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Challenges
- Connectivity issues with users spread across 150 sites plus field staff
- Achieving mean time to innocence faster with service providers for greater accountability during outages
- Users experienced application performance issues relating to a cloud-hosted GIS platform
Outcomes
- Improved network performance and reliability
ThousandEyes resolved issues, such as DNS configuration errors - Enhanced operational efficiency
Energy Queensland can address issues more quickly and effectively with network and application insights - Optimised Webex performance
Twenty thousand Webex meetings are assured for smooth performance each month
Deliver Consistent, High-quality Energy Services to Queensland Residents
With a focus on energy management and customer satisfaction, Energy Queensland is a key player in the Australian energy sector, promoting economic growth and environmental stewardship.
Challenge
Energy Queensland has a vision to “energise Queensland communities,” highlighting their dedication to providing reliable and sustainable energy to millions of Australians. However, the company meets significant challenges in achieving this goal due to its operations covering 150 sites and a vast network of field staff. With such an extensive geographic presence, identifying outages or degraded service can be difficult, and the impact of these issues can be widespread.
To support its 8,900 staff members, Energy Queensland runs a highly distributed digital operation. In this sophisticated network environment, quickly figuring out the source of issues—whether internal or external—is crucial for maintaining accountability and service reliability.
Reliable application performance is crucial for Energy Queensland employees, particularly field staff, who now rely more on critical applications like Webex by Cisco and a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform than on any physical tool. “An iPad is as essential as a screwdriver for today’s employees to effectively do their job,” said Justin McIntosh, Digital Workplace & Telco Platform Manager, Energy Queensland.
Without access to these applications or if their performance is limited, the staff’s ability to perform their duties effectively is compromised, impacting overall operational efficiency. To address these challenges, Energy Queensland set out to enhance user experiences, boost operational efficiency, and assure the consistent delivery of its energy services for high levels of customer satisfaction.
Solution
Two years ago, Energy Queensland teamed up with Cisco ThousandEyes to address specific problems and incidents as they occurred. This tactical approach quickly led to significant early successes, demonstrating the platform’s value and potential.
“When things do go wrong, it’s great to be able to look back at those patterns and provide answers,” said McIntosh.
Recognising the need for a more comprehensive strategy, Energy Queensland embraced ThousandEyes to achieve end-to-end visibility across their delivery chain. They deployed ThousandEyes on the devices of key application users and on critical network components to enable robust monitoring and improved operational efficiency.
For example, when Energy Queensland experienced application performance issues related to a cloud-hosted GIS platform, ThousandEyes played a crucial role in identifying a cloud DNS configuration error, leading to a significant improvement in performance once resolved. They also facilitated faster issue resolution and helped pinpoint a wireless issue at one site, thereby enhancing network reliability.
Energy Queensland relies heavily on Webex meetings, conducting around 20,000 each month. To enable smooth performance of Webex links, the company uses ThousandEyes to maintain application stability and prevent reactive issue management.
“Having the assurance that the networks that support our Webex sessions are running optimally is crucial,” said McIntosh. “Establishing a baseline of performance and conducting morning health checks are invaluable for us.”
Looking ahead, Energy Queensland is committed to continuing their journey towards more sophisticated methods for assuring connectivity for all users and applications. They aim to evolve from a proactive approach to a predictive one, using the advanced analytics and insights that ThousandEyes provides.
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