Transforming IT at Sikorksy
Client: Sikorsky Aircraft Corp.
Challenge: Sikorsky needed to standardize and improve the IT infrastructure throughout the company and implement a reliable, core infrastructure.
Solution: Sikorsky hired CSC to conduct IT work in three primary target areas: core switches, main wiring closets and remote sites.
Results: The project resulted in a more standard, reliable IT environment, a state-of-the-art network infrastructure, faster data access, improved network reliability and performance, minimization of data loss and associated downtime and fewer outages.
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Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation (UTC), is a world leader in the design and manufacture of advanced helicopters for commercial, industrial and military uses. As part of CSC’s global outsourcing partnership with UTC, CSC has been working closely with Sikorsky to standardize and improve the IT infrastructure throughout the company.
The Need: Standardized, Reliable, Core Infrastructure
Among the challenges Sikorsky was facing was in the areas of network reliability, standardization and performance; data loss, creating down times and inefficiencies for users with strict deadlines; and the lack of a powerful, standardized tool to back up its core operations.
The CSC Approach: Eliminate Downtime, Increase Productivity
After assessing the infrastructure, CSC began several projects to eliminate downtime and increase productivity. Working in close collaboration with Sikorsky, CSC developed an IT standards strategy as a primary goal to create a static environment that would permit future initiatives.
The CSC team identified three primary target areas to continually improve network reliability and performance — the core switches at Stratford, the main wiring closets and remote sites.
Stratford Core Switches: The main Ethernet switches and LAN routers were replaced with new routers that are 1,000 times faster than the old ones. The result: LAN router bandwidth is no longer a constraint for Sikorsky.
Main Wiring Closets: The main distribution wiring closets at Sikorsky were also upgraded with new switches. Obsolete and unreliable switches were removed, resulting in a decrease in network outages due to switch failures. All the new switches are interconnected by gigabit Ethernet that is up to 100x faster than the previous hardware.
Remote Sites: CSC refreshed the networks at Sikorsky’s Bridgeport and West Palm Beach remote sites, improving performance significantly. Users now have the ability to access data at much higher speeds, increasing efficiency.
Veritas Enterprise Backup Solution
CSC also implemented a robust Veritas Enterprise Backup solution that has given Sikorsky a powerful, standardized tool to back up all its core operations. Before this conversion, Sikorsky had experienced data loss, creating downtime and inefficiencies for users with strict deadlines.
During the first phase of this project, CSC installed a StorageTek Powderhorn Tape Silo, which can hold a total of six thousand 60/120GB tapes. Also installed was a separate backup network using Brocade Fiber SAN switches. The network connects the high-speed tape drives in the silo to two Sun E450R servers running Veritas NetBackup software, which facilitates the transfer of data to the backup media.
The successful deployment of this solution at Sikorsky has become a model for the deployment of this system across UTC’s global units.
The Benefits: Better Infrastructure, Better Performance
Here are some of the benefits Sikorsky has seen from the enterprisewide IT improvement undertaken by CSC:
- A more standard, reliable IT environment
- State-of-the-art network infrastructure, resulting in faster data access and improved network reliability and performance
- Minimization of data loss and associated downtime
- Fewer network outage problems
- Powerful enterprise backup solution, enabling Sikorsky to back up its core operations