Flexible, scalable network key to integration: M&M

The automotive segment in India is one of the early adopter of IT, and companies in the fray have put in place various IT best practices that have boosted overall operational efficiencies. Take the case of the Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) group, a $4.5 bn business conglomerate which manufactures multi-utility vehicles and farm equipment with significant presence in other key sectors like infrastructure development, information technology, financial services and auto components. M&M's automotive division manufactures a wide range of vehicles including MUVs, LCVs, and three wheelers. M&M is the largest manufacturer of MUVs, offering over twenty models including new generation multi-utility vehicles such as Scorpio and Bolero. As a leading company in the automotive space, IT and networks play a mission critical role. Arvind Tawde, senior VP and CIO of the company talks to VOICE&DATA on the company's network that empowers its IT. Excerpts:

Can you talk about the significance of your network?

The network connects users at all business locations. It has become the vehicle for carrying critical business information in the form of data, voice, and video. In addition to running the base business applications mentioned above, the network platform is being used for desktop chat, video conferencing, VoIP, and video telephony. Having a flexible, adaptive, scalable, and secure network has proven to be a key facilitator in this integration process. M&M's network elements are configured to ensure high confidentiality of information, its availability, and integrity.

Can you explain your network architecture?

Our network architecture has three major components-the first is MahindraNet, connecting all plants and sales offices with MPLS lines and leased circuits. It has Cisco routers of 1750 and 3600 series. Plants have three-tier LAN with backbone switches of Cisco 4000 series and distributed workgroup switches of Cisco 2900 series. Datacenter and R&D LAN are on GBIC network and other LANs are on 100 Mbps network. VLANs are created to limit broadcast if any.

All Mahindra Group companies are connected with 128 kbps or higher MPLS lines forming MahindraWorldNet. The group companies can access common portal and share IT services. This network is connected to MahindraNet through UTM device. This is the second component of M&M network architecture. We are in a process of rolling out network connecting M&M dealers. This is the third component referred to as MahindraDealerNet. Dealers access the hosted dealer management solution through the same.

Can you talk about the range of connectivity solutions at Mahindra?

In addition, we also have eight major LANs at our plants (200-1,000 PCs) and forty smaller LANs (8-15 PCs) at sales office locations across India which are operating with 100 Mbps speed. We have structured LAN cabling at all locations to ensure 100% uptime. All plants have 2/4/8 Mbps leased lines or MPLS circuit as primary with appropriate back-up ensuring 99.5% uptime. Dealer locations are being connected to the data center through secure MPLS network for accessing hosted dealer management system. Suppliers are connected to supplier portal (www.mahindrasrm.com) through broadband Internet.

What are the key networking challenges you faced, and how did you address them?

Given this, redundancy is factored into several components of the network. Redundant links are provided through VSAT, RF or ISDN dial-up connections to support the primary connectivity. To take care of last mile connectivity issues, MUX are installed at critical sites such as data center. Some issues are due to nature of the business. A major part of our customer segment is in rural India and so are the dealerships supporting these customers. Lack of connectivity options in these remote areas is a major concern. This makes it essential for us to find a right solution provider having proper reach in rural areas.

In the process of evolving a network backbone, what topped your agenda?

Mahindra businesses being on the high growth path, new locations and new users across different geographies are continuously added. We need to connect them quickly to the main backbone; scalability, security, reach, and reliability are key things that we are looking at.Two major factors are quick turn-around time for connecting new locations and growing expectations about response time from end-users. As Mahindra's global presence is growing, we need to provide secure and reliable information anywhere, at any time. Extending the network to new locations, continuously monitoring or upgrading the network, and opening it up to partners (Extranet/Internet) with appropriate security are highly needed. User expectations in terms of uptime, response time, and problem resolution are also increasing.Our connectivity solutions cater to high bandwidth network infrastructure. We have in place an integrated and centrally monitored MahindraNet that connects all Mahindra business units, plants, and sales offices. Around 70 MPLS circuits, 32 leased lines, 17 VSATs and 10 RF links form MahindraNet. The MahindraNet has been further extended to cover Mahindra Group companies at various national and international locations. This mega network is referred to as MahindraWorldNet.

Can you tell us about the mission critical nature of your networks?

What are your views on SLA? Do service providers give you maximum uptime?

In the last few years, how do you characterize the overall improvement in connectivity services in India? Do service providers meet your expectations?

How do you manage network security at Mahindra, and what are the solutions deployed?

We have implemented HP Openview, Smart Manage II, and CISCOWORKS for network health monitoring, proactive, and early response. The central network-operating center is segregated and protected from unauthorized access.

Shrikanth G

We have put in place network security measures like access being given with strong password, its complexity is defined by policy and users are forced to change their password periodically. A secured access with dual factor authentication has been provided to business critical applications to mobile users using VPN. M&M network devices cannot be accessed using HTTP. Meanwhile anti-virus architecture deals with viruses and worms at various parts of the network which includes SMTP gateway, mail servers, servers, and desktops, laptops etc. The Internet gateway security of the network includes proper access controls like Firewall and IDS. Management of critical network equipment use encrypted channel for remote access.Connectivity services are improving with higher uptime and availability. The spread across interior areas is expanding. and bandwidth cost is coming down. Most service providers have well-defined processes and tools in place to manage network more efficiently and effectively. Telecom operators are also quickly adapting to the new emerging technologies such as MPLS and Ethernet MAN, resulting into improved reliability and affordability of network services.As most of our IT processes are outsourced, vendor management is a critical. SLA is a prime tool used for effective vendor management and monitoring. Uptime requirements are defined based on business requirements and user expectations. These requirements are included in the SLAs to be signed with a service provider. We monitor SLAs strictly and ensure that investments deliver the expected business value.We have gone for the consolidation of IT systems with centralized architecture. As these centralized systems are accessed by geographically spread locations and major business transactions depend on them, their uptime is very critical. This has necessitated the system uptime to be at 24x7 level. Therefore, high availability of IT systems-including network-is critical. These requirements are being met by providing adequate network redundancy and a full-fledged disaster recovery data center which is operational at Chennai. Network connectivity has already been provided between the business sites and this DR center.There are disparate systems that support business operations and communication in general. These include email services, centralized ERP (SAP R/3 4.7 Enterprise), integrating all organizational processes across locations, product development system and partner facing solutions such as supplier relationship management, supply chain management, dealer management system and CRM. These business applications and business processes rely on the foundation of IT infrastructure-the network.