Kmart Australia will replace its local area network infrastructure with Ethernet switches, with the project set to support 180 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
The project, which will also extend to Kmart’s distribution centres and head office in Melbourne, is set to significantly reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) at the business, with IT technical services manager, Gary Trotter, saying this is crucial.
“In keeping with Kmart’s market position as a low-cost retailer, our IT strategy is aimed at driving down IT costs by focusing on solutions that meet functional requirements while delivering a low TCO,” Trotter said.
“We need a network that can support a wide variety of applications while requiring limited management support.”
The project is part of Kmart’s mandate to establish an autonomous IT operation and will include the rollout of EX2200 switches and Juniper’s NSM3000 security appliance, with Trotter saying Juniper matched Kmart’s requirements.
“According to our net present value study, which included the cost of training our network engineers on the Junos network operating system, Juniper Networks EX Series switches would cost less than competing products over five years,” he said.
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