When the world’s leading specialist aerospace insurer, Global Aerospace, needed an infrastructure upgrade it selected Siemon cabling technology and – perhaps surprisingly – installed a category 5e UTP system. With twin drivers of rapid rollout and keen pricing, this well-proven technology was chosen to support Gigabit Ethernet and all members of staff are undoubtedly glad to have a robust system to enable them to serve global airlines, aircraft builders and light aircraft owners, particularly in light of recent aviation challenges.
Global Aerospace has 10 offices strategically located around the world and its headquarters sit in the centre of the insurance and banking market in London. As the oldest specialist insurance company in the world, Global’s 450 staff expertly serve its customers with tailored insurance, assessing each risk on its own merits. The organisation as a whole calls on over 85 years of experience in the dynamic aviation market.
When Global Aerospace moved into its two story office 16 years ago category 5 cabling was already in place and served well until two years ago when the company invested in upgrading much of its hardware. Clearly it needed its network infrastructure to support Gigabit speeds, but those on the front line of customer delivery were experiencing dropped packages. The resultant resends meant that the system as a whole was downgraded to 100Mb. The category 5 foundation was letting down the entire IT network and an upgrade was essential to capitalise on the investment already made.
Category 6 was originally considered to be the solution for Global Aerospace, but when trusted suppliers CCS Media introduced the installation company NetCare, the decision makers realised that a Siemon category 5e system would supply all the necessary capacity and at a much more competitive price. After careful comparisons and consideration, UK IT manager at Global Aerospace, Chris Ellery, confirmed that, as they have no plans to move beyond 1 Gb network application speeds in this location, this would be the cabling to equip the firm for the next 10 years.
“We were told that Siemon’s solution represents one of the worlds highest performing 5e solutions, with 160mhz performance across the channel (versus the more standard 100mhz)” explained Chris Ellery. “Now that we have undergone the very efficient 800 point install and gone live, I am pleased to report that this performance has been noticed by all the system users who have commented on faster operating speed. The system is stable and robust – both crucial considerations in our business.”
NetCare was the company that Global’s IT provider, CCS Media, introduced to undertake the installation and the integrater commissioned it in just six weeks. Alan Williamson, sales director at NetCare commented, “Global Aerospace needed a guaranteed solution that could be implemented rapidly and cost-effectively. Working with Siemon, we put together a very competitive package that meant they could rely on quality technology for real peace of mind.”
Just as Global Aerospace underwrites on behalf of a panel of insurance companies, Siemon also underwrites this system with a 20 year warranty. NetCare’s Certified Installer status means that this is a system warranty; guaranteeing not just the products used, but also the application performance of the total installation.
The last word goes to Chris Ellery; “This was very well organised by NetCare and disruption to day-to-day business was kept to an absolute minimum. We are delighted with the Siemon system and the resultant performance improvement it has enabled for our entire operation.”
