Driving DEI Initiatives Through Infrastructure Modernization
Learn how one CDW customer upgraded their network infrastructure while supporting their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
Next-level growth needs a next-level network
of top-performing organizations have aligned their network strategy with their business goals1
of CIOs and CTOs believe the campus network is the most critical element to enabling a resilient hybrid workplace1
Is your network ready for advanced technologies?
A REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
An urgent need for new network and partner strategies
A life insurance firm had an aging and complex multi-vendor network that was causing uptime challenges — and nearly monthly outages. The organization also wanted their IT investments to help achieve an enterprisewide commitment to partnering with African American-owned businesses.
Working with CDW, the customer outlined their needs:
- A new campus network infrastructure to improve reliability, stability and internal customer experience
- A technical partner to help build a modern network that would support their long-term needs and growth plans
- Expert support finding and working with a minority-owned business partner
THE TURNING POINT
Networking and business diversity experts guide the way
CDW guided the customer through the technical selection by hosting roundtables with solution architects and network engineers to understand the challenges and identify the best partner to meet their long-term network goals.
Working closely with three proposed partners, CDW helped set transparent expectations for the customer’s requirements and assisted the partners in preparing their RFP presentations. CDW also had a hand in reviewing the partners’ design proposals and the client’s evaluation of the proposals to ensure their needs would be met.
After customer review and selection of Aruba networking solutions, CDW set to work on building out the plan, offering the customer 400 Aruba switches and components with services that included central licensing, five years of support, 500 training credits and a resident Aruba engineer for one year. The customer also received Infoblox and Opengear network appliances.
Once Aruba was selected as the technical partner, the customer issued a reseller RFP. Keeping in mind the customer’s desire to support African American-owned businesses, CDW leveraged its Business and Supplier Diversity practice to introduce the customer to an ideal solutions provider. CDW and Aruba worked in tandem to onboard the chosen provider and used CDW Credit to structure payment terms and put a deal of this size safely through a small business.
Network modernization, infrastructure and solutions
From upgrading your network to building a strong data center foundation, CDW can help you decide which network strategy is right for your business. With the development of AI and IoT, it is imperative to invest in a strong wireless network infrastructure that can handle high-volume traffic and grow with your organization.
CDW Business and Supplier Diversity
We’ve invested nearly two decades toward building partnerships with our diverse suppliers and working side by side with them to serve our customers. Our program promotes diverse supplier participation, optimizes customers’ supply chain, unleashes economic growth and builds strong communities.
THE RESULTS
Prepared for the demands of tomorrow. Driving equal opportunity today.
Thanks to the network refresh, the customer can expect significant uptime improvements compared to their former network infrastructure. Deployment of the newly simplified network will make solving interoperability challenges between different technologies more manageable for their internal IT staff.
Business and Supplier Diversity at CDW helped guide the customer through the journey of assessing, selecting and securely engaging with a small minority-owned business for their solutions. By providing equal access to purchasing opportunities, the customer helped contribute to a wider enterprise initiative while moving forward with confidence.
Here’s why it worked:
- CDW worked closely with the customer as well as the partner during the technical RFP process, remaining extremely responsive and flexible to ensure the best results
- Deep partner relationships enabled CDW to negotiate five years of Premium Support with Aruba at no additional cost for the customer
- CDW’s diversity supplier process, built over decades of experience, ensured a supportive environment for the customer to achieve their equity goal and gain peace of mind from partnering with the best supplier for their needs
What’s next?
The wireless migration to Aruba is just the first step in a companywide network upgrade in which CDW will upgrade the wireless network for the customer’s 350 remote office locations. With CDW partnership, the customer can also continue to work toward its enterprisewide DEI initiatives while purchasing technology solutions in the future.
To assure a smooth transition, CDW is providing post-migration support for one year, as well as infrastructure and development services that include network access control and segmentation design input, architectural design input, build-out monitoring and an onsite audit.
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