Enabling growth with an always-on network for Liantis
In 2018, ADMB and Zenito joined forces to become Liantis. This operation had a profound impact on the company’s IT service, which had to connect over 60 offices with each other. The project was named One Network: Liantis provided every office with new Wi-Fi and a new local network. It also connected all offices with a new wide area network (WAN). We were there to advise and support them with the implementation of their new software-defined WAN.
Intelligently optimizing network traffic
Liantis currently has 64 offices and still regularly open new ones – some are temporary, others are permanent. It had always been a challenge for Liantis to integrate every new office into its IT network. That is why they needed to switch to technology, that allows the office network to flexibly adapt and expand. A crucial aspect to take into account as well, as always: network performance.
After some elaborate market research, the choice fell upon SD-WAN technology by Citrix. This solution had worked well with the manufacturer’s other systems so far, and Citrix SD-WAN guaranteed more bandwidth for a lower price by smartly combining regular Internet lines with MPLS connections. So far, so good. Next, we designed an architecture with Liantis, that was subsequently validated by Citrix.
Citrix SD-WAN met all of Liantis’ criteria. One essential feature was the possibility for intelligent routing. This lets them split up network traffic, which is then encrypted and routed parallel through classic Internet lines and their own rented MPLS telecommunication network. Citrix’s technology then uses the signal that arrives first.
Cutting costs by up to 40%
The solution also helps Liantis cut their telecommunication costs – not only because regular Internet lines are now faster and cheaper than MPLS, but also because they no longer have to buy Quality of Service as an optional feature. Citrix now handles QoS automatically, and it’s much more intelligent than it was with their previous MPLS connection. They can now filter by application.
By using a parallel system with both technologies, Liantis becomes less dependent on MPLS. They expect to save up to 40% on telecommunication, which comes down to about 500,000 EUR in five years. Another important competitive advantage when it comes to cutting costs is that they have three types of SD-WAN connectors, depending on the size of each office.
Fast, smooth and error-proof
Right out of the gate, three offices were connected to the new SD-WAN network. This amount should be increased to 30 connected offices soon. Liantis is already noticing the advantages. They are more in control of their environment because they know exactly what’s running on their network. Clear, user-friendly dashboards make management easy. Basically, everything runs much more smoothly compared to a classic WAN network. On top of that, the margin of error is smaller.
Already all 64 offices now have an identical setup. This efficiency automatically leads to better, faster support. IT is able to ‘deliver’ offices more quickly because the system and the way of working have been standardized.
Trusted advisors
This isn’t the first project we have tackled together with Liantis. John Helsmoortel, IT Infrastructure Project Manager at Liantis explains why they chose for us again:
“Three years ago, we chose Xylos for our XenApp project. We appreciate their no-nonsense, customer-centric approach. Their experts always look at the bigger picture and give correct, personal and fitting advice. They don’t try to force applications on you. When we bought licences for a storage project, we saved 70,000 EUR thanks to some concrete tips Xylos had given us. We’re still working with Xylos to modernize our workplace further.”