{"id":40472,"date":"2019-08-19T10:49:23","date_gmt":"2019-08-19T09:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/?p=40472"},"modified":"2023-04-11T12:37:12","modified_gmt":"2023-04-11T11:37:12","slug":"omani-pharmacy-chain-relies-on-infinet-wireless-for-connectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/2019\/08\/19\/omani-pharmacy-chain-relies-on-infinet-wireless-for-connectivity\/","title":{"rendered":"Omani pharmacy chain relies on InfiNet Wireless for always-on connectivity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC has selected InfiNet Wireless <\/em><\/strong><\/a>for its high bandwidth connectivity and reliability. The pharmacy chain is now benefiting from a high-capacity network to enable reliable communications between its HQ and three remote operational sites. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With its history dating back to 1968, Muscat Pharmacy\n& Stores LLC (Muscat Pharmacy) was the first pharmacy to be established in\nthe Sultanate of Oman. Via its 65 outlets spread across the Sultanate, the company\nis engaged in import, distribution, wholesale and retail of drugs and\npharmaceutical products as well as medical and laboratory equipment, veterinary\nmedicine, surgical goods and various consumer products. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Legacy networks unable to support business\nrequirements <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seamless communication and real-time access to data\nare generally the lifeblood for any distribution business. Given its extensive\nnetwork of over 200 plus global suppliers and 69 outlets country-wide, this is\nparticularly true for Muscat Pharmacy. Each day, employees from sales, supply\nchain management, warehousing, shipping and finance rely on business-critical\napplications to take decisions that have a direct impact on the company\u2019s\nbottom line and overall performance objectives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability for employees to have real-time access to data\nand associated services, hinges on the availability of a reliable and always-on\nnetwork. While this might not seem like a daunting challenge for most\nbusinesses, the issue facing the Muscat Pharmacy IT team was that all employees\nwere spread across four remote facilities (headquarters and three satellite\noffices). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking about the previous infrastructure, Ajith Kumar<\/a>, Network and Security Administrator at Muscat\nPharmacy & Stores LLC, said: \u201cGiven the distance between our four locations,\na cabled solution was definitely not an option for us to consider. We initially\nrelied on a local service provider, with the added benefits of our own Virtual Private\nNetwork (VPN), to provide connectivity to all our employees, wherever they were\nlocated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, our requirements for bandwidth-hungry\napplications – which grew significantly over a short period of time – coupled\nwith an increase in our employees headcount, made the cost of upgrading our legacy\nplatform simply prohibitive. It also wasn\u2019t uncommon for us to have drops in\nnetwork coverage, which was a source of frustration for our employees and\ncustomers, as well as a big drain on our limited IT resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2007, we decided to move away from the local\nservice provider and instead opted for a connectivity solution based on Free\nSpace Optic (FSO) technology. While this new platform managed, in general, to\nsatisfy our operational requirements at the time, we experienced many\nunpredictable connectivity issues related in part to such a technology requiring\na clear line of sight (LOS) for its optimal performance. We decided to search\nfor a more modern and alternative technology solution in 2015, just before the\nwarranty of our links expired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InfiNet and HTC – Strategic partners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having worked with Hussam Technology Company LLC\n(HTC), a leading ICT solutions company in the Middle East, on several other IT\nprojects over the years, the Muscat Pharmacy IT team sought their recommendation\nfor a viable network solution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After analysing the business requirements of the\npharmacy operations and conducting various field surveys, to take into account\nthe local terrain between all four sites, HTC concluded that the best available\noption would have to be based on a high capacity wireless technology – one\ncapable of operating seamlessly even in high interference conditions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on HTC\u2019s recommendation, Muscat Pharmacy initiated\na RFP process, detailing their current operational needs as well as future\nrequirements to cater for an ever-growing business. They tested many wireless\nsolutions sourced from multiple vendors, including InfiNet Wireless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When asked why he ultimately decided to select\nInfiNet, Kumar said: \u201cWith several implementations across the Middle East, InfiNet\nclearly has a strong reputation in the market as a quality company; so right\noff the bat, that gave me a degree of confidence. Secondly, from a\ncost-performance standpoint, InfiNet stood head and shoulders above all the\nother vendors. Finally, and this is what really made the decision an easy one\nfor me, the technical support from InfiNet and the HTC team was outstanding\nthroughout the evaluation phases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cConsider regulations as an example – if you want to\nconnect two private buildings, that are separated by some sort of public\nproperty, as was the case for us, you need to get what is called a private link\nauthorisation from the local regulatory authority, namely the Oman TRA. HTC and\nInfiNet were very transparent with us from day one, guiding us through all the\nregulatory processes and providing us with all the necessary documents and internationally-recognised\ncertificates to ensure that we can comply fully with all local regulations. At\nthe end of the day, we are not only looking for a reliable solution, but we\nalso want a partner that we can trust to work in our best interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

InfiNet – reliable, high-bandwidth, cost effective\nsolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Working closely with HTC, Muscat Pharmacy deployed a\nnumber of InfiNet\u2019s point-to-point (PTP) links, from the InfiLINK 2×2 family,\neach capable of throughputs of up to 300 Mbps. These links were complemented by\nthe company\u2019s XG links, each capable of delivering capacities of up to 500 Mbps\nand used as a backbone to connect the HQ to all three remote locations. The\neasy-to-install design of the InfiNet solution meant that the entire process of\ninstallation and commissioning was completed in less than a week. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With InfiNet now reliably connecting all nodes of the\npharmacy\u2019s data infrastructure, Ajith is seeing a marked improvement in network\nperformance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe can now deliver capacities\nin excess of 100 Mbps, to our nearby offices, with absolutely no loss of connectivity,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis means that they now have 24\/7 access to\napplications and reports that are critical to the running of our business,\nwhich translates to higher employee satisfaction, productivity and ultimately\nimproved overall company performance. Compared to the cost of an alternative\nsolution from our local service provider, the new InfiNet network paid for\nitself within its very first year of operations. So, this is a true win-win for the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter years of struggling to find a reliable,\ncost-effective solution, I couldn\u2019t be happier with InfiNet Wireless. I am\nconfident that with InfiNet and HTC working closely with us, we have a true business\npartnership that can only grow with us, and in fact, we are already looking to expand our network and add\non at least one more remote location this year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kamal Mokrani, Global Vice President at InfiNet\nWireless, said: \u201cSeamless communications and real-time access to data are\ncritical success factors for any distribution business. This hinges on the\navailability of a reliable, always-on network and we have successfully been\nable to offer this, cost affectively, to Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC in\nOman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe look forward to building on our partnership and\ndelivering the connectivity solutions needed to help the company achieve its\nambitious growth plans.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC has selected InfiNet Wireless for its high bandwidth connectivity and reliability. The pharmacy chain is now benefiting from a high-capacity network to enable reliable communications between its HQ and three remote operational sites. With its history dating back to 1968, Muscat Pharmacy & Stores LLC (Muscat Pharmacy) was the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":40482,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,3624,4955,879,3629,13,79],"tags":[9976,631,700,1544,9975,1591,9974,431,8605,575],"class_list":["post-40472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-case-studies","category-case-study-newsletter","category-cats","category-healthcare","category-newsletter","category-top-stories","category-used","tag-ajith-kumar","tag-broadband","tag-connectivity","tag-data","tag-high-bandwidth","tag-infinet-wireless","tag-muscat-pharmacy-stores","tag-oman","tag-pharmacy","tag-wireless"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40472"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40525,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40472\/revisions\/40525"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40482"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intelligentcio.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}