Melbourne Grammar School

Established in 1858 and ranked among Australia’s leading independent schools, Melbourne Grammar School (MGS) is known for blending a proud tradition of excellence with innovative education practices.

The MGS network was based on ageing Cisco equipment, and IT staff found themselves on an almost constant round of significant update projects. Instead, they wanted to completely overhaul the network, leaving more time to introduce new innovations to the school.

The network environment at MGS had developed over time, with additions and changes eventually leading to a near-constant round of projects. This time, as the ageing network neared end of life, IT Network and Infrastructure Manager, Seth Farrow, saw the opportunity to escape the cycle and carve out more time for progress.

“We have only updated smaller parts of the network over time, which had us engaged in almost a rolling project where we were continually upgrading various parts of the wired and wireless network. Every year we were upgrading some small parts, while other parts were getting quite old.”

“After consultation with Cisco and Data^#3, we decided on a ‘big bang’ approach, where we would replace every part of the network in one go,” said Farrow.

The endless cycle of upgrades wasn’t the only reason to take this approach. Farrow said that the piecemeal updates had also led to a complex management environment that placed a heavy burden on staff.

“The reason to break the cycle of continual upgrades was the chance to have consolidated management. Where before we would manage switches on a different system to wireless, which was different again from other infrastructure, and we were continually jumping between management screens. We knew we could draw a line in the sand, and start with a single pane of glass to manage everything, including wireless and wired.”

Ageing equipment is also associated with increased security risk, especially when it reaches end of support. With responsibility for sensitive data including human resources information and student records, Farrow was mindful that the increased visibility and robust security features of the modern Cisco technologies available would strengthen MGS defences.

“We look after security as a team, both physical security and network security, so we’re battling threats and vulnerabilities, as well as looking after the communications network and phone systems, server platforms, and virtual infrastructure. These all require different skillsets, so wherever we can simplify our environment, it benefits us as we protect our users.”

For MGS, the emphasis is on providing a good user experience, both for students and for the staff who guide them through from prep to grade 12. This added an extra challenge for completing any major project, as work would have to be completed within a strictly defined timeline during school holidays, to avoid any disruption to classes.

“We found that a project this size was off-putting to start with, because we were essentially turning over every piece of hardware in our environment,” said Farrow.

From discussions with Cisco and Data^#3, MGS opted for a network based on Cisco core switching, Cisco Meraki distribution and access switching, and Cisco Meraki wireless access points, with project management led by Data^#3.

“We always seek ‘best of breed’ technology platforms, and in this case, the Cisco technology stood out due to our previous positive experiences. For our team, it was more about picking an integration partner that would fit our needs and circumstances, and that’s where Data^#3 came in,” recalled Farrow.

“They are a high-level Cisco partner able to offer an enterprise agreement, and they have a lot of experience in education, they had enough skills and capacity to get the job done. We found it attractive that they had the ability to provide a personalised service, we weren’t just a name on a list.”

Farrow’s team joined a series of discovery sessions with Data^#3 and Cisco to “deep dive” into their school environment and understand exactly what outcome they needed to achieve. From there, Data^#3 put together a detailed plan of action, scheduling equipment delivery and engineering resources to fit MGS’s school holiday timetable.

“The majority of the implementation work was done in the school holidays, but we were able to do planning during the term time. We anticipated there would be some challenges fitting such a lot of work in a small amount of time, so we made the decision early to chop the project into phases, something which in any case would be forced on us due to COVID-related shipping constraints.”

“That was a worldwide issue outside Data^#3’s control, so implementing in phases let us align with holiday breaks, with minimal downtime to replace that amount of gear across both our campuses without disrupting students,” explained Farrow.

Embarking on a major project during a time of global disruption was no small thing, and Farrow felt validated in his choice to prioritise experience and process when choosing a partner.

“I have nothing but praise for our leading engineer and his skillset across multiple technologies, including core switching, Cisco Meraki access points, and authorisation platforms. He was more than knowledgeable, and I was very happy with his ability to help us with delivery of the solution.”

The heritage-listed buildings at MGS presented some unusual challenges when implementing the Wi-Fi network.

“Our school prides itself on its identity, centered around the historic bluestone buildings dating back to the 1850s. While this heritage is a significant part of our character, it also introduces unique challenges around network design. With three-foot thick stone walls, we require more access points than would be needed in modern buildings with standard walls and floors,” said Farrow.

Introducing a new network meant decommissioning a lot of older infrastructure, and Farrow said that it was an important consideration, both for environmental and security reasons.

“Data^#3 is assisting with the recycling of that gear. Some is going to a buy-back scheme where the hardware is taken away and wiped clean, then provided to other organisations that can use it. The gear that we’re disposing of that has no further use will become e-waste, and they’re helping us to wipe all that gear too, because it could be a significant risk to school security if it were not handled correctly. The options that Data^#3 gave is for secure disposal of hardware gives us confidence that it won’t come back to bite us and will be handled in the most environmentally responsible way.”