04 July 2017

Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) partners with Avaya for comprehensive network upgrade

London, UK 2017 — Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA) a world-class laboratory, glasshouse and experimental farm facility on the outskirts of Edinburgh, has provided a boost to its researchers with a new facility-wide communications network powered by Avaya.

As a division of the Scottish Government’s Agriculture & the Rural Economy Directorate, SASA’s team of over 100 biologists and chemists conduct important year-round work to ensure the quality, safety and security of Scotland’s food supply. It also frequently plays hosts to international agricultural conferences where researchers from around the world visit and work at its facilities.

With legacy systems reaching the end of their operative life, SASA recognised a need for a network solution that could provide efficient, consistent and secure access to both resident and visiting researchers working across its three facilities and a multiple conference centres.

The SASA facility houses 100 scientists and the conference centres host up to 60 delegates at any one time, all of whom can now access the communications network with their own key.

Following a competitive tender process, Avaya was selected to deploy a comprehensive network upgrade that would meet both current needs and anticipated growth in demand. Since deployment in March, the communications network has passed the Public Sector Network compliance tests used to determine its security.

“We’ve got people from the EU and all over the world visiting us,” said Laura Wall, Systems Manager at SASA. “Experts on particular crops and people on fact finding missions come here to learn or contribute to our work and that means both in the lab and outdoors with our crops. If one thing’s true of both our staff and our visitors, it’s that a fast and consistent network connection is vital to a productive visit.”

The Avaya networking technology, which is deployed throughout the facility, enables both permanent staff and visitors to take advantage of the latest wireless speeds and consistent connections, even when moving between labs and offices.

“Collaboration is a vital part of our work, so a secure wireless network where they can connect quickly, and securely, and can then take their laptops from office space to lab and back without interruption is a major benefit,” said Laura.

Ioan MacRae, UK MD at Avaya, said: “Avaya is proud to support SASA and give it the technology it needs to serve an ever-growing team. SASA’s new wireless infrastructure will bring faster, more intuitive communication and cross-collaboration with scientists from across the world. We work for our customers and tailor the solution for every customer experience, based on what the end user wants.”

About SASA

As a division of the Scottish Government Agriculture & the Rural Economy Directorate, SASA’s primary role is to provide scientific services and advice in support of Scotland’s agriculture and wider environment. Although much of our work is in support of arable agriculture we also provide services in food safety, wildlife management and crime whilst providing specialist advice to Scottish Minister. SASA represents Scottish interests in national and international forums.