Construction innovator powers drones, robots, XR, and 4-D modeling across 200 next-generation sites with Aruba SD-WAN/SD-Branch

From a cost reduction perspective, there are wins across the board. "Aruba's design saves on the solution itself as well as reducing the integration and management overhead," Ennis says.

经过几十年作为nationally-respected construction firm, Brasfield & Gorrie needed to address networking performance, security, flexibility, and costs by taking a new approach to wired and wireless infrastructure.

"Our aging network was inflexible, complex to manage, and increasingly cost-prohibitive," explains Brad Hamilton, Director of IT Operations and Infrastructure for the Birmingham, Alabama-headquartered firm. "In addition, we were dependent on MPLS [Multiprotocol Label Switching] connectivity at our construction sites, which added further inflexibility, administrative complexity, and cost. We needed to modernize."

实现从设计到执行的优势

Brasfield＆Gorrie是美国最大的私有建筑公司之一，平均而言，该公司在美国几乎以受人尊敬的创新者身份遍布美国几乎每个州的200多个活跃地点，这是使用数字的先驱自动化和简化流程的技术，以改善客户结果并增强工人的安全性。

汉密尔顿说：“无论我们的企业用户是共享3D施工文档还是实时流过的站点进度，我们都需要在我们的永久动态站点上以高性能连接来为他们提供支持。”

经过彻底的评估，其中包括其现有供应商，并与合作伙伴合作进行Veristor Systems，Brasfield＆Gorrie决定与惠普（Hewlett Packard）企业公司Aruba建立战略合作伙伴关系，以获取AI支持SD-WAN/SD-Branch和企业网络基础架构。

安全与网络总监帕特里克·伯奇（Patrick Burch）表示：“我们确定阿鲁巴的解决方案在各个方面都更加先进，安全，灵活，自动化和具有成本效益。”“我们评估的所有内容都比我们以前的供应商在设计到执行方面都领先。”

SD-WAN/SD-Branch Forms Modern Network Foundation

For its solution, Brasfield & Gorrie selected Aruba's SD-WAN/SD-Branch solution including阿鲁巴's Wi-Fi 6access points (APs), with500系列和510 SeriesAPS和远程接入点（RAPS）以及9000系列，，，，7200系列，，，，和7000系列Gateways.

伯奇说：“我们的新APS供应WPA3加密。”“我们很高兴能利用这一新的数据安全级别。”

For its wired network, Brasfield & Gorrie chose theCX 8325 Switch Seriesfor its core and mixture of theCX 6300开关系列，，，，2930F Switch Series，，，，和3810开关系列用于聚合和边缘访问。

向前迈进，公司计划添加CX 6200 Switch Series和CX 6100开关系列to standardize on CX Switching for all edge and aggregation needs.

为了统一整个LAN，WAN和SD-WAN的网络管理，阿鲁巴中央用于主动，基于云的AIOPS管理，在初始网络设置和优化期间，用户体验洞察力（UXI）for AI-powered Wi-Fi incident detection.

提高性能，降低成本和更快的部署

通过简化和简化其整个网络基础架构，Brasfield＆Gorrie实现了直接的好处，包括提高性能，降低成本和更快的部署。

"Our new SD-WAN/SD-Branch solution is a significant improvement on multiple levels," says Gerald Ennis, Senior Network Engineer. "Before, all traffic routed back to our Birmingham headquarters, regardless how distant the origin. There, it traversed our firewalls before being sent back out to its destination."

现在，流量自动智能路由，改善用户体验。恩尼斯继续说：“流量可以在办公室和工作地点之间，两个工作地点之间或在工作地点和客户之间旅行，而无需回到数据中心，这大大提高了绩效。”

Users also access cloud-based applications directly, which is an architectural advantage that also improves security, Burch points out. "Sending traffic directly to cloud applications means we're not placing users on our internal WAN network."

Saving 50% on networking and 50% on telco costs

From a cost reduction perspective, there are wins across the board. "Aruba's design saves on the solution itself as well as reducing the integration and management overhead," Ennis says.

许可is also significantly streamlined, reducing complexity and costs, adding considerable savings. "This makes Aruba's solution approximately 50% less overall, compared to an option from our previous vendor," Ennis says. "It also reduces headaches we had with deciphering and managing that vendor's complex licensing structure and agreements."

In addition, Brasfield & Gorrie's new network enabled eliminating dependence on MPLS circuits, which are notoriously time consuming to acquire, inflexible to scale, and expensive to operate.

"Our new networking infrastructure enables us to provide high-performance connectivity using direct internet access circuits (DIA), which are flexibly commissioned and decommissioned," says Burch. "We estimate we've cut circuit spending by 50% versus using MPLS."

工作场地部署从几天到几个小时削减

Brasfield＆Gorrie的新SD-WAN还可以使灵活的快速部署到遥远的工作地点。

网络工程师亚历克斯·冈萨雷斯（Alex Gonzalez）表示：“我们已经获得了很大的灵活性，因为我们可以根据工作岗位的大小和需求合理地将我们部署的设备合理化。”“在较小的位置，只有少数人，我们可以为Wi-Fi部署说唱，而较大的位置则由APS和Gateways的组合提供。”

No matter what hardware is utilized, Aruba Central speeds deployment. "Rather than sending a technician to a far-flung job site, with associated time and expense, we ship equipment to our business users and they assemble it, based on a PDF diagram we provide," says RJ Arnold, Network Administrator.

"Central handles the configuration automatically," he adds. "Even if we need to make minor modifications to a site's configuration, we can do it in real time with Central. The entire branch deployment process—including obtaining the correct DIA circuit—is now reduced from days to hours."

现代网络有效地移动数据

With its modernized infrastructure, Brasfield & Gorrie is supporting a host of business applications that move terabytes of data through its network on a monthly, and sometimes daily, basis.

These applications range from proprietary solutions, hosted on-premise and in the firm's Microsoft Azure environment, to cloud-delivered SaaS solutions. Such solutions includeAutodesk，Microsoft 365，以及Egnyte，，，，the latter of which keeps complex architectural and engineering drawings synchronized.

此外，现在预计流媒体视频用于当代建筑项目的协作，安全和进度文档。阿诺德说：“例如，我们的网络平均每月支持3000个缩放电话。”“此外，我们的用户根据客户喜欢哪种协作平台，与团队和WebEX等解决方案联系。”

Powering next-generation, IoT-connected jobsites

Brasfield＆Gorrie's network also powers construction innovations developed by the firm's Virtual Design + Construction team, which continuously introduces new technologies and IoT-enabled applications.

汉密尔顿说：“例如，我们的网络正在携带专业工作进度摄像头的供稿，该摄像头提供实时可见性。”“此外，无人机用于3D航空映射，可穿戴设备可改善工人的安全监控。”

Other next-generation applications that depend on the network have included construction robots, virtual reality, 4D modeling, and more.

"Recently, we piloted a robotic floor layout technology that depends on Wi-Fi," Hamilton says. It can complete a color-coded, multi-trade layout in a fraction of the time, and with greater accuracy, compared with the traditional manual process.

"This technology alone could have multiple positive effects on our company's bottom line," Hamilton adds.

Automation Innovations Keep IT Overhead Low

Although the automation and digitalization of construction places more demands on the network and networking teams, adopting an Aruba solution has actually reduced the Brasfield & Gorrie's IT burdens by streamlining, simplifying, and automating network administration.

This includes using Aruba's comprehensive API library for integrating Central with松弛to create a proactive troubleshooting notification system, Gonzalez says.

此外，Central自动化并协调了与Brasfield＆Gorrie的Azure环境的连接，这是一个相当大的节省时间，而不是手动完成必要的步骤。

Leveraging AIOps and NetOps

IT团队还感谢Central在Central中的高级AIOPS功能，以大大减少故障排除时间。恩尼斯说：“有了中央和AIOPS，我们能够更快地进行故障排除。”“在大多数情况下，我们在故障排除时间上节省了75％。”

Less time spent on troubleshooting enables concentrating on more important work. "Now we can focus on initiatives that ultimately deliver value to our business," Gonzalez says. "For instance, we're implementing agile practices, such as NetOps."

阿鲁巴伙伴hip Ensures Future-Readiness

向前推进，该公司期待采用进一步的网络自动化和情报创新。选项包括Aruba的Netedit，用于简化开关管理和位置服务，，，，for providing real-time analytics that enable data-driven initiatives.

Regardless how the firm expands its new network, Brasfield & Gorrie appreciates Aruba's all-inclusive model for designing and delivering solutions. "When we need to add a capability, we no longer need to go through the process of making a business case," Burch says.

"Our partnership with Aruba enables us to simply rollout new features when they're required," he adds. "This exponentially improves our response to new business needs and market demands."

所有这些都加起来是在正确的时间为业务用户提供正确的连接。“无论是在农村地区，几乎没有通信骨干，还是具有足够电路的高度发达的城市地区，我们的Aruba SD-Wan/SD-Branch和企业网络基础设施都可以为我们提供可靠，灵活且可扩展的连接性，”汉密尔顿说。