Case study
Analog Devices
MPLS transforms international
engineering operations of global
semiconductor manufacturer
United States of
America
Atlantic
Ocean
BT Global MPLS
Network
45Mbps
45Mbps
45Mbps
San Jose
A global BT MPLS network, linking Analog Devices’
European HQ with 16 US centres, worked so well that
the signal processing chipmaker is teaming up with BT
for its entire global network needs
Limerick
Norwood
5Mbps to
45Mbps
Atlantic
Ocean
Ireland
14 further USA
locations
The BT MPLS solution connects 16 sites in the USA
to Analog Devices in Limerick, Ireland, using three
main hubs
Executive Summary
Analog Devices, a global designer and
manufacturer of semiconductors, needed
to upgrade its US network to enable it to
become a more agile company and to ensure
that engineering staff could collaborate
across long distances in real time without
interruption. It also wanted to introduce
voice over IP (VoIP) at all its US sites, to
achieve efficiencies and cost savings.
BT had an established relationship with
Analog Devices, dating back to the
successful BT implementation of a European
Frame Relay network. When Analog issued
an RFP for a new network connecting its
European operation in Ireland with 16 US
centres, BT was invited to bid alongside US
telecommunications companies. BT won the
contract not only on the technical excellence
of its solution but also on its stability and the
strength of its account management.
The new infrastructure is providing the
required capacity and service levels as well
as savings of “thousands of dollars per
month” through VoIP. It is also enabling
real time collaboration between engineers
on both sides of the Atlantic. Now the
relationship is poised to grow again. In
the wake of the highly successful BT MPLS
implementation between the US and
Ireland, the company will be working with
BT to provide its vital communications
networks throughout the world.
“The BT MPLS network has
allowed our total throughput to
triple while latency has stabilized.
It helped us bring in voice over
IP, which we couldn’t do before
because we didn’t have the
class of service functionality to
guarantee it. That was a twofold
win: dollar savings with huge
service improvements.”
David Coughlan
Network Planning and Design Manager
Analog Devices
Case study
Analog Devices
“In today’s world, it simply
doesn’t matter where you sit
because of all the tools we have
to communicate. What really
matters is the relationship.”
David Coughlan
Network Planning and Design Manager
Analog Devices
Marketplace
BT solution
Analog Devices is a global company
producing a huge range of integrated
circuits for analogue, digital, and mixed
signal processing. These play a fundamental
role in converting phenomena such as
light, sound, temperature or pressure
into electrical signals used in a wide array
of electronic equipment. The company’s
engineering and development work serves
an equally broad spectrum: cars and
cameras, television, medical imaging, and
factory automation. In such an ultracompetitive industry, Analog Devices strives
to retain an edge over its rivals by being a
more agile company. More than a third of its
more than 9,000 employees are engineers
working across the US, Europe, and Asia.
That entails collaboration over huge
distances.
Analog Devices runs its supplier selection
process methodically, checking off desired
attributes on a matrix, while weighing up
the rival technological offers and relative
pricing. When presentations began, BT
had three key advantages that helped
level the playing field. One was the success
of a previous European Frame Relay
implementation by BT for Analog Devices,
linking the company’s European centres to
its flagship European facility in Limerick,
with a solid continuing service record.
Another was BT’s willingness to consider
business issues raised by Analog in the
course of regular contacts, and come back
with solutions. This meant that Analog
had always been able to take BT’s ideas
and explore the implications thoroughly.
The third was the strength of the existing
relationship.
Business opportunity
In the US, Analog Devices faced mounting
difficulties with its existing network – a
mixture of leased lines and asynchronous
transfer mode links – with a direct impact
on efficiency, productivity, and costs.
Engineers working on a joint project in
remote locations could not gain access to
vital applications, or found connections
broken in mid-task. Prioritisation of
mission-critical traffic was another major
issue. The company had been unable to
implement voice over IP (VoIP) despite its
proven business flexibility, workflow, and
cost advantages. When Analog issued a
request for proposal aimed at correcting
this situation, BT was invited to bid
alongside some of the leading names in US
telecommunications.
“One of the main reasons we chose BT was
the long-term relationship we’ve enjoyed,”
says David Coughlan, Network Planning and
Design Manager for Analog Devices. “Not
only has the BT network been stable, but so
has its account team – with the same faces
throughout the last six or seven years.”
BT’s proposal for an advanced MPLS network
covered the technical and business network
imperatives raised by Analog Devices.
The network would connect the Limerick
campus – employing some 1,400 people
engaged in manufacturing, fabrication,
sales and marketing, distribution, and
treasury functions as well as research and
development – with the company’s 16 US
centres.
Case study
Analog Devices
The key benefits of the BTs MPLS solution
were a major increase in network capacity
and the any-to-any nature of the
technology proposed. This would be a vital
factor for any company operating out of
multiple centres round the world. It did not
concern Analog that the account would be
run out of Ireland rather than the US. David
Coughlan says: “In today’s world, it simply
doesn’t matter where you sit because of all
the tools we have to communicate. What
really matters is the relationship.”
Results
The proposed BT solution was an application
aware infrastructure (AAI) with robust
class of service (CoS) functionality offering
reliable prioritisation of traffic. The new
network would allow Analog to place voice
in CoS1 and computer aided design or other
crucial engineering applications in CoS2.
The new network would enable engineers
to share information easily from very large
databases for semiconductor design and
manufacturing projects. Additionally,
Analog required an internet-based voice
and data back up service, which BT was able
to provide through a highly secure virtual
private network (VPN).
David Coughlan says: “The BT MPLS network
has allowed our total throughput to triple
while latency has stabilized. It helped us
bring in voice over IP, which we couldn’t
do before because we didn’t have the class
of service functionality to guarantee it.
That was a twofold win: dollar savings with
huge service improvements.” So far, the
company estimates its savings through the
use of VoIP in “thousands of dollars per
month” although they have yet to be exactly
computed.
The clearest evidence of Analog Devices’
satisfaction with the BT MPLS US-Ireland
network solution is the fact that it now plans
to implement similar BT MPLS solutions
in Europe and Asia. It will thus revert to a
best carrier strategy for communications
throughout the world, which was dropped
some years ago in favour of a best-in-region
approach at the inception of its relationship
with BT in Europe.
Another important way in which the BT
MPLS network empowers Analog Devices
is specific to the nature and geographical
spread of its business. If an engineer
in Limerick were working on a chipset
design with another based in San Jose, for
instance, the Limerick designer’s traffic
would previously have had to route from
Limerick to Norwood (near Boston on the
US east coast) before traversing another
leased line to San Jose. David Coughlan
concludes: “Now the MPLS cloud connects
the two people directly together, enabling
rapid progress in introducing real time
collaborative workflow. Meanwhile, the old
problem of engineers or designers getting
dropped off the network in mid-task has
simply vanished.”
Why BT?
• Outstanding track record in network implementation
• Long-term relationship of trust based on a stable account team
• Solution tailored to the requirements of fast-moving global business
• Cost-saving implementation of VoIP throughout US network
Case study
Analog Devices
Technology blueprint
BT delivered a Cisco-based MPLS platform
to Analog Devices, offering 45Mbps access
circuits with 45Mbps ports at three main
hubs: at the company’s European centre in
Ireland; at its corporate HQ at Norwood,
near Boston, Massachusetts; and in San
Jose, California. All the other US locations
were equipped with 45Mbps circuits and
5Mbps ports.
In all cases, the solution deployed Cisco
3845 Integrated Services Routers, with
wire-speed performance for concurrent
services and advanced services at T3/E3
rates, together with onboard encryption,
Offices worldwide
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antivirus defence support through network
admission control, intrusion prevention and
support of up to 2,500 VPN tunnels. For the
internet back up network, BT deployed a mix
of Cisco 2811 and Cisco 1841 Integrated
Services Routers, both offering wire-speed
performance for concurrent services, and
T1/E1 speeds for advanced services in the
case of the Cisco 2811.
Main BT products and
services
• BT MPLS network connecting
Ireland and US
• BT-implemented internetbased US backup network