Teneo Underpins Swanke Hayden Connell Architects Global Project Delivery Capability

Teneo, a leading Infrastructure Optimisation specialist, has worked with global architects practice Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) to realise a vision for their nine global offices to work together collaboratively to transfer vital data quickly to wherever it is needed.

Teneo is celebrating five years working with SHCA as a key partner helping the practice ensure its network of global offices can work collaboratively on projects for its clients. Architects typically use data-heavy applications including AutoCAD, a computer aided design package and information modelling software for construction such as Revit. A single Revit data file can easily reach a size of 1GB, so it is essential that SHCA’s network infrastructure is as efficient as possible to facilitate effective file sharing.

Teneo originally installed two Riverbed Steelheads at SHCA’s New York and Paris practices back in 2005 and was able to increase file download speeds by up to 90% immediately. London quickly followed along with the other practice locations in Washington DC, Miami, Moscow, Sheffield, Istanbul and Shanghai. Jim Ball, Director of IT and Systems at SHCA, also realised that using Riverbed would help achieve data centralisation, and he has actively pursued a server consolidation process to now bring all data back to a single data centre at their offices in London.

Bandwidth availability for the practices does vary, with 100MB leased lines between London and the USA, but dropping back to 4MB for Istanbul. By optimising data, Riverbed helps all SHCA’s practices enjoy quick access to the files they need, saving valuable billable time. With one central data centre, there is no duplication of files or local storage so employees are reassured that they are working on the latest file. Near instant data file retrieval from any of the global practices has dropped any technological barriers for collaborative working, allowing employees to work together seamlessly on complex projects.

Piers Carey, Chief Executive Officer, Teneo, commented:
“Jim Ball and the team at SHCA knew that one of the keys to working collaboratively was to ensure file transfer was fully optimised from any site across the globe, and that all employees can get the data they want from a single data centre. Our implementation of Riverbed Steelheads has been vital to achieving this and after five years, the reliability and flexibility of the Riverbed solution has been outstanding.”

Jim Ball, Director of IT and Systems, SHCA, commented:
“Teneo is always pro-active and in five years of using Riverbed appliances, the only physical issue we have had is to replace a fan on one of the units. As a business, we have simplified our network considerably through server consolidation. Data back-up is solved, and if a new starter joins they just plug in the PC and IP-phone and start working, minimising our support costs. Teneo understands our business and we keep seeing if we can use our Riverbed Steelheads in new ways. We are now investigating whether to virtualise our data centre using Riverbed to remove the costs of maintaining servers at our London site.”