About the Client
Nillumbik Shire is a local council in Victoria, home to approximately 65,000 people living in more than 24,000 households. Known as the “Green Wedge Shire” due to its abundance of bushland, the council covers an area of 432 square kilometres, stretching from the Yarra River in the south to Kinglake National Park in the north. The council operates across several sites and manages a vast range of facilities—from a BMX track to a community environment farm m. In addition to managing waste and maintaining the area’s roads, footpaths, open spaces and bushlands, Nillumbik Shire also coordinates a huge range of activities and programs for the local community, from bushfire preparedness sessions to maternal child health support, musical performances, and gardening classes.
The Problem
Nillumbik Shire ‘s on-premises network switches were reaching their end-of-life, which posed a potential security risk. The council’s IT internal team were concerned about the future stability and security of the network. They also wanted to streamline maintenance, which was quite complex and time-consuming. IT staff would often need to visit individual sites to provide IT support, rather than being able to orchestrate updates or fixes remotely.
“We lacked visibility of our infrastructure which was making it very hard to manage. Fixes were provided on an ad-hoc basis, which was time-consuming. Many of our sites also had very rudimentary connectivity which was affecting our overall communication and collaboration,” says Jason Rowe, the council’s IT Systems Administrator.
Daniel Tarquinio, the council’s IT Manager, agrees that a new infrastructure solution was urgently required. “We simply couldn’t continue with our current outdated infrastructure and we were looking to improve our security and reliability,” he says.
The Solution
After a thorough procurement process, Nillumbik Shire selected the team at Onel to recommend and implement a robust new infrastructure that would deliver immediate security protection, and set them up for the future.
After an in-depth evaluation, Onel recommended Nillumbik Shire replace its existing infrastructure with a sophisticated new solution based on Aruba hardware, which would deliver the enhanced security, scalability and management the council was looking for.
Aruba switches and access points are equipped with advanced security features, including improved threat detection, encryption, and access controls, which would help the council strengthen their overall cybersecurity posture.
“We wanted a reliable system that was easy to maintain, as well as one that would meet our goals of energy efficiency,” says Tarquinio.
“We chose Aruba as we knew it could deliver the performance, efficiency, and scalability we needed, while also providing significantly enhanced security protection. This has given us a very strong foundation for the future,” he adds.
The Outcome and Benefits
The new infrastructure solution, deployed rapidly and without disruption to council services—has delivered a range of important benefits for Nillumbik Shire.
They now have a secure and reliable infrastructure that can scale and adapt over time, and which provides a solid foundation for future growth.
Half of the council’s satellite sites are also now equipped with secure Wi-Fi, with plans to increase this to all sites in the future.
Importantly, the council’s security has also been significantly enhanced by using up-to-date infrastructure, and the addition of Aruba ClearPass technology, which ensures only authorised users and devices are able to gain access to the network.
Manageability has also increased for the IT team – who now have a “single pane of glass” which provides vital insights to help manage and maintain the network. In-built AI also helps provide round-the-clock monitoring and issues alerts when maintenance is required before an issue escalates.
“The Aruba solution provides us with a comprehensive network solution which includes switching and access points. From an IT management perspective, Aruba focuses on useability and simplicity, which has greatly enhanced our visibility and overall maintenance,” says Rowe.
“Using Aruba ClearPass has also enabled us to enhance our network security and ensure only fully-authorised devices can gain access. This became particularly obvious when we recently underwent a refresh of our printers, with each new device having to have very robust security credentials,” points out Tarquinio.
With Onel’s help at every step, and a secure new infrastructure solution built on Aruba hardware, Nillumbik Shire is now able to focus on its key objective: delivering more for the people and businesses it serves.
What the Client Said
“The Onel team includes certified Aruba professionals with vital expertise in deploying and managing Aruba equipment. They have a strong record in this area and worked very hard to ensure we were able to deploy this new solution with no interruption to business-as-usual.”
Daniel Tarquinio, IT Manager, Nillumbik Shire
“Onel was fantastic to work with and very responsive. They are a trusted partner and we know they could get the job done. They knew exactly what we needed and were able to recommend and implement a new solution very quickly.”
Jason Rowe, IT Systems Administrator, Nillumbik Shire
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