Customer Success Story
Dimension Data automatically validates performance of its intelligent network
Digital transformation helps organizations accelerate innovation and drive operational efficiency. To help its clients unlock the power of digital in today’s hybrid IT world, Dimension Data built an intelligent network connecting 11 data centers on two continents.
Building an intelligent infrastructure was a high-stakes effort. To enable the network to work as expected from the first day and forward, Dimension Data relied on Juniper Paragon Active Assurance and Juniper Paragon Active Assurance Deployment Services for active testing and monitoring.
Overview
| Company | Dimension Data |
| Industry | Technology |
| Products used | Juniper Paragon Active Assurance |
| Region | EMEA |
5th
Largest global service provider (Center for Applied Internet Data Analysis)
77 Tbps
Data traffic transported globally in 2021
400G
Ports allow to lower the TCO with respect to single 100G ports
25 year
History of providing high-speed IP transit
Enable high-quality network services from Day 1
“We help our clients thrive in a hyper-digitized and hyper-connected environment,” says Rindhir Singh, go-to-market product portfolio manager, hybrid networks at Dimension Data.
Building an intelligent infrastructure that can be adapted for a rapidly changing world would deliver a competitive advantage to Dimension Data’s clients in industries from financial services and healthcare to mining and agriculture.
There is no margin for error when building a brand-new IP core network to connect data centers in South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Germany. Dimension Data engaged with Juniper Paragon Active Assurance Deployment Services to actively test and monitor the new network to enable success.
Successful test and validation of the intelligent network
To maximize the value of Paragon Active Assurance to validate and test of the new network, Dimension Data engaged with Juniper Services. Following best practices, instead of best effort, minimizes configuration errors and allows Paragon Active Assurance to easily support new use cases moving forward.
The Juniper engagement began with a discovery workshop to determine the requirements, followed by the creation of a low-level design document to describe the use cases and the third-party integrations. Juniper created the test agent and the monitor/test template configurations for Dimension Data’s environment, and upon acceptance of the testing protocol, worked closely with the team on detailed knowledge transfer.
With a foundation of best practices and expertise, Dimension Data used Juniper Paragon Active Assurance to validate that the network would function as planned prior to carrying customer traffic.
“Paragon Active Assurance was extremely valuable during the build and implementation phases of the new network to find and resolve issues,” says Jaco Muller, senior principal infrastructure design architect at Dimension Data. “Throughout the engagement, the Juniper team quickly and thoroughly addressed our questions and any critical issues.”
Active test and monitoring enables ongoing service performance
Engaging with the Juniper Professional Services team to get the maximum value from automating service verification has helped Dimension Data reduce time to revenue, lower service delivery costs, and deliver successful services on its intelligent network.
The value of the Juniper service assurance engagement has continued to accrue long after Day 0. The infrastructure and operations team uses Paragon Active Assurance to identify, understand, troubleshoot, and resolve issues and validate service changes. Ongoing active testing and monitoring empowers Dimension Data to deliver services that meet its clients’ unyielding expectations in a fast-changing world.
“Our automated infrastructure delivers trusted performance across myriad environments and in the face of continued uncertainty,” says Singh. “Real-time testing and assurance allow the network to adjust without customer downtime or human intervention.”
The Products
Juniper’s automation-led approach to networking simplifies and accelerates WAN and data center planning, design, and operations for more reliable and sustainable network services.
Juniper global services helps your organization align AI with people, process, and technology to accelerate the time to value for your modern infrastructure.
Published March 2022