Lagan Construction Group

IN BRIEF

Industry

• Construction

Challenges

• Set up remote construction sites quickly, with minimal local specialist expertise
• Consolidate IT infrastructure to enable centralised management and backup
• Enable applications, including Microsoft Sharepoint, to run effectively over the company’s global WAN
• Facilitate greater inter-office collaboration

Solution

• Deployment of Steelhead appliances: one at head office and one at each construction site

Benefits

• Simplified IT infrastructure through consolidation of remote file servers and backup
• Faster deployment of IT in all new project locations and direct cost savings by eliminating need for local IT infrastructure and support
• Accelerated application and data access allows project managers to collaborate from any remote site
• Decreased bandwidth utilisation enabled deployment of VoIP, resulting in significant savings in international calls

Lagan Construction Group

Riverbed Steelhead appliances solve remote site IT problems for large construction firm across its global enterprise

Lagan Construction Group (www.laganconstructiongroup.com), is a leading international construction and building business specialising in the delivery of infrastructure, capital and maintenance solutions throughout Ireland, mainland UK, Isle of Man, Europe, the Caribbean and Asia Pacific. Based in Belfast, Lagan Construction Group is reputed worldwide for its expertise in undertaking major infrastructure projects in the key sectors of airports, marine, and power – many in far-flung locations where the company can quickly mobilise. Lagan’s current projects include:

• Runway improvement projects at Nassau International Airport, Barbados, Luis Munoz Marin Airport, San Juan and London Luton Airport (£14.2 million)

• Two major roads projects in the Republic of Ireland: as contractor on the £125 million Fermoy Bypass at Cork, and as preferred bidder on the Limerick Tunnel scheme; and a contract to construct a large stretch of A1 highway linking Dublin to Belfast

• Involvement in major water contracts: the £120 million Northern Ireland Water Framework, and the £160 million Scottish Water Framework

• A £25 million roads scheme in St Lucia

Lagan Construction Group is focused on strategic business growth over the next five years andinnovative use of IT will continue to play a key role in enabling the company to retain its competitive edge.

Challenge: Consolidating IT infrastructure and optimising application performance

Lagan Construction Group operates its business through a network of offices and temporary site locations across the world. The company requires all site locations to be IT-enabled quickly, with the site infrastructure to be managed from head office in Belfast, and minimal local specialist expertise.

Complete and accurate real-time project data is essential for effective project management and to back up monthly valuations for work done. However, building sites can be rough environments where IT equipment can be easily damaged or misplaced. The resulting loss of data could result in delays or errors potentially costing millions of pounds. Moreover, if vital project evidence were lost from a stolen laptop or a lost USB stick, the evidence to support billing of work completed could be lost forever.

In view of this, Lagan wanted to implement an enterprise content management system to operate effectively over a wide area network (WAN) and make it easier to track and manage projects. The company chose Microsoft’s Sharepoint enterprise content management system but discovered that it and other Microsoft applications did not operate at optimal speeds over the WAN. Lagan approached Riverbed for a solution that would allow its systems to operate more effectively.

Solution: Steelhead appliances overcome network limitations

Lagan initially installed four Riverbed Steelhead appliances. One was located in the Belfast head office, while three others were in remote locations, including the Caribbean. It is now envisaged that every new project site will also be set up with a Steelhead appliance.

“Our business is akin to establishing a series of temporary, multi-million pound manufacturing plants from scratch, at a series of worldwide remote locations,” said Jim Fennell, IS Manager for Lagan Construction Group: “Steelhead appliances enable us to simplify installation because there is no need to install local servers and other IT infrastructure.”

Due to the temporary nature of its sites, ease of installation and maintenance was a key issue for Lagan. Ease of set up proved to be a standout quality of the Steelhead appliance.

“When we first trialled the Steelhead appliance, it took just ten minutes to set up and we could immediately see what a difference it was making,” said Fennell. “Our users wouldn’t let Riverbed take the devices away after the trial period.”

Utilising Steelhead appliances, Lagan Construction Group’s remote sites can run applications based on the company’s main servers at its Belfast headquarters. In addition to facilitating the establishment of a new enterprise content management system and reliable backups to the central office, the Steelhead appliances have also enabled Lagan’s four-person IT team to maintain and support all its remote IT sites. As a result the company expects to make substantial savings in outsourced IT support for its various locations.

Benefits: Accelerated applications, lower costs and simpler IT management

The enhanced performance of applications over its WAN has enabled Lagan to use Microsoft’s Sharepoint enterprise content management system across its business. This allows Lagan to effectively manage unstructured content such as drawings, photographs, documents and project plans, through the entire project lifecycle – creation, management, storage, and disposal.

By successfully accelerating Sharepoint, Steelhead appliances have made it possible for project managers to log in from any Steelhead-enabled site in the world to review work on any site, helping to improve collaboration and tighten management control.

Deploying Steelhead appliances also enabled Lagan Construction Group to free up bandwidth for VoIP telephone calls, resulting in significant savings worth many thousands of pounds in its budget for international calls.

SUMMARY

At Lagan Construction Group, the nature of the business requires setting up remote construction sites around the world quickly, and with minimal local specialist expetise.

By deploying Riverbed Steelhead appliances, Lagan was able to consolidate remote IT infrastructure, enabling centralised management and backup.

In addition, Steelhead appliances enable Microsoft Sharepoint and other applicatons to run effectively over the company’s global WAN, allowing project managers to collaborate from any remote site worldwide.

By eliminating the need for local servers, Lagan is able to set up remote sites more quickly, without expensive outsourced local IT support, thereby benefitting from significant cost savings.

Steelhead appliances have also freed up bandwidth, enabling Lagan to deploy VoIP, which is reducing their costs for international calls by many thousands of pounds.

“Steelhead appliances enable us to simplify installation because there is no need

to install local servers and other IT infrastructure.”

“When we first trialled the Steelhead appliance, it took just ten minutes to set up and we could immediately see what a difference it was making.”

“Our users wouldn’t let Riverbed take the devices away after the trial period.”