Converged Access Enables “Perfect Branch” at CSC and ENVEN

Corporation Service Company (CSC) and ENVEN are deploying Converged Access with Catalyst 3850 switches in their branch offices to build single platforms for their wired and wireless networks. The in-built wireless controller in Catalyst 3850 eliminates the need for an external WLAN controller and brings wired features like Secure Group Tags, Flexible Netflow and Wireshark to the wireless networks.

Converged Access is a WLAN deployment mode that helps deliver common intelligent services across wired and wireless networks for security and policy, application visibility, network resiliency, smart operations and more. Catalyst 3850, Catalyst 3650, Catalyst 4500E switches, and Cisco 5760 WLAN Controllers (WLC) are capable of supporting Converged Access mode.

Future proofing CSC’s branch offices

CSC is a global leader for Business, Legal, and Financial Services and the preferred solutions provider for  90% of the Fortune 500®. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, CSC has offices throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

CSC decided to deploy Converged Access with Catalyst 3850 to manage a large network distributed across 10 branch offices. CSC’s IT department chose Converged Access because it sought a more future-proofed network. The company’s branch offices are relatively small and usually serve about 40 employees per location along with several guest visitors. On average each office has one wiring closet with Catalyst 3850 working simultaneously as a wired switch and wireless controller. Up to four Cisco 2602i access points are connected to and managed by the switch at any given time.

Growing with ENVEN

ENVEN is a growing energy startup with branch offices in Texas and Louisiana. ENVEN chose Catalyst 3850 to build a simplified next-gen wired and wireless network to support up to 15 APs per branch with large scalability potential.

Andrew Schaefer, CIO at ENVEN, says, “I looked at the converged infrastructure because we were going to be starting out smaller. We could set up each switch as a local controller to support the max of 10-15 APs that we would initially need at each location. Everything we do has future proofing in mind, as we are focused on the growth of the company.”

Two companies, one solution

With Converged Access, both CSC and ENVEN have enabled seamless wired-wireless networks for their branches that meet the fast-growing needs of their employees and guests. At the same time, both companies have achieved desirable network simplification by merging  wired and wireless accesses.

For more information visit the Product website for Catalyst 3850 and 5760 WLC or check out the video on Converged Access for more details on Converged Access Architecture and Design.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDo2bFYQ17c

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Alexey Zaytsev
Product Manager

Wendy Titus
Account Manager (ENVEN)

Dave Frohnapfel
Systems Engineer (CSC)