Reducing IT Costs with the Edge 8000 Family: Consolidation for Distributed Companies

How the Edge 8000 Family Helps Reduce IT Infrastructure Costs in Distributed Companies

In today’s business environment, where distributed offices and branches are becoming the norm, maintaining an efficient and economical IT infrastructure is a key task for large enterprises. The Edge 8000 family of devices from Ribbon Communications offers an innovative solution that allows you to reduce costs and simplify the management of branch networks. Instead of deploying multiple separate devices to perform various functions, the Edge 8000 Family consolidates them into a single unified platform. This consolidation leads to significant economic benefits and simplifies branch management.

Benefits of Consolidation with the Edge 8000 Family

The concept of consolidating IT infrastructure in branches, implemented in the Edge 8000 Family, is based on replacing several separate devices with one multifunctional solution. Traditionally, to provide the necessary functionality in a branch, it was required to deploy a router, switch, Session Border Controller (SBC), WAN optimization device, and other specialized devices. The Edge 8000 Family combines these functions into one device, offering the following advantages:

• Reduced Capital Expenditure (CAPEX): Replacing multiple devices with one significantly reduces the cost of purchasing equipment. Instead of purchasing and licensing each device separately, the company purchases only one Edge 8000 solution.
• Reduced Operating Expenses (OPEX): Reducing the number of devices leads to lower costs for electricity, cooling, maintenance, and support. Fewer devices mean less time and resources spent on monitoring, updating, and troubleshooting. Using Edge 8000 allows you to significantly improve Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) in the long term.
• Simplified Management: Thanks to consolidation, all network functions are managed through a single unified platform. This simplifies configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting, reducing the burden on IT staff.
• Reduced Footprint: In branches where space is limited, equipment consolidation can significantly save space in the server room.
• Increased Reliability: Reducing the number of devices reduces the likelihood of failures and simplifies redundancy, increasing the overall reliability of the network infrastructure.
• Improved Security: Centralized security management allows for more effective security policy enforcement and rapid response to threats.

Specific Examples of Cost Savings

Let’s look at some specific examples of how the Edge 8000 Family helps reduce costs in distributed companies: It is important to remember that these examples are presented as illustrative and potential savings may vary depending on the specifics of your infrastructure. For an accurate assessment, it is recommended to conduct an individual analysis.

Example 1: Retail Chain

A large retail chain with hundreds of branches across the country was experiencing difficulties managing its IT infrastructure. Each branch was equipped with a separate router, switch, VoIP gateway, and security device. Maintaining this heterogeneous infrastructure required significant time and resources. Switching to the Edge 8000 Family allowed the company to consolidate all these functions into one device in each branch.

Results (potential):

• 40% reduction in capital expenditure: By replacing four separate devices with one Edge 8000, the company significantly saved on equipment purchases. (This figure is an estimate and may differ depending on network configuration and equipment prices.)
• 30% reduction in operating costs: Reducing the number of devices led to lower costs for electricity, maintenance and support. The reduction in travel expenses for IT specialists to troubleshoot issues in branches was particularly noticeable. (This figure is an estimate and may differ depending on current maintenance costs.)
• Simplified Management: Centralized management through a single platform allowed the company to significantly simplify monitoring and maintenance of the network infrastructure. The time spent troubleshooting was halved.

Example 2: Financial Organization

A large financial organization with many branches faced the problem of outdated IT infrastructure. Existing devices did not support new technologies needed to maintain competitiveness. The company was considering upgrading its entire equipment fleet, but faced high costs. An alternative solution was migrating to the Edge 8000 Family.

Results (potential):

• 50% reduction in infrastructure upgrade costs: Instead of replacing all outdated devices, the company replaced them with just one Edge 8000 in each branch. (This figure is an estimate and may differ depending on the scale of the upgrade and the cost of the outdated equipment.)
• Improved Network Performance: The Edge 8000 Family provides high bandwidth and supports modern protocols, which significantly improved network performance.
• Improved Security: The built-in security features of the Edge 8000 Family provided reliable protection against external threats.

Example 3: Manufacturing Company

An international manufacturing company with branches in different countries faced the problem of fragmented IT infrastructure. Each branch used different types of equipment and software, making it difficult to manage and ensure compatibility. The company decided to standardize its IT infrastructure based on the Edge 8000 Family.

Results (potential):

• Standardization of IT infrastructure: The implementation of the Edge 8000 Family allowed the company to standardize its IT infrastructure in all branches.
• Improved Compatibility: All branches began using the same equipment and software, which simplified compatibility and data exchange.
• Reduced Support Costs: Standardization simplified IT infrastructure support and reduced staff training costs.

Edge 8000 Family Features

The Edge 8000 Family offers a wide range of features needed to ensure the efficient operation of branches:

• Routing and Switching: The Edge 8000 Family provides high routing and switching performance needed to handle data, voice, and video traffic.
• Session Border Controller (SBC): The built-in SBC provides secure and reliable Voice over IP (VoIP) transmission.
• WAN Optimization: WAN optimization features improve the efficiency of WAN bandwidth usage.
• Security: The Edge 8000 Family provides comprehensive protection against external threats, including a firewall, intrusion detection and prevention system (IDS/IPS), and content filtering.
• Wi-Fi: Built-in Wi-Fi allows you to provide wireless connectivity to devices in the branch.
• Management: The centralized management platform simplifies configuration, monitoring, and troubleshooting.

Who Will Benefit from Using the Edge 8000 Family?

The Edge 8000 Family is an ideal solution for the following types of organizations:

• Large enterprises with distributed offices and branches: The Edge 8000 Family allows you to optimize IT infrastructure, reduce costs, and simplify branch network management.
• Retail chains: The Edge 8000 Family provides reliable and secure communication between the central office and branches, and also allows you to provide customers with modern services such as Wi-Fi.
• Financial organizations: The Edge 8000 Family provides the high security and reliability needed to process confidential financial information.
• Manufacturing companies: The Edge 8000 Family allows you to standardize IT infrastructure in all branches and ensure compatibility and data exchange.
• Systems Integrators: The Edge 8000 Family provides systems integrators with a powerful and flexible tool for creating comprehensive solutions for their customers. The Edge 8000 solution for branches allows them to offer customers significant economic benefits.

Conclusion

The Edge 8000 Family from Ribbon Communications is an innovative solution that allows you to reduce IT infrastructure costs in distributed companies. Consolidating multiple devices into one, centralized management, and a wide range of features make the Edge 8000 Family an ideal choice for organizations seeking to optimize their IT infrastructure and improve business efficiency. Implementing the Edge 8000 Family allows you to achieve a significant improvement in ROI (Return on Investment) and increase competitiveness of the company. For an accurate assessment of the economic efficiency and suitability of the Edge 8000 Family solution to your needs, it is recommended to contact Ribbon Communications specialists for a detailed analysis of your infrastructure.