Lines are tight due to the corona crisis Considering the introduction of highly flexible SD-WAN

Since its establishment in 1954, the EXEO Group has contributed to the development of telecommunications equipment. We have contributed to the resolution of various social issues and the enrichment of people's lives by expanding our business areas in response to the needs of the times while maintaining our core competence in specialized technology in the field of information and communication infrastructure. On October 1, 2021, the company name will be changed from "Kyowa Exeo" to "Exeo Group". With the strength of advanced "technical capabilities" cultivated through many field experiences, we are now developing a wide range of businesses with three pillars: information and communication networks, urban infrastructure, and ICT solutions.

At the company, the use of SaaS such as Microsoft Teams in business has expanded due to the corona disaster. Previously, access was basically centralized to the in-house DC, so the in-house traffic more than doubled, leading to tightness. Interruptions occurred frequently during Teams meetings, and users complained about voice quality and slow page turning.
“Even if the video is turned off, it is still necessary to share materials, but the meeting is still interrupted, and the work itself is affected. ”, Hiroshi Sono, General Manager of the ICT Engineering Headquarters and DX Strategy Department, looks back.

Initially, it was dealt with by increasing the number of Internet lines and carriers' VPNs, but since the cost would increase considerably, it was decided to consider a drastic review of the network environment. "The goal is to improve the line itself at a reasonable cost. The other is a review of the Wi-Fi product that was introduced quite some time ago. There was a case where we were concentrating on the Wi-Fi AP on the same floor and causing a blockage. We considered replacing with the latest Wi-Fi 6 compatible devices to improve them.” (Mr. Sono)

Change to a more reasonable dedicated line between the main base such as the head office and the DC. For medium-sized bases, we decided to consider introducing SD-WAN, which has excellent configuration flexibility. In addition, we have decided to use a local breakout for SaaS, instead of consolidating communications in the DC. At the same time, we aimed to build a secure environment regardless of internal or external by adopting SD-WAN that cooperates with cloud security with a view to SASE, which performs network control and security control on the path of cloud services.

Detailed product information can be investigated in depth Wide range of tuning

The EXEO Group has been considering network renewal since 2020, but in March 2021, when the budget was secured, a full-fledged preliminary examination began. After narrowing down the data base, we conducted PoC from April to August 2021 for products from three companies, including Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN. The point was that the local breakout worked well, reduced traffic, and reduced line costs. Another aim was to increase knowledge by using the products handled by the sales partner from the user's point of view.
“From the perspective of realizing SASE, we also considered cooperation with other SASE vendors and focused on receiving solid support,” says Yoji Inoue of the ICT Engineering Headquarters and DX Strategy Department.

In terms of functionality, Mr. Kotaro Yokota, Manager of the ICT Engineering Headquarters and DX Strategy Department, explains as follows. “I think Aruba EdgeConnect has more parts that can be understood from the interface compared to other products. It was also excellent in terms of visualization of

Furthermore, Takeshi Koyama, General Manager of Digital Consulting Headquarters and Solution Business Headquarters Solution Sales Headquarters, said, "Aruba EdgeConnect has many parts that we touch ourselves. For example, other products are easy to understand at first glance, but technically As a human being, I can't get enough information.On the other hand, Aruba EdgeConnect allows you to dig deeper into more detailed information using the knowledge you have introduced in-house if necessary.Optimal tuning when making proposals to customers We can provide added value unique to us, including

The company decided to adopt ArubaEdgeConnect SD-WAN in November 2021 after a PoC. Implementation work will begin in 2022, and the test site will open in September. The rollout began in December of the same year and began in March 2023, and has now been rolled out to 10 major locations. Furthermore, each base has a redundant configuration. In parallel, Aruba's Wi-Fi and switch products were introduced and switched over. The Wi-Fi devices used are the "500 series," and a total of about 300 Wi-Fi switches have been installed to date.
“For this network renovation, we provided internally the know-how we had cultivated through external sales of Aruba EdgeConnect.In some external sales projects, we were able to achieve smooth implementation with support from Macnica. Our know-how is also helpful,” said Tatsuya Inbe, deputy manager of the ICT Engineering Division.

Bandwidth up to 8 times Cost reduction of 70% or more

“By locally breaking out all SaaS, including Teams, from each location, we were able to significantly reduce the amount of traffic and also cut costs. However, we have heard from users that the communication speed has improved,” says Atsushi Furukawa, Manager of the DX Strategy Department and in charge of infrastructure innovation.
"The cost has been reduced by 70%, and we believe that the effect will be even greater if we consider the performance improvement. Also, the visualization of the line is a great advantage." (Mr. Sono)

The bandwidth is said to be up to 8 times higher. “Because network costs are the burden of each site, in the past, increasing the cost of the network would increase the cost burden, so there were quite a few sites that had to put up with the situation and use it without worrying about it. Now that we are able to do this, we believe that we have eliminated factors that impede our business and have contributed to improving operational efficiency,” says Junichi Tomomitsu, Manager of the ICT Engineering Headquarters and DX Strategy Department.

In terms of visualization as well, previously only the overall traffic volume could be grasped, but now it is possible to grasp it at the application level and make appropriate allocations. In addition, problems can be quickly isolated. In fact, it was found that the unstable part of the communication was potentially left unattended in the isolation of the failure that occurred in the installation process.
"At the beginning of the PoC, we didn't know about it, but after installing it in several places, it became noticeable. When EdgeConnect issued an alarm, we realized it and analyzed the cause of the packet loss in depth. By doing so, we were able to grasp the existence of potential problems for the first time.In that sense, the merits of EdgeConnect are demonstrated." (Mr. Inoue)

Utilize know-how and knowledge in external sales to expand deployment and aim for integrated management

As for the future, we will first aim for stable operation at the sites where we have deployed, and aim to integrate management with Aruba Central, including both inside and outside the company.
“Previously, we responded only after receiving complaints from our bases. We hope that by visualizing the network status, we will be able to take proactive measures at the early stage. We also want to consider predicting network failures and responding quickly.” (Mr. Sono)

Aruba EdgeConnect SD-WAN will continue to expand its deployment, and there are nearly 400 bases in the entire group, but we plan to introduce it to bases of a certain scale. In addition, the know-how gained from this construction will be actively utilized in external sales. Mr. Inbe says, "There are many cases where customers stumble in the same way that we stumbled. In such cases, we believe that having the actual know-how to solve them in this way will be a great advantage." )

Solution Business Headquarters
ICT Engineering Headquarters
General Manager
and DX Strategy Department
Hiroshi Sono

Solution Business Headquarters
Digital Consulting Headquarters
and Solution Business Headquarters
Solution Sales Headquarters
Manager in charge
Mr. Takeshi Koyama

Solution Business Headquarters
ICT Engineering Headquarters
and DX Strategy Department
Chief manager
Mr. Kotaro Yokota

Solution Business Headquarters
ICT Engineering Headquarters
and DX Strategy Department
Chief manager
Mr. Junichi Tomomitsu

Solution Business Headquarters
ICT Engineering Headquarters
Deputy manager
Mr. Tatsuya Inbe

Solution Business Headquarters
ICT Engineering Headquarters
and DX Strategy Department
Mr. Yoji Inoue

DX Strategy Department
Chief manager
In charge of Infrastructure Innovation
Mr. Atsushi Furukawa