Expanding Restaurant Chain Requires Network Solution That Can Keep Up
Inspired by the rich and diverse culinary offerings from China, DRAGON-I RESTAURANT SDN. BHD. was established in 2004 with its first outlet in Mid Valley Megamall. Its signature dishes, such as xiao long bao and la mian, proved a hit with Malaysians. This has resulted in a rapid expansion across the country, totaling 24 outlets in 2015. The DRAGON-I operations require a single safe, reliable and manageable network infrastructure to support its virtual private network (VPN) and public Wi-Fi needs for customers.
Challenges
DRAGON-I network infrastructure had insufficient throughput to support a growing number of devices across its outlet expansion.
DRAGON-I restaurants in Malaysia run a virtual private network (VPN) for its internal operations and a public Wi-Fi network for thousands of daily walk-in customers to browse the Internet as they dine.
As the company expanded by two to three outlets per year, the increasing number of devices began to overload the network’s firewall throughput and resulted in network blockages, instability, and operational downtime. As outlets were also dependent on the network to run its Point of Sale software on iPads, this proved a frustrating and costly challenge for a fast-paced F&B enterprise. Additionally, IT administrators were facing compatibility issues, having sourced appliances from various vendors.
When the company relocated their HQ, a decision was made to centralize and consolidate into a unified network infrastructure that was able to support and scale in tandem with their rapid expansion at a competitive price point.
Solutions
The company initially began upgrading its existing network with WatchGuard’s XTM 25 appliances at new outlets. However, as the expansion accelerated, it made more financial and operational sense to consolidate all appliances under a single vendor.
Having previously used products from SonicWall, Cisco Mareki, and O2, DRAGON-I selected WatchGuard because it offered a compelling unified solution that was easily scalable and provided highly responsive customer service.
When its HQ relocated, DRAGON-I took the opportunity to implement a new XTM 525 firewall/ VPN followed by XTM 25 appliances and AP100 access points across its 24 outlets. The XTM 525 delivers up to 3.5 Gbps firewall throughput and 7 Ethernet interfaces, sufficiently robust to support its VPN and accommodate thousands of daily customers.
Results
With a fully centralized network, DRAGON-I now has generous throughput for its daily operations to run smoothly and securely. Rather than having to configure various appliances, administrators can now scale fuss-free with WatchGuard as new outlets open – with a host of features available at a flip of a (virtual) switch.
Utilizing WatchGuard Dimension, which provides a suite of visibility and reporting tools that instantly isolates and distills actionable security issues, administrators are now able to identify network issues in real time, allowing them to diagnose and take immediate remedial action.
Finally, DRAGON-I has in place a network that is able to match its own speed of expansion.