Brocade's Converged Voice/Data Network Enables SEDCO to Plan for the Future

SEDCO is a leading private wealth management organization that conducts its business according to Islamic guidelines widely known as Shari'ah. It manages a wide and diversified spectrum of real estate investments, investments in equities, and other businesses in Saudi Arabia and around the world. The organization is based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and has more than 1,500 employees.

In 2006, SEDCO took the decision to move to a new headquarters. As part of the re-location process, the organization made the decision to design and deploy a new network architecture, one that could scale with the company's business demands and offer the performance and reliability it needed. Due to the nature of SEDCO's business, performance and data integrity is key as the network supports clients and subsidiaries across different geographies and acts as the platform for key business applications such as ERP, email, DMS, Voice over IP (VoIP) and collaboration tools. VoIP, in particular, was a key driver for deploying the new network as the current architecture did not have the capacity to support voice and data traffic. Following a competitive tender that lasted six months, SEDCO selected Brocade (delivered through local partner, AGIS).

SEDCO implemented Brocade FastIron SuperX 800 and Brocade FastIron GS 648P-POE switches to deliver the desired performance and scalability. The Brocade FastIron SX Series of PoE-ready Layer 2/ 3 switches provides a superior scalable foundation for better operational efficiency and faster response to business opportunities today and into the future. It has an extensive feature set, making it well suited for real-time collaborative applications, IP telephony, IP video, e-learning, wireless LANs, and raising the organization's productivity. The FastIron GS Series access switch family provides enterprise organizations with a flexible and feature-rich solution for building a secure and converged network edge. Upgradeable with 10 Gigabit Ethernet, PoE, and IronStack stacking technology, the FastIron GS Series provides enterprises with the cost and operational benefits of a "pay-as-you-grow" architecture.

Brocade® (Nasdaq: BRCD) develops extraordinary networking solutions that enable today's complex, data-intensive businesses to optimize information connectivity and maximize the business value of their data. For more information, visit www.brocade.com.

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