Covell Matthews reach the next level of broadband with Zen Internet
Covell Matthews is a long established Scottish company with head offices in both Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The company provides Architecture, Interior Design, Space Planning, Urban Design, Project Management, Arbitration and Planning Supervision from project inception to completion. One of their key clients is Shell Exploration and Production in Europe and Covell Matthews has a remote team working at their UK Headquarters in Aberdeen. The main server for the project files, including drawings, letters and the e-mail access for the Shell office is located in the Covell Matthews Aberdeen Office.
The Challenge
Originally, Covell Matthews used an ISDN2 line to link the two sites and transfer files. The latter was sometimes taking up to ten minutes to upload a 1Mbps file meaning that features such as VPN (Virtual Private Networking) and Web Mail for the staff from the two sites could not be used. The upload speed was becoming an issue in terms of communication and file transfers and standard ADSL broadband could not solve this problem. Shell takes levels of security very seriously when dealing with third party networks and this also needed to be taken into consideration when working out a solution.
The Solution
Zen Internet stepped in with the answer and installed a 1Mbps SDSL (Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line) broadband connection to the Covell Matthews head office in Aberdeen. An SDSL line seemed the perfect solution as it offers a fast broadband service with equal download and upload speeds. The Covell Matthews Shell team also had a 2Mbps Office broadband connection set-up, and a router provided by Zen.
The Benefits
The SDSL line solution proposed by Zen enabled Covell Matthews to increase their upload speed to 1Mbps. This allowed the necessary files to be transferred across at a speed of up to eight times faster. This led to a boost in productivity levels and resulted in saving the company money. The ISDN2 network was charging two rates each time it was accessed, and since file uploads took so long to complete, it was not a cost effective process.
The Zen core network has no contention, further adding to improved speeds, even at peak times when many users are on the network.
Due to the improved upload levels, Covell Matthews set up effective VPN and Web mail services so that employees could also work from home. This was particularly beneficial for the Directors and indeed a quarter of the Covell Matthews staff, who needed to use the Web mail service as they regularly work off site.
The 2Mbps Office Broadband connection and router provided by Zen became part of an isolated network within the Shell Offices in Aberdeen. This was set up so that Shell's own network would not be affected by the file transfers and communications between the sites, ensuring the necessary security levels of both companies. A VPN network was used to connect the machines in the Shell office and the staff there can now download their e-mail to an e-mail application (Mac Mail).
As they work from an Apple Mac network, Covell Matthews also benefits from access to a dedicated Mac support team at Zen.
The SDSL solution was perfect for our business critical connection where the upload speed was an issue. Zen Internet was reliable and highly efficient in providing the necessary connections on time. Their dedicated Mac support team is an excellent bonus, as we are assured support with our Mac network from people who really know what they are talking about.
Andrew Mowat, Associate Director, Covell Matthews
Download this Case Study (PDF: 151KB)