Frank Arena (Cube Networks)
Victoria-based managed services provider Cube Networks has partnered with Palo Alto Networks to overhaul the networking infrastructure for Village Roadshow.
The entertainment brand sought Cube’s expertise to update its legacy networking infrastructure with a new solution that would be “agile, secure, scalable and carrier-agnostic".
The legacy infrastructure included a legacy Optus MPLS WAN network, end-of-life firewalls and a complicated remote access VPN provided by Checkpoint and a Zscaler Secure Web Gateway (SWG).
According to Frank Arena, CEO of Cube Networks, Village Roadshow found its existing solutions outdated and unsuitable for its business needs.
“With multiple technologies, agreements with telecommunication carriers and outdated systems, the company was in need of a modern, consolidated technology solution with a unified security focus,” he said.
The old setup also led to latency that impaired application performance, resulting in poor user experience and lost productivity.
“Village Roadshow’s networks, which were built for an on-premises workforce, were no longer fit for purpose,” Arena elaborated. “With the move to hybrid work, Village Roadshow needed to address security differently, converging its network and security approach.
“Village Roadshow is a valued customer of ours, and this was a truly collaborative partnership Our approach to the project was focused on the big picture, leveraging our experience and technical expertise to bring a fresh perspective and provide thought leadership.”
The theme park and cinema operator evaluated various solutions before embarking on its network transformation journey.
Initially considering deploying the software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) layer, it opted for a unified Palo Alto Firewall and secure access service edge (SASE) solution.
“This decision was made after exploring the benefits of SASE and considering the market's direction towards convergence and vendor consolidation,” explained Steve Manley, regional vice president of Palo Alto Networks Australia and New Zealand.
In partnership with Palo Alto Networks, Cube Networks deployed a modern network with full SASE architecture, of which included Palo Alto Networks’ Prisma Access, Panorama and Global Protect products.
“This single-vendor solution brought numerous benefits to Village Roadshow, including a centralised security policy, increased bandwidth, WAN redundancy, improved mobile worker security and an improved user experience,” Manley added.
