Erie Family Health Center: Network Visualization With NetBrain-as-a-Service
Serving more than 80,000 medical and dental patients across its 13 Chicagoland locations, Erie Family Health system envisioned a better way to manage its longstanding network. Having worked with Burwood Group in the past, Erie’s IT leadership turned to Burwood Cloud Services experts for a solution.
The Challenge: Save time and fuel insights with improved network mapping and visualization
Over the years, Erie’s IT network had evolved, and lacked standardization and documentation. Without a network map or remote access to network devices, the IT team was spending too much time troubleshooting networking issues and not enough on strategic, higher-level solutions. Previously, Erie had retained Burwood to shoulder the burden of day-to-day network operations while the Erie team completed a data center refresh. Following the success of that project, Erie again turned to Burwood to help its IT team advance beyond simple ‘read and react’ network management to a solution that would fuel IT business and capacity planning and expedite troubleshooting.
The Solution: Deploy and support a robust network management tool
Upon Burwood Group’s recommendation, Erie opted for Burwood’s NetBrain as-a-Service, which provides live network mapping, telemetry, and intelligence. By painting a complete picture of the network in real time, NetBrain as-a-Service would enable Erie’s IT team to build a complete network map in minutes, rather than the traditional days, weeks, or even months. It would also automate health checks and execute changes across the network with full control and visibility.
One challenge was that some sites required manual access, creating operational risk should an outage occur. The Burwood team re-configured the network to allow remote access and complete mapping. After installing and configuring NetBrain as-a-Service, Burwood trained Erie IT staff on how to gain insights from the mapping automation tool.
The Outcome: Real-time insights for more agile IT
NetBrain as-a-Service proved useful almost immediately, when the team was able to easily resolve a long-term lag between an application in a satellite site and the data center. With NetBrain, Burwood quickly mapped the path and, in just minutes, identified an asynchronous routing issue between the two sites. A short maintenance window later, and a problem that had existed ‘forever’ was completely resolved.
Today, Erie’s IT team is able to build dynamic maps of its network almost instantly and can quickly troubleshoot issues as they arise. Additionally, Burwood seamlessly delivers NetBrain updates—another time-saving mechanism for the Erie IT team. With NetBrain as-a-Service, Erie has reduced operational risks and improved productivity, enabling the IT team to devote more time to supporting caregivers and patient care.
Burwood Group Services
Cloud Services
NetBrain as-a-Service
Network Management
“This partnership is exactly what we needed to improve network management. Burwood’s Netbrain as-a-Service turned what would have been a time-consuming deployment into a streamlined, painless solution. The service minimized the learning curve for us. Now I check NetBrain every morning because it gives me the instant insights I need to address minor issues before they become major ones. And, our whole team benefits from Burwood’s ongoing support, including managing the relationship with NetBrain—so we can spend our time on more strategic projects.”