS network to connect its 25 nationwide offices with applications and resources in its Atlanta data center. If the carrier was performing maintenance or suffered a fiber cut, the nearby FordHarrison office would go down, leaving attorneys and staff unable to do their jobs properly.

Larry Cross, information systems manager for FordHarrison, says, "We had no visibility into the network, so if there was a problem it could take us all day working with the carrier to figure it out. This happened so often, everyone was worn out from frustration."

转折点是当公司的MPLS contract came up for renewal and the IT team faced the prospect of upgrading its Cisco routers in each office. Shaw notes, "We realized there had to be a better way. For a business like ours with offices spread across the country, SD-WAN quickly rose to the top as the best solution."

开箱即用的SD-WAN

在评估了Aruba（以前为银峰），思科，Fortinet和Windstream之后，Shaw说阿鲁巴EdgeConnect SD-WAN edge platform被证明是最好的解决方案。“我对Aruba提供的设计和易于实施的简单性印象深刻。我们想要一种解决方案，该解决方案可以开箱即用，不需要全职Cisco工程师来管理整个路由器。”

通过在所有25个办事处及其公司数据中心部署Aruba EdgeConnect平台，福达里森在每个办公室都退休了路由器，并完全退役了MPL。如今，该公司依靠每个位置的双重链接 - 一个专用的Internet访问（DIA）电路与商业宽带链接结合在一起，每个链接都来自不同的提供商。

With the SD-WAN deployment, FordHarrison also embarked on its cloud journey, deploying a virtualized EdgeConnect appliance in Microsoft Azure and implementing a cloud-based voice-over-IP (VoIP) solution from Nextiva. Now each office can connect directly to applications running in Azure and its VoIP system instead of backhauling this cloud-destined traffic through the central data center like before.

Elevates Quality of Experience

事实证明，新的基于云的VoIP系统部署的时机很重要。在数周之内，共同199大流行迫使福达里森员工在家工作。肖说：“几乎一夜之间，我们能够将所有人转到家里远程工作。人们可以立即使用VoIP手机，而不会影响性能和对客户服务的最小破坏。”

福达里森（Fordharrison）实现了SD-Wan的额外持续收益。例如，肖报告说，日常申请表现有所改善，为律师和员工提供了更高的经验质量。“现在为我们的员工提供的申请经验非常稳定和可靠。我们不再需要忍受我们过去用MPL获得的峰值和山谷。”

Moreover, with redundant links from two different providers at each office, downtime due to circuit outages has been completely eliminated. Cross reports, "This year we didn't have any unscheduled downtime, and that's even with multiple instances where a carrier had a complete fiber cut. Applications, the phone system, everything stayed up and the employees saw zero impact."

可靠的网络服务建立信任

The IT team has also benefited directly from SD-WAN.Aruba编排管理控制台提供团队从未有过的颗粒网络可见性和控制。克罗斯说：“使用Aruba的编排在中心进行更改，并在几分钟之内复制到我们所有办公室，真是太神奇了。”

Cross adds, "One of the biggest things is having detailed dashboards where I can zero in on an issue in less than a minute. If someone is streaming too much and affecting other applications, I can see who it is and just give them a call. That is huge to me."

Most important is the high level of quality network service the IT team can now deliver for the firm. Cross concludes, "I can't emphasize enough how big a deal it is that our attorneys and staff can do their work without worrying about the network going down. I'm very proud of the level of trust and confidence we've instilled in our people as a result of having SD-WAN."