Case Study

Successful implementation

Vimta Labs, the Hyderabad based CRO offers a gamut of services to the pharma industry. The CRO partnered with Cisco at its newly set up facility to meet the changing needs of the industry.

Vimta Labs established a new facility, with a view to be known as the leading provider of contract research services for the world's top corporations. All that the CRO needed was a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure, which would help them catapult to international standards. Vimta’s IT needs were:

• Proper controls for processes, data security and audit trails so that experiments would consistently meet the strict criteria laid down by their international clients
• A networking solution which would enable compliance with the end customers' legal, regulatory, patent and approval guidelines, such as the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
• Support of a reliable networking platform to enable better employee collaboration and allow rapid business growth
• Reduction in dependence on IT help desk, maintenance, security and telephone costs
• Access to important information offline, for users at remote locations, especially at its factories
• Support to additional workflow capabilities to increase productivity

Partnering with Cisco

Vimta opted for Cisco as they offered a comprehensive end-to-end solution comprising of routing, switching, security, IP telephony and wireless solutions that met all their networking requirements. The above diagram depicts how Cisco deployed network infrastructure in five broad areas for internal connectivity on the Vimta intranet and connectivity to the Internet. The switching and routing solution form the core of the network. All internal and external networks are connected to the switches by creating virtual local area networks.

The routing solution provides Internet and inter-office (intranet) wide area network connectivity to all the premises of Vimta Labs. The solution is also capable of providing PSTN dial-up based remote access connectivity to Vimta's mobile executives. These connections are secured by the use of Cisco's virtual private network technology.

Vimta’s network is secured against malicious attacks through Cisco's PIX Firewall and Cisco Intrusion Detection System. These network firewalls have set security policies, based on which every incoming and outgoing communication is inspected and unauthorised access prevented.

Vimta opted for Cisco's IP Telephony solutions wherein the IP phones can connect anywhere on Vimta's network, including international locations. The solution also facilitates voice messaging, audio conferencing facility and point-to-point video call functionality.

The entire campus is equipped with Cisco 1200 series wireless access points (WAP) for providing wireless LAN coverage at every nook and corner of the campus, including the auditorium and cafeteria. Advanced roaming option configured on the WAP allows the user to switch seamlessly between one WAP to another without losing connectivity. Vimta employees can thus increase their productivity by using these solutions that give them 'anytime anywhere' access to network resources.