![banner_web-en.jpg]( "banner_web-en.jpg")
Reasons for Award
CR Beer’s “One-Stop SD-WAN Hybrid Network” project has successfully improved the company’s network performance, reliability, and security using the “All-in-One Cloud, Network, Security” solution. Featuring MPLS, SD-WAN, security and SASE Zero Trust technologies, the project ensures stable data transmission and business continuity — High-efficiency data transfer and intelligent load balancing are achieved through MPLS dual private line access; the hybrid networking of MPLS and the Internet with SD-WAN’s intelligent scheduling optimizes resource allocation; and the addition of dual SD-WAN devices with dual Internet link access strengthens the network stability and resilience of regional branches.
Network performance improvement is evidently one of the project achievements, yet it has also laid a solid foundation for business innovation and transformation. By adopting centralized management and a flexible network configuration, the project has been able to address challenges regarding network reliability, performance enhancement and security, substantially raising the network efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
About China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited
China Resources Beer (Holdings) Company Limited (“CR Beer”) was founded in 1993. As a national beer brewery headquartered in Beijing, China and dedicated to the production and distribution of beer, the company has developed a high-end brand portfolio that features both "Chinese brand + international brand". Since 2006, it has maintained a leading position in total sales within the Chinese beer market.
About the Project
To achieve its digital transformation goals, it was crucial for CR Beer to keep pace with the evolving landscape of technologies and trends. Its existing network infrastructure, however, proved inadequate for the high standards of network performance and security during the process. As a result, CR Beer opted to collaborate with China Entercom and deployed the innovative “All-in-One Cloud, Network, Security” solution that integrates MPLS, SD-WAN, security, SASE Zero Trust, and private cloud services.
Behind the solutions lies the extensive support from China Entercom, which encompasses the entire lifecycle from customized design and deployment to professional implementation and detailed operation and maintenance. Such support has realized a smooth and efficient transformation process for CR Beer, establishing a strong digital groundwork for its digitalization journey.
Strategies for Digital Transformation
In response to diverse business needs and a complex, secure network environment, CR Beer teamed up with China Entercom to strategically plan and execute various solutions of diversified networking technologies to accelerate digital transformation.
This strategy covers three major technological deployments:
MPLS Dual Private Line Access with Load Balancing: To support critical data centers, this MPLS dual private line solution offered by China Entercom features high-efficiency data transmission and an intelligent load balancing mechanism, empowering business continuity with a stable data flow and immediate line-failover during line failures.
Hybrid Networking of MPLS and the Internet: The virtual data center at the headquarter employs a mixed networking strategy that integrates MPLS and the Internet connections. Through SD-WAN’s intelligent scheduling, this approach optimizes resource allocation, enhancing network flexibility and cost efficiency to better adapt to complex business development needs.
Dual SD-WAN Devices with Dual Internet Link Access: For regional branches and factories, the deployment of dual SD-WAN devices alongside two independent Internet link access enhances network stability and resilience. In conjunction with the MPLS core network, it facilitates free data flow across all sites, increasing overall collaboration efficiency.
The success of these strategies has led to notable enhancements in network performance and data transmission reliability of CR Beer. Apart from laying a strong network foundation for business innovation and transformation, it has also demonstrated the essential impact of technological advancement on corporate development. Through these strategic initiatives, CR Beer has upgraded its WAN architecture, opening up greater avenues for future technological and business growth.
Challenges and Solutions
Recognized as a frontrunner in the domestic beer sector, CR Beer is proactively embracing the push for digital transformation to align with industry trends and accommodate its continuous business expansion. During this vital transformation, its demands on network upgrade center around the following key objectives:
Bolstering Network Reliability: CR Beer has adopted China Entercom’s high-quality SD-WAN technology to maintain continuity and high availability of its network. By enabling load balancing and disaster recovery, this technology greatly enhances network reliability, creating a solid groundwork for digital transformation and business expansion.
Streamlining Network Efficiency: To cater to the increasing demands of its business, CR Beer has opted to optimize its network performance utilizing SD-WAN Overlay Tunnel and traffic diversion. These strategies enhance bandwidth utilization, ensure high-performance application operation and speed up business processes, raising the overall operational efficiency.
Strengthening Network Security: As the significance of network security is undeniable in digital transformation, CR Beer has leveraged China Entercom’s SD-WAN technology to realize data transmission encryption and a secure WAN connection. This solution effectively ensures network security and prevents potential security threats, safeguarding the integrity of corporate data.
Unified Management and Cost Reduction: With the support of China Entercom’s SD-WAN networking technology, CR Beer has achieved unified network management and operation through a centralized management platform. This approach simplifies management processes, reduces operational costs and enhances management efficiency, guaranteeing the network runs effectively and stably.
Project Outcomes
This SD-WAN Hybrid Network solution has demonstrated that CR Beer and China Entercom have thoroughly considered business needs, budget constraints and performance goals, and meticulously made full use of available resources and optimized the network configuration in a flexible manner. This project delivers significant values across several dimensions:
Cost Effectiveness: For applications with lower demands for bandwidth and latency, transmitting data over Internet lines has reduced costs by up to 50%. Meanwhile, MPLS has been more stable and reliable for business-critical applications.
Boosting Transmission Efficiency: In response to the unique business needs and network environments of each branch, the upgrade from IPsec to MPLS has improved WAN quality and allowed for unified management. This transformation has also increased WAN capacity while ensuring stability, significantly enhancing transmission efficiency and constructing a strong network pedestal for long-term success.
Flexible Network Connectivity: With SD-WAN, different types of network connections, including MPLS and Internet link access, can be seamlessly integrated. This flexibility allows enterprises to select the most economical connection method that meets their business needs.
Traffic Management: SD-WAN incorporates intelligent traffic scheduling to allocate sufficient network resources to business-critical applications and minimize the bandwidth usage of non-critical applications, thereby lowering communication costs.
Assured Business Operations: The Overlay Tunnel connecting SD-WAN devices with the SD-WAN central gateway facilitates high-efficiency transmission of business traffic. In other words, it allows for automatic route convergence in the event of device failures, MPLS failures or central gateway malfunctions, maintaining business continuity and high availability.
Unified Management and Governance: The SD-WAN hybrid network architecture of China Entercom has improved traditional networking paradigms, leading to a better network access environment and achieving centralized control at the headquarter.
7x24 Security Management: With 7x24 security management provided by the Network Operations Center (NOC) of China Entercom, the security operation and maintenance model enable security event monitoring, alert systems, proactive responses, policy modifications, and troubleshooting, enhancing the security of network transmission.
Significant Breakthrough: CR Beer’s SD-WAN hybrid network is the first ever successful deployment within the China Resources Group, offering valuable insights for other enterprises in the Group. It not only achieves remarkable breakthroughs in unified management, operation efficiency improvement and cost reduction but also establishes a strong foundation for the integration of LAN and WAN.
