The prestigious Blavatnik School of Government (BSG) at Oxford University was formed in 2010 to build a better led, served, and governed world and is committed to improving the quality of government and policymaking worldwide. Following this theme of continued improvement Blavatnik School of Government (BSG) sought to improve its wired and wireless connectivity with the Local Area Network (LAN) to enhance access and services for students and international visitors. To address this challenge, BSG collaborated with public sector specialist The Networking People (TNP) which recommended the implementation of an AI-driven Local Area Network (LAN) using the Juniper Mist system. This case study explores how the new network solution transformed connectivity, user experience, and operational efficiency at BSG, while reducing costs.

THE CHALLENGE

Blavatnik School of Government (BSG) has increasingly seen services transition to cloud delivery; that coupled with growth in the number of users, applications and devices, has presented further challenges for its existing network infrastructure which was struggling to support international events and the expanding audio-visual (AV) network. There was a clear need to improve end-user experience within the BSG environment.

TNP’S SOLUTION

TTNP, through its Account Director George Knowles, provided dedicated support throughout the initial consultation to gain a deep understanding of BSG’s current challenges and future requirements. The ultimate metric underpinning all of BSG requirements was identified as user experience. User experience is the new uptime and the single most important metric for measuring a successful IT infrastructure - simply “connected” is “no longer good enough”! To meet the needs of the institution’s future aspirations TNP recommended Juniper Mist, which leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance network performance with automated troubleshooting and resolution across the network while providing rich analytics on user behaviour to optimize those resources across a campus.

Following TNP’s recommendations and initial POC success the LAN infrastructure was completely refreshed, enabling BSG to benefit from a more stable and reliable Wi-Fi experience, improved AV capabilities, and greater flexibility for event setups.

THE BENEFITS

The implementation of the Juniper Mist system resulted in significant improvements at BSG. A recent service review highlighted the simplicity and reliability of the Wi-Fi network, which now offers more stable and consistent performance. BSG was able to send video over IP more efficiently, enabling the utilisation of new AV equipment. Additionally, the network’s flexibility facilitated the development of online events and streamlined the setup process for lecture rooms.