Communications in the Fast Lane
Power companies monitor their power plants, clinics dispatch medical test results, factories manage their just in-time production. Frequently on the basis of comprehensive solutions from Siemens, which demands the highest standards of precision and reliability. For this reason, the technology giant installed a modern, high- performance network that uses quick-as-a-flash Multi-Protocol Label Switching, or an “MPLS network,” for short.
For costumers connected worldwide, and for Siemens employees, this means: Communications in the fast lane. Because with MPLS, information reaches its destination substancially faster. The reason: MPLS utilizes the bandwidth of the transmission lines more efficiently by yielding the right of way to critical data packets – such as those needed to manage production. But the technology offers more than just speed. Siemens also cuts operating costs – by double-digit percentages on an annual basis. “We get double the benefits: Because we use higher capacities at lower costs,” says Ralf von der Burg, Strategic Vendor Manager at Siemens. In addition, the T-Systems installed network creates greater transparency: Because now, the electronics company can allocate costs to the corresponding users, without major expenditure.
It’s not only brands and products, but the company itself that must stay in constant motion, and keep fit for competition, through permanent transformation. At a minimum, the most innovative corporations also need an equally innovative network themselves, one that can integrate new business segments, new customers, or new locations without major cost outlays. It was therefore especially important that Siemens, as a major international corporation, is able to integrate new industries into its corporate network faster and easier, thanks to MPLS. The solution makes it possible to temporarily isolate a segment of the network while at the same time allowing uninvolved units to continue working without any limitations. “The new system makes us substantially more flexible than before,” states von der Burg confidently.
