Dow Chemical's Networking and Telecommunications

Dow Chemical's Networking and Telecommunications

Joshua Newly

Information Management In Business - CIS/564.4

Colette Gardner

Group FV02MBA02F

July 30, 2002

Dow Chemical's Networking and Telecommunications

Dow Chemical (www.dow.com) is a multinational Fortune 100 organization that has offices in over 170 countries. The company is involved in a wide range of markets that provide a diversified revenue stream of over $30 billion annually. Their business plan includes a $2 billion return of operating expenses through the application of breakthrough technology in their information systems. The center of this initiative is called DowNET and it is the first global wide information system to converge data, e-mail, faxes, video, and voice into a single network. (e-business@DOW, 2001). The stated objectives for DowNET are the following (Dow Webcast, 2001, May 21):

* Harness technology to overcome geographical and connectivity boundaries to provide...in a single global network, offering...voice, video,, and data technology.

* Establish Dow as setting the bar for other Fortune 100 companies.

* Reduce operating expenses by $2 billion in five years.

The objectives of this plan were produced in alliance with Electronic Data Systems (www.eds.com) and Cisco Systems (www.cisco.com) The initial work began in Auburn Hills, MI in 2000.

The major savings were planned through the convergence of the voice traffic over the IP data network. The first step in that plan was to build a global network that supports the Quality of Service (QoS) necessary for VoIP traffic. Since the primary partner in this project is Cisco System, which supports VoIP through their range of products called Architecture for Voice, Video, and integrated Data (AVVID), the design is largely reliant on this technology (Cisco AVVID, 2002). The network consists of a switched core that delivers multiple megabytes of bandwidth to a series of edge routers, which are used to deliver connectivity to each of the five hundred locations. Each location is then delivers 100 megabits of bandwidth to each desktop from concentrated switches in the distribution layer of the network.

On top of this physical layer is a globally distributed deployment of Windows 2000, including its associated services DHCP, DNS, Active Directory, and Exchange. Running within this application layer framework is Cisco's Call Manager, which acts as a PBX phone switch that uses IP to communicate between stations. This enables a person in Midland, MI, to call a person anywhere within the network without using any local or long distance Public Telephone Systems (POTS), nor incurring their costs. In addition, if the same person in Midland calls a person outside the network in another city, such as London, then the call will be routed over the network, emerge in London, and then be switched onto the local POTS resulting in only the cost of a local call.

Another component of DowNET is the integration of voice mail and e-mail. The Cisco Unity software integrates with Exchange by recording voice mail message and then delivering them to the appropriate user's e-mail box. When the user retrieves their e-mail they will also obtain their voice mail. When they click on the voice mail message it will play audibly through the speakers or headset connected to their workstation.

In addition to supporting voice traffic the Windows 2000 network, using Active Directory, allows a person to travel to any workstation in any Dow Chemical location around the world and authenticate properly to the system. They can then use the local resources such as printers while having complete access to the data that is stored in their home location. This allows for greater efficiency