Objective
Upgrade entire network to meet
requirements of Premier League
Approach
Developed plans with long-term
IT partner, Medhurst Communications
Case Study
AFC Bournemouth strengthens
long-term fortunes with
Premier League promotion
HPE switches underpin vital network
infrastructure upgrade
IT Matters
• Delivers a fully verified and tested
IT infrastructure, capable of supporting
long-term development
• Creates a robust network, simplifying
management and maintenance for
one-man, in-house IT department
Business Matters
• Meets stipulated requirements of
Premier League
• Establishes the club as a tier one
sporting venue, with world-class
media and IT facilities
AFC Bournemouth is
a footballing fairytale.
After nearly going out of
business less than 10 years
ago, the club has risen to
the Premier League, the
pinnacle of English football.
But admittance to the big
leagues means an upgrade
of the club’s infrastructure.
HPE technology underpins
the revamp of the club’s
IT network.
Challenge
A rapid rise
Football is full of underdog stories. AFC
Bournemouth might be one of the best.
On the first day of the 2009-10 football
season, 2,998 fans turned up to watch Bury
play Bournemouth in the fourth tier of
English football. Bournemouth had narrowly
avoided relegation from the League the
previous year and had nearly gone out of
business. Little was expected of the team
this term.
The 3-0 win at Bury heralded an upturn in
Bournemouth’s fortunes. The club went on
to secure promotion to tier three. It followed
this with promotion to tier two in 2013, and
in April 2015, for the first time in the club’s
history, won promotion to the Premier
League – the pinnacle of English football,
and the world’s richest football league.
Case study
AFC Bournemouth
“The Medhurst proposal centred on Hewlett Packard Enterprise. I had no
issue with that. We’ve been using more and more HPE technology and that
created a level of confidence. HPE was the right choice; with the warranty
and support it was the best, fully-backed solution.”
– Richard Poole, IT manager, AFC Bournemouth
Industry
Sport
Page 2
The club did this with the same manager
and many of the same players. Behind the
scenes, the IT infrastructure had changed
little in five years.
Big money, bigger expectations
The Premier League sold its latest round
of domestic broadcast rights, 2016-19,
for £5.136 billion, a 71 per cent jump on
the previous deal. It is estimated
overseas TV rights will bring in a further
£1 billion per year.
In return, the broadcasters expect a certain
standard of ‘product’. Every Premier League
club is required to provide world class
infrastructure, from the quality of pitches,
to floodlights, to catering. It all adds to the
Premier League experience.
The IT infrastructure is no dierent. Clubs
must host the world’s print and broadcast
media on every match day. They must
provide interview areas, conference rooms
and media zones, all with the appropriate
level of connectivity.
The Premier League has a lengthy list of
technical requirements, from the number
of concurrent users to data points to
broadcast cabling standards. From 2016,
each of the 20 Premier League clubs will be
guaranteed at least £80 million per season,
though the payments are conditional on
all requirements being met. For newly
promoted clubs, the challenge was twofold:
upgrade their infrastructure immediately,
and ensure they avoided relegation.
“Perhaps we didn’t want to tempt fate but we
never started planning for life in the Premier
League until we knew for certain we’d
been promoted,” says Richard Poole, AFC
Bournemouth’s IT manager. “That left us 13
weeks to plan and implement the upgrade.
I can’t tell you how crazy this summer was.”
Solution
Upgrading the network
The club had worked with Medhurst
Communications, a local technology support
service specialist, for a number of years.
“We’ve worked with them on small jobs and
ad hoc support, but nothing on the same
level of resource as this,” says Poole. “That
said, we’d always used them as a sounding
board, imagining what’s possible, if and
when we’d need it.”
Case study
AFC Bournemouth
Industry
Sport
Page 3
“By the time promotion was on the horizon
we knew what we needed to do, and I knew
that Medhurst knew our set up. Our IT
department is just me; we were never going
to do this on our own.”
The new media facility requirements
included an integrated fibre optic and
copper cabling network to provide both
wired and wireless internet connectivity for
all visiting UK and international broadcasters
and data ports and connection points for all
media conference rooms, outside broadcast
compounds, tunnel interviews and pitch
side presentations.
With internet connectivity bandwidth of
40MB per second, burstable to 100MB
per second, the club has dramatically
improved the internet service for all
broadcasters. There is a 250MB broadband
connection from Bournemouth data
centre provider, C4L.
“The Medhurst proposal centred on HPE,”
says Poole. “I had no issue with that. We’ve
been using more and more HPE technology,
from laptops to servers, and that had created
a level of confidence. HPE was the right
choice; with the warranty and support it
was the best, fully-backed solution.”
The new IT infrastructure comes with a
lifetime warranty and the best of breed
Hewlett Packard Enterprise switching
technology (HPE E5412, HPE E8212 and
HPE 2920) across the entire site. It includes
a purpose-built air conditioned comms
room containing four racks housing all the
new HPE servers and switches. Medhurst
sta will continue to support the AFC
Bournemouth IT sta on site.
“The Medhurst guys have played an
enormous part in understanding our
business over the years,” says Poole,
“so when it came to tight deadlines, they
were on the money.”
Benefit
Ready for kick-o
The solution was in place, tested and fully
operational by late July, for a pre-match
friendly with Cardi City FC. “A massive
achievement,” according to Poole.
The network upgrade meets all Premier
League requirements and leaves
Bournemouth in possession of an IT
infrastructure for the future – whatever the
team’s fortunes on the field. The upgrade
allows for a new telephone system, IPTV
and IP CCTV across the site, and extends
to a new, purpose-built players pavilion and
1,500sqm outside broadcast area adjacent
to the stadium.
Case study
AFC Bournemouth
Industry
Sport
Customer at a glance
Hardware
• HPE E5412 Switch Series
• HPE 8212 Switch Series
• HPE 2920 Switch Series
“This upgrade takes us to the next level. This is a club with
huge ambition; we have an IT infrastructure for the ‘now’
and for the future.”
– Richard Poole, IT manager, AFC Bournemouth
“From the media room to the shop and the
stands, there is no weak point,” says Poole,
“and no threat of connectivity dropping o.”
The club will be using the new technology
to support its community and engagement
projects and to be able to work closer
with local businesses. The conference and
events facility now has 50 data points and
improved wireless access for guests. Poole
says discussions have taken place regarding
match day Wi-Fi connectivity for the 12,000
fans in the stadium: “There are a whole host
of consumer-focused services we’re looking
at – ordering food for smartphones, cashless
payments, access control – all of which are
now possible. We’re creating a better match
day experience for fans.”
For Poole, the day-to-day benefit is in
having just one system to manage: “I can
isolate issues quicker and I have technology
that has been fully tested and verified.
This upgrade takes us to the next level.
This is a club with huge ambition; we have
an IT infrastructure for the ‘now’ and for
the future.”
Learn more at
hpe.com/networking
Our solution partners
Sign up for updates
Rate this document
© Copyright 2016 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP. The information contained herein is subject to change without
notice. The only warranties for Hewlett Packard Enterprise products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements
accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
4AA6-3325EEW, January 2016
Loading...