Senko installed Riverbed® SteelHead™, SteelHead Mobile, and a virtualized version of Riverbed® SteelCentral™ Controller for SteelHead, a management and reporting solution for enterprises with SteelHeads deployed in multiple locations – including mobile devices. With these key elements of the Riverbed Application Performance Platform™, Senko reduced wide-area network (WAN) traffic by 88%, eliminating the need to buy or lease more costly bandwidth, and accelerated application response times by as much as 38x. This has improved communication and collaboration among Senko’s global offices, allowing the company to continue to advance its growth objectives.
“To expand globally a company needs top-notch network connectivity. Installing Riverbed technology added to our global development momentum, one of the pillars of our management plan,” said Shigeyuki Tanaka, general manager of the production management division at Senko. “When Senko establishes new global locations, we must be ready to respond to customers and provide them with the highest value. This means our systems and IT infrastructure must run perfectly. Riverbed is key to making that happen.”
Based in Japan, Senko helps optimize customer supply chains from procurement to product delivery through technology. When the company deployed a new logistics system in 2000, it shifted away from being a comprehensive logistics company and moved towards a solution-based logistics business that meets the specific needs of corporate customers. Senko has about 400 Japanese and 33 global business sites, with more on the way. As it expanded across Asia, the Americas, and other regions, Senko introduced new collaboration software to create a global information infrastructure. However, hybrid network complexities resulted in slow application performance at overseas and some domestic locations. In many instances users were unable to use the collobaration software and its adoption had not progressed as expected, resulting in inefficient communication between offices.
To address this issue, Senko could have increased network bandwidth at great expense, 67 million yen (approximately $65,000 USD) over five years for an 8 Mbps dedicated line or, instead, use the more cost-effective solution of WAN acceleration over its hybrid enterprise. Senko chose SteelHead, SteelHead Mobile for its mobile workforce, and SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead after internal tests showed that the solutions increased the average email application response times by approximately 38x. Likewise, Senko saw WAN traffic reduced by up to 88%, which has resulted in additional adoption of the company’s collaboration applications, driving more efficient information-sharing and consensus-building across the business. Senko also found that SteelCentral Controller for SteelHead gave them more insight into network obstacles, allowing the company to take preventive measures before end-users even noticed application performance issues. The product has helped Senko better capitalize on its virtual environment, which supports its mobile device strategy. Managing this environment is now simpler, uses less electricity and requires less IT infrastructure.
Riverbed SteelHead and the Riverbed Application Performance Platform™
The Riverbed Application Performance Platform™ gives CIOs unparalleled visibility to deliver, control, and optimize all IT resources across the hybrid enterprise. A key part of the platform, Riverbed SteelHead is the #1 WAN optimization solution that helps guarantee application service levels across hybrid cloud architectures, maximizing end user productivity, enhancing IT visibility and control, and reducing costs.