Kmart is replacing its local area network infrastructure across more than 180 stores across Australia and New Zealand, as well as its distribution centre and head office, to help lower operational costs.
It will be installing Juniper Network’s EX series Ethernet switches that will enable the company to reduce its project total cost of ownership (TCO) for its network switching infrastructure over the next five years.
Gary Trotter, Kmart IT technical services manager, said the rollout is part of Kmart’s IT lifecycle management program.
“In keeping with Kmart’s market position as a low-cost retailer, our IT strategy is aimed at driving down IT costs by focusing on solutions that meet functional requirements while delivering a low TCO,” he said.
“We need a network that can support a wide variety of applications while requiring limited management support. According to our net present value study, which included the cost of training our network engineers on the Junos network operating system, Juniper Networks EX Series switches would cost less than competing products over five years.”
The Juniper Networks EX series switches have already been deployed at Kmart’s national office, new distribution centers as well as Asian offices.
Kmart is looking to continue the rollout to stores over the next couple of years.