AT HMSHOST WAN OPTIMIZATION TAKES FLIGHT

ORGANIZATION HMSHost

HEADQUARTERS Bethesda Md

EMPLOYEES 30000

ANNUAL REVENUE $27 billion

LOCATIONS 100-plus global remote locations including the 20 busiest airports in North America

THE CHALLENGE In 10 weeks configure gear to stand up a new optimized WAN infrastructure serving HMSHost locations across the United States

At a Glance

As the premiere provider of food and beverage experiences at US travel venues HMSHost needed to serve up an equally stellar network and IT services infrastructure

ldquoWe needed a strategic partner that could mature with usrdquo says HMSHost CIO Sarah Naqvi with Paul Garcia senior director of infrastructure

CASE STUDY

TWEET THIS

2

Speed matters when yoursquore in the business of helping travelers

launch from more than 100 of the worldrsquos top airports and 99

travel plazas along US and Canadian motorways

Global restaurateur HMSHost is the leading provider

of innovative food and beverage experiences at travel

venues representing hundreds of respected hospitality

brands But while its food operations draw rave reviews

its technology team not so long ago found the companyrsquos

enterprise network services lacking

ldquoTravelers are early technology adoptersrdquo points

out Paul Garcia senior director of infrastructure for the

30000-employee HMSHost ldquoThey want reliable Wi-Fi

access for their mobile devices and they donrsquot want to wait

in long lines mdash if our sales systems are slow mdash for a coffee at

a Starbucks storefront for instancerdquo

Increasingly travelers also want the ability to place

their orders wirelessly Garcia adds ldquoWhether itrsquos a device

we provide an app on their phone or a kiosk at a gate itrsquos

all about efficiency and conveniencerdquo he says ldquoSo we

must have back-end technologies to ensure our point-

of-sale systems enable us to deliver the best customer

experiences in the businessrdquo

Fortunately HMSHost now has a speedy and secure

infrastructure following installation of a new Citrix

CloudBridge WAN optimization platform and related

networking gear The CloudBridge topology uses a hub-and-

spoke design that aggregates traffic back from HMSHostrsquos

remote locations to the companyrsquos central data center

ldquoWe had to migrate from a legacy solution in a

compressed time framerdquo says Garcia ldquoCDW acquired

integrated configured staged and shipped the WAN

optimization components customized to our specifications

to each of our US locations All our restaurant managers

had to do was plug them inrdquo

Prior to working with CDW branch WAN systems at

HMSHost locations were complex and failure-prone With

customer expectations rapidly changing and remote sites

staffed by nontechnical hospitality workers HMSHost

decided it was time to streamline and strengthen its branch

infrastructure

ldquoWe needed to simplify the technology landscape in the

fieldrdquo says HMSHost CIO Sarah Naqvi ldquoAs a centralized IT

organization we required a remote infrastructure that would

be easy to deploy and support from our main data centerrdquo

In practice this required moving from a patchwork

system to a standardized and scalable network

environment that would meet current demands as well as

support anticipated future needs and growth

Adding to the MenuGetting the job done started with finding the right

technology partner Naqvi says ldquoWe needed a strategic

partner that could mature with us as well as provide insight

into procurement and selection to ensure we received

solutions that could perform to our expectationsrdquo she says

The HMSHost tech team also based its decision to work

with CDW on the technology providerrsquos depth and breadth

of solution knowledge both in terms of IT and market

performance ldquoWe wanted a partner that could enable us to

look at solutions from a holistic approachrdquo Naqvi says

Although planned as a multimonth initiative the

deployment became compressed into a 10-week project

when HMSHostrsquos legacy communications partner

ldquo We needed to stand up high-performance resilient WAN links at locations across North America and we needed to do it fastrdquo mdash Paul Garcia Senior Director of Infrastructure at HMSHost

CASE STUDY

Up to 90 Speed boost in HMSHostrsquos point-of-sale transactions experienced by some sites after revamping the network infrastructure and rolling out WAN optimization technologyTWEET THIS

3

Anatomy of an Optimized WANCitrix CloudBridge

For WAN optimization CloudBridge not only provides

deduplication to reduce bandwidth consumption but also

supplies the real-time visibility required to ensure critical

applications receive priority HMSHost can leverage

CloudBridge to utilize mobile and cloud-enabled solutions

for point-of-sale systems inventory and supply chain

management and extremely bandwidth-intensive

applications such as video conferencing

Cisco Enterprise Switches

HMSHost replaced a legacy providerrsquos networking switches

with Cisco 2960-S 2960-X and 3750-X equipment

providing Gigabit connectivity to its fiber backbone This

enabled the company to deploy two separate networks one

for Internet access and the other for internal operations The

two networks also ensure full redundancy in the companyrsquos

near-247 service environment

WatchGuard XTM Firewalls

Unified threat management devices secure the two WAN

networks at each HMSHost remote location and supply

the capability to automatically fail over traffic between

the networks This provides the ldquofive ninesrdquo of uptime that

HMSHost requires to run operations without any manual

intervention from onsite food and beverage staff or its

centralized data center IT personnel

Tripp Lite Smart UPSs

To keep remote sites powered up HMSHost relies on

TrippLite intelligent uninterruptible power supplies with

automatic voltage regulating capability The UPSs can

handle low (brown-out) and high-voltage conditions until

AC power is restored

announced it was shelving the existing backbone solution

ldquoThatrsquos when the power of our CDW partnership really

became clearrdquo Garcia recalls ldquoFirst we utilized CDWrsquos Buy

and Hold program to purchase equipment cost-effectively

Then CDWrsquos Configuration Center team handled all of

the configuration and logistical tasks for getting the right

equipment to the right locationrdquo (Read more about these

teams in ldquoTeaming Up for Efficiencyrdquo)

Through the Buy and Hold program HMSHost was able

to buy all the equipment that it needed up front says Alison

Hearne a CDW senior sales account manager ldquoWhen I heard

HMSHost needed a lot of equipment fast fully configured

and shipped across the nation I knew CDWrsquos Buy and Hold

program would be the best solutionrdquo she adds

Order UpThatrsquos a huge time savings for a customer points out Adam

Martin a CDW advanced technology account executive ldquoItrsquos

a matter of scalerdquo he explains ldquoWersquore set up to do a lot more

of these a day than an IT team in a business can tackle mdash even

a large business And itrsquos not like most businesses have a

configuration center set up in their offices itrsquos just not what

they do mdash and why should they need tordquo

Working closely with Hearne and Martin Garciarsquos team

architected the infrastructure overhaul and plotted a

strategy for meeting the new hyper-speed deployment

schedule

After running real-world load tests to define and perfect

filtering policies and configuration settings for the new

gear HMSHost and CDW

bull Deployed Citrixrsquos CloudBridge for WAN optimization

bull Replaced aging switches with Cisco 2960-S

2960-X and 3850-X models

bull Installed WatchGuard XTM unified threat

management firewalls

bull Implemented Tripp Lite SmartPro UPS

devices for resiliency

ldquoCDW even created detailed installation documentation

with pictures making it easy for our nontechnical hospitality

workers to install everything correctlyrdquo Garcia says

The critical value of the CDW teamrsquos counsel and hands-

on help ldquocanrsquot be put into wordsrdquo he says ldquoAlison Hearne

coordinated the right mix of technical and logistical

expertise to ensure the design and delivery of a reliable

high-performance solutionrdquo

At Your ServiceToday the solution ensures that HMSHost partner

locations at travel facilities can operate efficiently

and reliably and HMSHostrsquos tech team can ensure

high-quality performance security and resiliency to

users companywide

ldquoOur new solution enables having two discrete

networksrdquo Garcia says ldquoOne is for Internet traffic and

the other handles corporate networking needs All of the

communications for both networks go through Citrix

CloudBridge for optimization allowing us to shape trafficrdquo

48008004239 | CDWcom

This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certifiedMKT3088 copy2015 CDW LLC

4

Teaming Up for Efficiency CDWrsquos Configuration Center and Special OperationsTo stay focused on business-critical work IT departments

take advantage of CDWrsquos Configuration Center Within the

8000-square-foot facility industry-certified technicians

can configure an average of more than 1800 systems in a

single 24-hour period

As with many projects the first step for the HMSHost

collaboration was a conference call with Rick Roman senior

network engineer at the Configuration Center ldquoAfter

discussing the companyrsquos needs and requirements we

developed a program to matchrdquo Roman says

The team completed a customer-supplied configuration

for almost 1000 pieces of equipment to outfit HMSHostrsquos

US locations

The process included

bull Unboxing equipment

bull Making firmware and software updates

bull Applying licenses

bull Completing specified configurations

bull Conducting burn-in testing

bull Tagging each device

bull Entering assets into a customer-facing database

bull Labeling equipment for remote-site assembly

bull Creating step-by-step installation instructions with

photos

bull Bundling the equipment and any additional items such as

cabling with instructions for each location

Once ready for shipping the Configuration team handed

off the equipment to the Special Operations staff which

performed a quality assurance review before shipping to

HMSHost locations

ldquoSpecial Operations actually performs quality control

twicerdquo explains Roman ldquoFirst they inventory equipment

before delivering it to us Then they inventory it again

after wersquove finished ensuring everything aligns with a

customerrsquos orderrdquo

For HMSHost the two CDW teams worked seamlessly to

ship WAN equipment to 30 or 40 locations per day over the

course of the deployment Roman says ldquoNo matter what

the size or scope of a project we have the resources to get

the job donerdquo

Losing contact with a remote location is now a thing of

the past ldquoBefore when there was a disruption such as a

backhoe cutting a cable we had no communicationrdquo he

says ldquoNow wersquove designed our two separate WAN links

to support the entire load for both So if one network

goes down the system automatically fails over to the

other networkrdquo

Beyond enhancing services for the partner storefronts

and for customers the optimized WAN also improves

HMSHostrsquos ability to provide the high-caliber services

expected in the travel industry

ldquoWe operate in a very complex environmentrdquo Naqvi

says ldquoBeyond regulatory and security requirements

every airport is competing to be seen as the most

forward-thinkingrdquo

ldquoWith our new networkrdquo she continues ldquowe can

demonstrate our ability to meet the needs of the airport

help increase revenues and work with preferred brands mdash

whether theyrsquore local mom-and-pop organizations with

limited resources or major global brands with precise

specificationsrdquo

One result of the intense project HMSHost considers

CDW more than a vendor Naqvi says ldquoCDWrsquos a strategic

partner that serves as an extension of our overall

organization and strategic goalsrdquo

1000 The number of pieces of equipment custom-configured by the CDW Configuration Center for the HMSHost WAN optimization deployment at locations across the United States

CASE STUDY

Want to know more Call 8008004239 to speak to an account

manager about networking technologies or learn more about WAN

and applications optimization at cdwcomwanappopt

Pho

togr

aphy

by

Gar

y La

ndsm

an

TWEET THIS

3

Anatomy of an Optimized WANCitrix CloudBridge

For WAN optimization CloudBridge not only provides

deduplication to reduce bandwidth consumption but also

supplies the real-time visibility required to ensure critical

applications receive priority HMSHost can leverage

CloudBridge to utilize mobile and cloud-enabled solutions

for point-of-sale systems inventory and supply chain

management and extremely bandwidth-intensive

applications such as video conferencing

Cisco Enterprise Switches

HMSHost replaced a legacy providerrsquos networking switches

with Cisco 2960-S 2960-X and 3750-X equipment

providing Gigabit connectivity to its fiber backbone This

enabled the company to deploy two separate networks one

for Internet access and the other for internal operations The

two networks also ensure full redundancy in the companyrsquos

near-247 service environment

WatchGuard XTM Firewalls

Unified threat management devices secure the two WAN

networks at each HMSHost remote location and supply

the capability to automatically fail over traffic between

the networks This provides the ldquofive ninesrdquo of uptime that

HMSHost requires to run operations without any manual

intervention from onsite food and beverage staff or its

centralized data center IT personnel

Tripp Lite Smart UPSs

To keep remote sites powered up HMSHost relies on

TrippLite intelligent uninterruptible power supplies with

automatic voltage regulating capability The UPSs can

handle low (brown-out) and high-voltage conditions until

AC power is restored

announced it was shelving the existing backbone solution

ldquoThatrsquos when the power of our CDW partnership really

became clearrdquo Garcia recalls ldquoFirst we utilized CDWrsquos Buy

and Hold program to purchase equipment cost-effectively

Then CDWrsquos Configuration Center team handled all of

the configuration and logistical tasks for getting the right

equipment to the right locationrdquo (Read more about these

teams in ldquoTeaming Up for Efficiencyrdquo)

Through the Buy and Hold program HMSHost was able

to buy all the equipment that it needed up front says Alison

Hearne a CDW senior sales account manager ldquoWhen I heard

HMSHost needed a lot of equipment fast fully configured

and shipped across the nation I knew CDWrsquos Buy and Hold

program would be the best solutionrdquo she adds

Order UpThatrsquos a huge time savings for a customer points out Adam

Martin a CDW advanced technology account executive ldquoItrsquos

a matter of scalerdquo he explains ldquoWersquore set up to do a lot more

of these a day than an IT team in a business can tackle mdash even

a large business And itrsquos not like most businesses have a

configuration center set up in their offices itrsquos just not what

they do mdash and why should they need tordquo

Working closely with Hearne and Martin Garciarsquos team

architected the infrastructure overhaul and plotted a

strategy for meeting the new hyper-speed deployment

schedule

After running real-world load tests to define and perfect

filtering policies and configuration settings for the new

gear HMSHost and CDW

bull Deployed Citrixrsquos CloudBridge for WAN optimization

bull Replaced aging switches with Cisco 2960-S

2960-X and 3850-X models

bull Installed WatchGuard XTM unified threat

management firewalls

bull Implemented Tripp Lite SmartPro UPS

devices for resiliency

ldquoCDW even created detailed installation documentation

with pictures making it easy for our nontechnical hospitality

workers to install everything correctlyrdquo Garcia says

The critical value of the CDW teamrsquos counsel and hands-

on help ldquocanrsquot be put into wordsrdquo he says ldquoAlison Hearne

coordinated the right mix of technical and logistical

expertise to ensure the design and delivery of a reliable

high-performance solutionrdquo

At Your ServiceToday the solution ensures that HMSHost partner

locations at travel facilities can operate efficiently

and reliably and HMSHostrsquos tech team can ensure

high-quality performance security and resiliency to

users companywide

ldquoOur new solution enables having two discrete

networksrdquo Garcia says ldquoOne is for Internet traffic and

the other handles corporate networking needs All of the

communications for both networks go through Citrix

CloudBridge for optimization allowing us to shape trafficrdquo

48008004239 | CDWcom

This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certifiedMKT3088 copy2015 CDW LLC

4

Teaming Up for Efficiency CDWrsquos Configuration Center and Special OperationsTo stay focused on business-critical work IT departments

take advantage of CDWrsquos Configuration Center Within the

8000-square-foot facility industry-certified technicians

can configure an average of more than 1800 systems in a

single 24-hour period

As with many projects the first step for the HMSHost

collaboration was a conference call with Rick Roman senior

network engineer at the Configuration Center ldquoAfter

discussing the companyrsquos needs and requirements we

developed a program to matchrdquo Roman says

The team completed a customer-supplied configuration

for almost 1000 pieces of equipment to outfit HMSHostrsquos

US locations

The process included

bull Unboxing equipment

bull Making firmware and software updates

bull Applying licenses

bull Completing specified configurations

bull Conducting burn-in testing

bull Tagging each device

bull Entering assets into a customer-facing database

bull Labeling equipment for remote-site assembly

bull Creating step-by-step installation instructions with

photos

bull Bundling the equipment and any additional items such as

cabling with instructions for each location

Once ready for shipping the Configuration team handed

off the equipment to the Special Operations staff which

performed a quality assurance review before shipping to

HMSHost locations

ldquoSpecial Operations actually performs quality control

twicerdquo explains Roman ldquoFirst they inventory equipment

before delivering it to us Then they inventory it again

after wersquove finished ensuring everything aligns with a

customerrsquos orderrdquo

For HMSHost the two CDW teams worked seamlessly to

ship WAN equipment to 30 or 40 locations per day over the

course of the deployment Roman says ldquoNo matter what

the size or scope of a project we have the resources to get

the job donerdquo

Losing contact with a remote location is now a thing of

the past ldquoBefore when there was a disruption such as a

backhoe cutting a cable we had no communicationrdquo he

says ldquoNow wersquove designed our two separate WAN links

to support the entire load for both So if one network

goes down the system automatically fails over to the

other networkrdquo

Beyond enhancing services for the partner storefronts

and for customers the optimized WAN also improves

HMSHostrsquos ability to provide the high-caliber services

expected in the travel industry

ldquoWe operate in a very complex environmentrdquo Naqvi

says ldquoBeyond regulatory and security requirements

every airport is competing to be seen as the most

forward-thinkingrdquo

ldquoWith our new networkrdquo she continues ldquowe can

demonstrate our ability to meet the needs of the airport

help increase revenues and work with preferred brands mdash

whether theyrsquore local mom-and-pop organizations with

limited resources or major global brands with precise

specificationsrdquo

One result of the intense project HMSHost considers

CDW more than a vendor Naqvi says ldquoCDWrsquos a strategic

partner that serves as an extension of our overall

organization and strategic goalsrdquo

1000 The number of pieces of equipment custom-configured by the CDW Configuration Center for the HMSHost WAN optimization deployment at locations across the United States

CASE STUDY

Want to know more Call 8008004239 to speak to an account

manager about networking technologies or learn more about WAN

and applications optimization at cdwcomwanappopt

Pho

togr

aphy

by

Gar

y La

ndsm

an

TWEET THIS

48008004239 | CDWcom

This content is provided for informational purposes It is believed to be accurate but could contain errors CDW does not intend to make any warranties express or implied about the products services or information that is discussed CDWreg CDWbullGreg and The Right Technology Right Awayreg are registered trademarks of CDW LLC PEOPLE WHO GET ITtrade is a trademark of CDW LLC All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective ownersTogether we strive for perfection ISO 90012000 certifiedMKT3088 copy2015 CDW LLC

4

Teaming Up for Efficiency CDWrsquos Configuration Center and Special OperationsTo stay focused on business-critical work IT departments

take advantage of CDWrsquos Configuration Center Within the

8000-square-foot facility industry-certified technicians

can configure an average of more than 1800 systems in a

single 24-hour period

As with many projects the first step for the HMSHost

collaboration was a conference call with Rick Roman senior

network engineer at the Configuration Center ldquoAfter

discussing the companyrsquos needs and requirements we

developed a program to matchrdquo Roman says

The team completed a customer-supplied configuration

for almost 1000 pieces of equipment to outfit HMSHostrsquos

US locations

The process included

bull Unboxing equipment

bull Making firmware and software updates

bull Applying licenses

bull Completing specified configurations

bull Conducting burn-in testing

bull Tagging each device

bull Entering assets into a customer-facing database

bull Labeling equipment for remote-site assembly

bull Creating step-by-step installation instructions with

photos

bull Bundling the equipment and any additional items such as

cabling with instructions for each location

Once ready for shipping the Configuration team handed

off the equipment to the Special Operations staff which

performed a quality assurance review before shipping to

HMSHost locations

ldquoSpecial Operations actually performs quality control

twicerdquo explains Roman ldquoFirst they inventory equipment

before delivering it to us Then they inventory it again

after wersquove finished ensuring everything aligns with a

customerrsquos orderrdquo

For HMSHost the two CDW teams worked seamlessly to

ship WAN equipment to 30 or 40 locations per day over the

course of the deployment Roman says ldquoNo matter what

the size or scope of a project we have the resources to get

the job donerdquo

Losing contact with a remote location is now a thing of

the past ldquoBefore when there was a disruption such as a

backhoe cutting a cable we had no communicationrdquo he

says ldquoNow wersquove designed our two separate WAN links

to support the entire load for both So if one network

goes down the system automatically fails over to the

other networkrdquo

Beyond enhancing services for the partner storefronts

and for customers the optimized WAN also improves

HMSHostrsquos ability to provide the high-caliber services

expected in the travel industry

ldquoWe operate in a very complex environmentrdquo Naqvi

says ldquoBeyond regulatory and security requirements

every airport is competing to be seen as the most

forward-thinkingrdquo

ldquoWith our new networkrdquo she continues ldquowe can

demonstrate our ability to meet the needs of the airport

help increase revenues and work with preferred brands mdash

whether theyrsquore local mom-and-pop organizations with

limited resources or major global brands with precise

specificationsrdquo

One result of the intense project HMSHost considers

CDW more than a vendor Naqvi says ldquoCDWrsquos a strategic

partner that serves as an extension of our overall

organization and strategic goalsrdquo

1000 The number of pieces of equipment custom-configured by the CDW Configuration Center for the HMSHost WAN optimization deployment at locations across the United States

CASE STUDY

Want to know more Call 8008004239 to speak to an account

manager about networking technologies or learn more about WAN

and applications optimization at cdwcomwanappopt

Pho

togr

aphy

by

Gar

y La

ndsm

an

TWEET THIS