“In an industry and culture of wanting the ‘best of the best’ technology, none of our technicians have wanted any more out of our internet since we moved to GigCity.”
This is a bold statement and one which Ampurta General Manager, Kris Robson can substantiate with many quantifiable examples. As a South Australian IT Consulting firm, with core operations in the design, configuration and maintenance of both physical and virtual server environments, unlimited data is crucial to their service offering.
Ampurta, based at Technology Park GigCity Precinct, also provides project management services and generalist IT support for small through to enterprise scale businesses, specialising in Linux operating systems, and also delivering in Windows architecture and in Cloud technologies such as AWS and Azure.
Joining GigCity in November 2018 was a simple process and created some immediate benefits. When previously utilising a standard ISP provider, Ampurta had data limits, less bandwidth and were paying more than the GigCity offering. Initially, their only interest was in regards to the reduced price, and unlimited data, however they soon discovered other benefits they hadn’t anticipated.
“We have a number of servers running from our location, and had increased our staff. With no data cap, we were free to utilise the network with no requirement to ‘micro manage’ download quotas,” explains Kris. “We have had a cost saving, minimal business hours outages and no quota issues since joining GigCity.”
The speed of the connection was originally a secondary benefit, which soon became extremely valuable. Kris clarifies, “Most ISPs average 80-100MBps, whereas our connection averages around 240MBps. In our office, we have up to 5 IT technicians working simultaneously on 1-2 customers each, to run remote desktop software, or remote desktop via browser/internet based technologies. The bandwidth we now have, means everyone can work uninterrupted.”
The 2020 Covid lockdown situation has created unprecedented challenges. The GigCity connection proved essential, enabling remote work, keeping the team communicating over voice and video, and also working on their customers’ requirements. Each team member was able to connect to the office, utilise the network speeds and work as effectively as if they were sitting alongside oneanother. All with no bandwidth or download issues.
Further exploring the connection benefits, being free from download quota and overall bandwidth restraints, Ampurta has been able to utilise more cloud based technology. “We have seen the ‘birth’ of this space over the duration of Ampurta’s operations, and early on it required strong network connectivity. It is more durable now, and with high bandwidth and no quota, we have no concern in utilising the space for our internal operations. Currently we are planning a move of some of our key infrastructure to cloud, which will reduce our risk and increase our uptime,” enthuses Kris.
The bandwidth, absence of data quotas and the stable high speed connectivity have combined to keep their technicians working effectively with no issues. “Not to mention when they do need to do a large download, there are absolutely no complaints regarding download speed – which in itself speaks volumes. We have only had one single business hours outage/impact, in the 18+ months we have been connected. As a company dealing each day with troubleshooting issues, we appreciate what an impressive statistic that is and that that stability enables us to proficiently service our customers.”
Resource sharing
“One of our standard operations is downloading an Operating System install file. We use these to create virtual machines, and they average 4-8gb in size.
- Our previous location had at best 20Mb/s, or almost 1 hour downloading time.
- Our current location on the previous ISP was 80Mb/s, or 15 minutes downloading time.
- Our GigCity connection is about 240Mb/s, and only 5 minutes downloading time.
These speeds are based on one person downloading one of these files. Since connecting with GigCity, our business has grown from on average 1-2 people in the office, to 3-5 in the office. Two people previously would not be able to download an OS file at the same time and if attempting it, would be unable to reattempt for 30 minutes. With the GigCity bandwidth and no data quota, every technician can do exactly what they need to do, without having to ‘share’ a resource.”
Remote working
“Our directors live remotely; near the Barossa Valley rural area. Their internet connectivity averages around 50Mb/s, but can have frequent interruptions as they are using satellite. Our directors are required to work on highly technical tasks, often connecting with interstate stakeholders. Their 50Mb/s connection is enough to maintain a reasonably stable ‘remote’ session to our office. Once connected, and utilising one of the local machines, it is like they are working at the office. Should their satellite session drop out from home to the office, it will not interrupt their other session between the office and interstate. They simply reconnect where they can.
The download and upload speeds from GigCity means that this is possible, for all of our staff. We have 4 people in the office, running a phone/video session all day, along with VPN and remote desktop sessions to customers. Additionally, our servers continue to be operational with remote staff login using VPN. For a cost that was cheaper than the standard ISP, our staff now work in a space where internet speed and quota is no longer a concern.”
Without any download/upload restrictions, Ampurta is moving towards more cloud based utilities for their internal products. They will be able to develop even more experience in delivering cloud based services, and hybrid physical/cloud networks. They have been able to begin development of their own remotely delivered services and aim to be able to provide remote desktop support to any business with internet connectivity, Australia wide.
“Using GigCity, we have been free from quotas and restrictions on bandwidth, especially as we have grown in size. It has eliminated a problem that can occur in our type of business, to enable us to focus even more on our customers and their needs.” Kris Robson, General Manager, Ampurta.
GigCity is a Government of South Australia initiative delivering affordable, high-speed internet to innovation precincts across the state.
Participating businesses experience gigabit speed broadband, enabling greater collaboration between colleagues and easy sharing with clients around the world.