Melbourne City Mission reaps benefits from new managed network

Melbourne City Mission has deployed a new managed network, via blueApache, simplifying the organisation's WAN architecture, decreasing downtime, providing redundancy and improving network response rates.

The Melbourne City Mission's (MCM) operations extend across 32 sites and covered more than 750 staff.

The implementation is part of a three-year cycle of change, begun in 2014, after it became apparent MCM's IT environment needed to evolve to cope with the continuing growth in services.

The ICT Strategy sees a new approach to how ICT services are scoped, resourced and delivered, with IT structures changed to focus on the enterprise as a whole, rather than a group of component elements.

IT services provider blueApache were commissioned to deploy the new network.

Louise Segafredo, Melbourne City Mission ICT manager, says the new managed solution's 'small increase' in total cost of ownership for the new network has been easily offset by the reliability and scalability delivered.

"With blueApache's emPower Network in place, we have a best-of-breed solution and all the benefits of a managed model – it is scalable, flexible and the people running it are experts in their field," Segafredo says.

MCM says moving its data network to blueApache has allowed it to size its WAN to suit current business needs, as well as allowing for projected data requirements in the future.

The move has also allowed MCM to improve network security, taking advantage of blueApache's integrated firewall solution, at the same time as simplifying the organisation's network architecture.

"Using blueApache allows MCM's ICT department to get on with serving the needs of the business," Segafredo says.

"It has allowed us to understand, document and modify data networking protocols, as well as take advantage of a superior, extended, yet simplified VPN.

"The VPN service enables MCM's mobile workforce to connect from anywhere, at any time. It provides much needed accessibility that improves productivity.

All sites at MCM are now connected to the WAN.

An 'urgent' need to integrate a new site following the WAN deployment saw blueApache's emPower Voice solutoin implemented, bringing the site up to a fully operational level from a technology, network and telecommunications perspective faster and more efficiently than traditionally possible.