StoneGate Multi-Link™ Ensures Indestructible Connectivity
As the largest Construction Management organization in the New
York Metropolitan area, Plaza Construction Corporation's business and reputation rely on its
ability to maintain constant data communications from its remote construction sites to its
headquarters in midtown New York City.
In this rugged on-site construction environment communication lines are frequently cut or moved;
causing potential lapses in connectivity with client-server based business applications.
The following case study discusses how Plaza Construction was able to implement fault tolerant VPNs to its remote construction sites to reduce their communication costs and increase their level of customer service.
Connecting the Remote Site
Plaza Construction faces a unique data communication problem that is directly related to its
business. The problem: frequent movement of communication lines and the common accidental cutting
of these lines located on construction sites. Most companies are concerned about downtime from lost
data communications, but at a construction site it's a matter of how often it will happen, not if
it will happen.
In the construction management business, on-site change management and delivery changes directly affect cost and budget management. Time is literally money, and downtime costs can be huge.
IT management is a key competitive advantage that Plaza offers over its competitors. In its client-server environment, the remote sites are linked to headquarters and have real-time access to budget, project management, and design information. Access to this data must be secure and always available. The challenge: to provide remote, secure, cost effective, and always on connections.
Construction Grade VPN
Plaza Construction's solution: Stonesoft's StoneGate Firewall/VPN with DSL and cable modem
Internet connections. Plaza implemented StoneGate with separate DSL and cable modem connections,
which provide it with a fault tolerant VPN connection to the headquarters location. This new
solution was selected over the previous use of point to point connections, since this now provides
a redundant connection with separate physical connections.
"With two separate lines coming in from two directions, we've eliminated our risk of data communication downtime," says Charles Smith, director of Management Information Systems at Plaza.
Through the use of StoneGate's VPN, the remote users connect to headquarters for remote access to their Citrix servers, e-mail, and network file storage. StoneGate dynamically load balances all of the available bandwidth. If a line is cut, StoneGate maintains the VPN connection with session fail-over, which is transparent to the user. Large file transfers are also completed faster with more aggregate bandwidth available at the job site.
Cost & Time Savings
Plaza implemented StoneGate because of its unique Multi-Link technology, with its ability to
load balance multiple ISPs while maintaining VPN connections. This solution is secure, cost
effective, quick to install, and easy to manage.
Using StoneGate with dual broadband connections saves us $300.00 per month per location.
"Installing a VPN gets a new site up very fast. It now only takes us 2 to 3 days to set-up a new location compared to 2 to 3 weeks using a point to point connection."
Tangible Return on Investment
For Plaza Construction's clients, there is immediate, tangible return on investment. This ROI is
derived from lower implementation cost, lower ongoing communication cost, and the elimination of
communication downtime. This increased ROI is also a competitive advantage for Plaza Construction.
IT expenses in the construction management business are strictly considered overhead, but these
cost savings scale even greater with the size of a project. The use of StoneGate helps position
Plaza Construction to be even more cost competitive in larger and more profitable projects.
"We can now look at IT as a profit center and not just overhead for our clients," says Smith.
By implementing the StoneGate solution, Plaza Construction can provide our clients with an immediate, tangible ROI derived from lower implementation costs, reduced communication costs and the elimination of networking downtime.
About Plaza Construction Corporation
Plaza Construction Corporation is a full-service Construction Management organization with a
staff of over 300 industry professionals experienced in all areas of building and interior
construction. Plaza was incorporated in 1986 and over the last fifteen years has developed into one
of New York City's most outstanding Construction Management and General Contracting firms. With
roots in the New York City real estate and construction industries, Plaza has grown substantially
from servicing the construction needs of its parent company to fulfilling the construction
requirements of prominent local, national and international corporations.
Plaza Construction dedicates itself to providing the highest quality of Construction Management services by expertly fulfilling its clients' needs through the use of diligent coordination and proven reporting and communications systems. Its combined technical experience allows it to assist the project team with the development and implementation of all phases of a construction program. Plaza provides solutions to logistics and budgeting challenges by drawing on its vast resources of aggregate personal experience, similar project data and the application of creative team approaches to problem-solving.