Testing Solutions – A Milestone Project

Introduction

The team at OSA relishes the opportunity to showcase our expertise. Over the past 18 months we have had a number of projects that have placed the spotlight on our ‘nerd’ superpowers and ability to collaborate, take a position of leadership within external teams and demonstrate our highly effective communication skills.

One project in particular required a combination of all these skill sets: expertise and capability, relationship mastery, superior teamwork and an artistry with communication.

The ACT team, headed by Evan Waugh, worked closely with the Australian Government Department of Finance in Canberra. The department was tasked with upgrading the internal fibre optic network within the Australian Parliament House. It was a mammoth task to bring an ageing infrastructure into the new world and future proof it for the expectations of a technologically advancing society.

Testing fit for purpose infrastructure

OSA was engaged, post instal, to suggest the most robust way to test the newly installed network and ensure it is fit for purpose. The sensitivities around such a project cannot be underestimated; after all, we are talking about the country’s parliamentary communication system, used for disseminating information between departments and out to other departments throughout Australia and the world. In addition, the location of the network brings with it added challenges.

Parliament House is a complex building. Home to decision makers and policy creators, it encases high levels of security, multiplex design elements and variegated buildings interwoven through an enormous site comprising 4,200 rooms and 11,000 new fibre links over an area of 250,000sqm.

Partnerships are vital to successful outcomes

“This is a mammoth task to test a network infrastructure of this size. The team at the Department of Finance was absolutely fantastic to work with, and I was extremely buoyed by their attitude to not just tick a box, but to put the necessary resources into the project to ensure it was done to its maximum capability, and that the long-term value was built into the system from the beginning. Talking to EXFO and leaning on their expertise and working with Sam Ford from the OSA Victoria branch was great; this group of people allowed us to provide a solid base of test equipment that the Department of Finance could fine tune to their specific needs. Without the help of EXFO and OSA – Vic, this would have been a considerably harder solution to present.” 

“The coding language was ‘Python’, a universal code that can be augmented when in the hands of very smart people. Our technical software engineer here at OSA worked tirelessly with some of the Department of Finance’s best and brightest software engineers and through close collaboration, a sharing of expertise and design talents, the system was out performing its initial capabilities. Even EXFO was impressed that their state-of-the-art product was now over delivering,”

Evan Waugh

Over its long and fruitful history, OSA has built enviable partnerships with some of the world’s leading technology companies. Canadian based EXFO is an established partner of OSA and has developed globally leading hardware, including the most advanced testing equipment currently available.

Through our strategic partnership, OSA was able to utilise EXFO testing hardware to perform the critical testing on the Parliament House infrastructure.

OSA’s role was to allow the onsite Department of Finance expert team to verify the installation across usability, longevity and compliance, checking each individual piece of glass throughout an enormous network infrastructure.

Although the testing equipment supplied by EXFO is a global leader, it soon became clear that additional software engineering would be needed to turbo charge the system to ensure it could meet the strict time frame demands of the project. Evan investigated the coding and identified possibilities to enhance its speed and scope.

Creativity through collaboration

“Working with the team at OSA – ACT produced excellent results. Through their established partnership with EXFO and technical know-how, our team and the team at OSA were able to engineer a working solution that exceeded all expectations. Going forward, the lease-back arrangement has enabled the department to employ financial diligence and successfully complete the comprehensive testing requirements of the new network infrastructure.” 

Mark Boomby IT Director, Australian Parliament House

Working closely with the talented software engineering team at the site, led by Mr. Mark Boomby from the Department of Finance (Australian Government, Canberra), the teams were able to collaborate and create a code that automated the testing base program, effectively creating a solution to very complex problems including speed, scope, accuracy and reliability. The solution enabled the testing to be conducted within a timeframe of 48 hours rather than initial estimate of several weeks.

In addition, the newly developed technology enabled the Department of Finance to lease back the software on a needs basis without imposing a high value capital expenditure on the department’s budget.

It is projects like this that set OSA apart from its competitors. Selling world leading fibre optic and CCTV products is one thing. Having the expertise and foresight to find solutions for our customers and having the confidence and skills to collaborate in high intensity and large-scale environments is a value add that enables OSA to continually outperform and over deliver on our solutions based service pillar.