The Washington Convention Center Authority (WCCA) built and manages the new Washington Convention Center which has over 2.3 million square feet of space and opened in March 2003. While a contracted service partner provides telecommunications and networked/internet services to clients in the state-of-the-art facility, WCCA runs the "back-office" systems (such as financial management, human resources, event sales & booking, building maintenance, and website/intranet) which operate the business.
Most of these internal systems and the servers supporting them came from the old facility. Having had a year to settle into the new building, the Technology Management Division responsible for running these systems initiated a program to audit and evaluate the architecture for functionality, reliability and security - ultimately selecting NGEN as the most appropriate firm for the job.
NGEN began this complex task by performing in-depth analysis of the existing WCCA network components. When constructed, the building was appointed with a state-of-the-art fiber and copper cable plant, new switching equipment and robust Internet connectivity. What would need the most attention, however, were WCCA's servers and network software. After an extensive analysis, NGEN put forth a proposal to integrate all existing assets into a more efficient, stable and secure network.
After testing the original equipment, NGEN technicians determined that the majority of resources needed to get the job completed were already on location. NGEN developed a strategy of "leapfrogging" the servers to minimize the need for additional hardware purchases. Utilizing the existing hardware and software assets would lower overall project expenditures while minimizing network downtime, both of which were critical to WCCA officials.
Among the many upgrades implemented in the project were:
 |
Microsoft
Windows 2003 "core" network
consisting of 15 servers. |
|
Microsoft
Exchange 2003 messaging system with
provisions for Virus and SPAM prevention. |
|
"Best
of Breed" Intrusion Detection
and Prevention Systems |
|
Advanced
security measures to prevent cyber-attack,
worms and viruses. |
|
Significant
upgrades to Web Server farm to enhance
performance and security. |
The Washington Convention Center now operates on a completely renewed system and
has benefited from significant improvements
in security, performance and stability.
While the WCCA IT Staff will now handle
most aspects of day-to-day administration
of the new network, NGEN continues to participate
in higher level system management, security
monitoring and future planning.
LLC