Avit makes smart use of Paessler PRTG in unique IoT projects

About Avit

Both on-premise and in the cloud, Avit delivers integrated solutions for data centers, enterprise networking and security (routing, switching, wireless end-to-end security and collaboration). Avit has a software development team which achieves extensive integration of systems and software on the basis of connectors. Quality, knowledge and innovation are of paramount importance to Avit and are translated into maximum customer satisfaction.

As an officially certified Cisco Gold partner, the company is proud of its Global Capital Partner of the Year 2018 award, Northern Europe and the Netherlands Software Partner of The Year 2018 award and its Customer Experience Partner of the Year 2018 award.

Avit monitors almost everything with Paessler PRTG Network Monitor. From switches to emergency power supplies and from shared telephony environments to cameras. In total, the company now has almost 35,000 sensors in use and 44 remote probes (data collectors) installed at customers, enabling Avit to remotely monitor everything.

“We tested several other products in 2012 and again now. PRTG remains the most suitable monitoring tool for us, because it connects better to networking than other tools and the costs are relatively low. And in doing so, it just does what it has to do.”

Peter Meijer, third-line Support Engineer at Avit

Avit makes smart use of PRTG

Network integrator Avit designs, builds and manages advanced IT networks for companies in various sectors in the Netherlands and abroad. Among other things, the company is a technology partner in unique IoT projects. In this type of project, it is very important that all parts of the network always work.

The company therefore continuously checks whether the networks and systems that make their customers' projects a success are functioning properly. Peter Meijer, third-line Support Engineer at Avit, and Willem Meints, Technical Lead, use PRTG for this purpose, which gives their customers a firm grip on their networks.

Insight into availability

Avit has been using PRTG since 2012 and has now upgraded to the largest license. At the time, the ICT team was looking for proactive monitoring as part of the support service. Peter explains why PRTG always stood out positively: 'We wanted better insight into the availability and possible downtime of both customer environments and our own office and data centre environments. We tested several other products in 2012 and again now. PRTG remains the most suitable monitoring tool for us, because it connects better to networking than other tools and the costs are relatively low. And in doing so, it just does what it has to do."

Link with Cisco Webex Teams

Avit is growing fast and processes an average of 1,500 to 2,000 incidents per month. The ICT team uses its own ticket system, in which all reports come together. Willem explains: "We were looking for an easy way to register all our tickets. We then made a link between PRTG, Cisco Webex Teams and Cherwell, our ticket system. During the day, all reports from PRTG come into here. These are registered as incidents, receive a certain priority level and are linked to an engineer and the customer in a Webex Team Room (a new chat). So the customer can always follow along with us. In the chat we keep track of the status of the ticket, which saves a lot of phone calls back and forth."

Smart hotel monitors

One of these customers is Gr8 Hotels, a smart hotel chain. Hotel guests can use a screen in the hotel room or an app to control everything, such as the lighting, the temperature and the curtains. The challenge for Avit: everything has to work, and if something goes wrong, the hotel guests shouldn't notice it.

Willem says: "We use PRTG to proactively monitor all switches, access points, nodes, etc. and can see whether everything is working up to the lights in the bathroom. For example, the system itself signals that a heating system is not working properly. We get a report of this and can do something about it immediately, before a guest runs into a wall of heat. In this way, we ultimately ensure that Gr8 receives predominantly overwhelmingly positive customer reviews on the internet."

IoT monitoring: temperature and humidity

Another customer for which Avit is working with PRTG is Tolsma Grisnich, a company that is active worldwide in food storage and cooling.

Peter: "We have installed sensors in the warehouse that measure, among other things, the temperature, humidity and outside temperature. With PRTG, we check 24/7 whether everything still falls within pre-set values. As soon as it gets too humid or too hot, for example, we receive a report of this and we can solve the problem or raise it with the customer. The customer uses the information we provide to optimally set up the cooling systems."

Identifying problems before they occur

With PRTG, Avit can also intervene proactively in case of problems. For example, the ICT team monitors the enormous warehouses of hotel and catering wholesaler Sligro and sports brand Asics.

Willem: "These warehouses are used by forklift trucks to collect orders. They are sent to specific places in the warehouse via access points with Wi-Fi signals. If a certain point in the network doesn't work, the trucks can't do their job properly. We can then warn our customers or we can fix the problem right away, so they can get on with their work without noticing a hitch."