Serving up Remote Support - Heinz Asia Region

Do you require remote server support over an entire region?

“The Fronde team understands our business. The demands of providing IT support to a region spanning eight different countries - some of which are third world - are many and various.”

Michael Hamilton, COO - Heinz Asia Region

Highlights

In May 2000, Fronde was asked to undertake an installation for Heinz Asia Region’s Singapore office. All that was required was a server, firewall, printer and Internet access. While doing this, we recognised an opportunity for major communication and efficiency improvements and offered our expertise. Today we support 19 offices across 9 countries. The infrastructure consists of 80 servers with over 1200 desktops.

The Challenge

Heinz had offices and affiliates throughout the Asia region, yet there was no real infrastructure and no standardised reporting. Heinz World Headquarters had recently introduced Hyperion, a global system for forecasting and budgeting, which required a global network infrastructure to deliver standardised daily accounts and reports.

Existing cables, connections, hardware and technical ability varied enormously across offices located in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, China, Korea, Thailand and the Philippines. Securing a reliable Internet connection in some of the countries would be no easy task. On top of this, the language and cultural differences needed to be taken into consideration.

The Solution

A project manager was assigned to develop a comprehensive plan to connect the Asia region offices and provide support remotely from New Zealand. A VPN (Virtual Private Network) was proposed as a cost-effective mechanism for communication between the scattered offices.

The scope of this work covered the design of a firewall architecture, the installation of a firewall and permanent Internet connections into 10 offices, and ensuring email servers and anti-virus protection meet Fronde’s standards.

To overcome local telecommunications infrastructure difficulties, we coordinated with a locally assigned IT representative from each office.

The technologies employed included Microsoft Terminal Server, SQL Server, Cisco routers and Checkpoint Firewall-1. Hardware included IBM laptops and desktops, with Norton AntiVirus and MailMarshal providing virus protection.

The Outcome

The network infrastructure has proved to be a successful solution to managing communications across a vast and diverse region. We were asked to build an intranet for the Heinz Asia Region. Live in six weeks, the intranet has a fresh, clean design and incorporates a simple time and expenses management system built specifically to cope with the demands of multiple currencies and tax issues. Using an SQL Server database, content can be uploaded in-house and the site can be configured to allow various levels of authorised access.

Fronde now provides a range of project delivery services to Heinz Asia Region, full support to Hong Kong and Singapore, and third level support to the rest of the region with all critical systems monitored 24x7. Our Help Desk manages routine enquiries with technical consultants available for troubleshooting and problem solving, and our consultants assist with IT strategy and planning. Additionally, we have completed a Windows 2000, Microsoft Exchange and Active Directory roll-out.