HP helps Ashridge Business School develop managers’ leadership potential

Ashridge Business School has ensured fast, reliable network access across the campus for students, staff and guests with wired and wireless HP Networking.

As well as providing consistent, pervasive connectivity, the core-to-edge HP FlexCampus network will allow Ashridge’s users to BYOD (bring your own device) and access the system securely from any PC, tablet or smartphone.

Ashridge is an independent international business school based in Berkhamsted. Founded in 1959, Ashridge works with individuals and organisations from around the world in its core areas of executive education, research and consulting. It is ranked as one of the top 20 business schools in the world by both the Financial Times and Business Week.

“Our users have high expectations, and reliable high-speed internet access across the entire campus is a must,” says Matt Woodland, IT Operations Manager, Ashridge Business School. “Our flexible, resilient new HP network with 10Gbs core connectivity has improved user satisfaction by delivering secure access across the campus. It has also reduced total cost of ownership due to a much lower annual maintenance charge.“

The virtualised core-to-edge HP local area network (LAN) implemented by HP partner NETconnection Systems has improved Ashridge’s IT responsiveness by coordinating business requests with applications, data and infrastructure.

Ashridge worked with HP Partner NETconnection Systems throughout the pre and post sales process. NETconnection Systems worked in a consultancy capacity with Ashridge in selecting the HP solution.

At the core of Ashridge’s HP Flex Campus network, two resilient HP 10500 Series Switches speed data transit and deliver five-nines uptime. Based on open standards and a next-generation CLOS architecture, these scalable switches provide 10GB connectivity with the option to deploy 40/100GB Ethernet in the future. They are consolidated into a single virtual switch with HP’s innovative Intelligent Resilient Framework (IRF) virtualisation technology, which reduces network complexity, simplifies network operations and enhances network resilience. At the access layer, 32 intelligent HP 5120 EI PoE+ switches deliver wire-speed 1GB connectivity to users and client devices.

A resilient multi-service HP wireless local area network (WLAN) based on dual
HP MSM760 Access Controllers with 195 HP MSM460 dual radio 802.11n wireless access points throughout Ashridge’ facilities will deliver seamless access to the network for all mobile devices.

For maximum efficiency, the entire network is centrally managed with HP Intelligent Management Centre (IMC) software, a holistic management solution that provides granular visibility, security and control across the network. HP IMC has eased the workload on Ashridge’s IT team and reduced operating expenses whilst enabling an integrated, cohesive BYOD strategy including the on-boarding, provisioning and monitoring of devices.

Network security is safeguarded by HP IMC User Access Management (UAM) and Endpoint Admission Defense (EAD) modules. As well as supporting granular device level fingerprinting and policy enforcement, HP IMC UAM also enables a self-registration portal for personally-owned devices, automating the on-boarding process and reducing the administrative burden on the Ashridge IT team. HP IMC EAD minimises network exposure by integrating security policy management and endpoint posture assessment to identify and isolate risks at the network edge.

“Multi-media communications and ubiquitous mobile devices are taxing legacy network architectures and stifling the ability to innovate and compete,” says Sean Brown, Public Sector, HP Networking. “HP Networking has enabled Ashridge Business School to securely deploy and centrally orchestrate a mobile-optimised environment that scales from the data center to the network edge.”