Meraki for Hospitality – dsgn network

Meraki Marketing: KOI Music Festival Case Study Version 1.0: September 30, 2014 Drafted by: Brendan Waller, the dsgn network

MERAKI MARKETING: KOI MUSIC FESTIVAL CASE STUDY

THE DSGN NETWORK CONFIDENTIAL PAGE 2

Bringing Wireless Outside & Community to Engage! Case Study for KOI Music Festival

Company Profile The KOI Music Festival was the brain-‐child of Curt and Cory Crossman. With a passion for music and the underground music scene, the two brothers have been running events for years.

KOI was developed with the intent of not only bringing great bands together, but in engaging the local and international artists and attendants, truly bringing the community together. KOI has become an event, which has put Kitchener-‐Waterloo on the national music map, and created a strong foundation based off of a strong following in the independent music scene.

• In 2010 KOI launched with 135 bands, across 11 venues

• In 2011, with attendance on the rise, KOI expanded with a main stage and beer garden area

• In 2012, the Festival expanded to a 3-‐day schedule, with up to 150 bands

• 2013 was a record year for KOI Music Festival from attendees

• In 2014, KOI took all of their experience and again turned to engaging the community to make, 2014 the best event to date

Business Situation One of the core foundations of the KOI Music Festival has always been about community. The music scene has a devoted following, a passionate group of individuals brought together with a combined love of music. With that in mind, KOI was looking for a unique experience to help their attendees share their experiences throughout the Festival. With the age of smartphones, data plans and Social Media, this was the year to redefine how attendees can share and communicate at KOI.

The demographic for KOI has always been males and females between 18-‐35. These young, millennial groups are avid fans and want to explore into new genres and music styles, especially in a local community. This group has a very high usage for online communications. This fact is predominantly the reason there has been a shift to digital sharing since 2005. KOI uses its’ online presence to promote, so a need for an open Wifi area arose.

Technical Situation While KOI had a great following on Social Media prior to the event, engagement and information sharing was critical for the Festival to keep attendees up to date. With Social Media, and a Live Wall planned for the event, KOI needed a way to extend the online experience to their audience. Like many events, users tend to take many pictures or videos at events, but are careful about over-‐sharing their content due to expensive data plans, battery life of smartphones and poor reception pockets throughout cities. These issues are not only concerns for attendees, but also for the team of organizers and volunteers across the Festival.



The KOI Music Festival needed a way to provide their attendees and team with a solution that would allow them to be able to quickly engage, communicate and ultimately measure the very heart of the Festival.

Solution

To accomplish the communication, engagement and measurement goals of KOI, the dsgn network, partnered with RDC Networks, deployed a network of Cisco Meraki routers across a city block of Kitchener’s downtown, surrounding KOI’s main stage area.

Tapping into the existing Internet connections from businesses partnered with KOI, the Meraki routers were set up in two areas of the main stage, as well as by a neighboring café. The Meraki that were used were outdoor units, capable of withstanding the often-‐unpredictable Canadian weather, and also powered directly from Ethernet, at the point of connecting to the network, simplifying the number of cables needing to be run. With the back-‐end portal setup, the Meraki’s powered up to mesh with one another forming a blanketed Wifi area from Queen Street to Frederick street, encompassing the main stage area.

To further augment KOI’s desire to engage and grow their Social Network, the Meraki provided free Wifi at the click of a Facebook button. Now, not only do attendees get free wifi at the Festival, but now are directly engaging their own networks about the KOI Music Festival.

Benefits

There were many benefits to KOI Music Festival having the Merakis deployed across the main stage:

1. Simple, easy to manage wireless solution

2. Coverage of main stage beneficial to capture largest traffic point of the Festival

3. Free Wifi for both benefit attendees and volunteers

4. Expanded Social Media followers by gating Wifi with Facebook

5. Expanded Social Media reach as each connection on Facebook shared status of attendance at KOI

6. Customizable policies on Meraki’s ensure data-‐heavy applications and sites could be restricted as per KOI’s requirements

7. Meraki’s provided virus protection to all devices connected to the free network

8. Meraki’s were powered over Ethernet, no additional power required

9. Units specifically geared for the outdoors: Enclosed from weather and elements

10. Easy to digest analytics:

a. Bandwidth usage

b. Usage of network

c. Usage per Meraki

d. Top Social Media usage

e. Top website analytics

f. # of unique connections



g. # of repeat connections

h. Potential reach of surrounding traffic

[Summarize the business benefits that your company's solution provided for your customer. Focus on the quantifiable benefits, such as the dollar amount saved in training costs, the percentage increase in productivity, or the percentage increase in sales. Note that return-‐on-‐investment figures will greatly increase the impact of the case study. Identify any new capabilities and future plans that the customer has as a result of the solution.]

Products and Services Used

For KOI to have appropriate coverage of the main stage area, what was deployed was:

• 3 outdoor Meraki units, with mounting brackets

• 3 PoE injectors (Power over Ethernet)

• 16-‐port switch

• 250ft of Ethernet cable

• Internet connection

Results

In 3 days of usage, here is what high-‐level data was captured:

• 1150 sustained Wifi connections

o 412 from The Front Stage

o 346 from Grill Area

o 392 from neighboring café

• Almost 15.5GB of data shared across the KOI Wifi

• Facebook was their largest Social Network draw, Twitter was 9th in overall application usage

• KOI Music Festival app was in part responsible for pushing iTunes to 7th on the list

• Largest group of engagers used the platform between 1-‐6hrs

• A 26.5% capture rate per day on the Wifi

• A potential reach of 2610 people passing by the main stage throughout the Festival

• Heat map data shows strong blend across all areas, per day, main stage area particularly strong during headliners

• Smartphone platform OS by usage (in order of usage)

o Android

o iOS

o Windows 8

o BlackBerry



Results

Festival-‐wide data

Heatmaps across 3-‐day Festival – Friday to Sunday

KOI Music Festival Meraki Wifi Top Left: Friday Top Right: Saturday Bottom Left: Sunday

Presence Analytics for Hospitality Actionable feedback to improve guest experience

Multi-site analysis and reporting helps hotels understand foot traffic and user behavior

• Detect presence of guests via their mobile devices with Cisco Meraki cloud-managed access points

• Broaden understanding of hotel locations by gaining visibility into users connecting to WiFi as well as passersby

• Take advantage of rich statistics on new guests, guest loyalty, and time spent in your facilities

• Use analytics data to make decisions on staffing, hotel gym hours, employee and BYOD policies, and more

• Extend Presence analytics by integrating with existing customer relationship management (CRM) systems

Free evaluations available at meraki.cisco.com/eval

“Our customers depend on connectivity. WiFi allows our guests to conduct business, stay connected to loved ones, and of course for entertainment. With high-speed 802.11n in all of our properties, our guests can count on reliable performance.”– Jim Amorosia, CEO of Motel 6 and Studio 6

Presence for Hospitality

1 Guest InsightCisco Meraki uses presence-based data to build powerful analysis tools, helping hoteliers learn about their guests

• Quantify site visits, how often guests return, and location dwell time to understand the impact of staff volume, hours of operation, or special promotions

• Discover aggregate and anonymous customer demographics (age, gender, language) via Meraki WiFi with Facebook Login

• Identify what drives guest loyalty with insight into daily, weekly, and monthly visitors

2 EngagementEnhance guest experience with secure, branded guest WiFi, Cisco Meraki WiFi with Facebook Login, and timely mobile offers

• Customize guest experience with branded splash pages or use Meraki’s WiFi with Facebook Login

• Increase Facebook impressions and brand awareness by seamlessly encouraging “likes” and check-ins

• Drive hotel and event traffic through targeted, timely offers to mobile devices

3 Actionable ResultsMake data-driven decisions to drive onsite foot traffic, increase guest loyalty, and attract new customers

• Use analytics data to replicate the most effective drivers of foot traffic across your locations

• Capitalize on repeat visits and longer dwell times to target and improve guest services, driving loyalty and revenues

• Generate new customers through event-driven interaction

Jan 1 Jan 8 Jan 15 Jan 22 Jan 29

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Cisco Systems, Inc. | 500 Terry A. Francois Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94158 | (415) 432-1000 | [email protected]

Appeal • Number of passersby vs. guests

spending time at a specific location

• Determine peak business hours and identify what drives guests to your hotel

Engagement • Length of time guests spend within a

given location

• Capitalize on guest dwell time to maximize guest services and sales

Loyalty • Number of first time guests vs.

repeat guests

• Enhance customer experience for repeat guests through targeted offers

Multi-Site • Presence analytics compared across

multiple network locations

• Identify variations in guest behavior across different sites

Presence Analytics Metrics


Cisco Meraki provides a complete solution for retail

Real-time location analyticsIntegrated display of key metrics that measure the appeal, engagement, and loyalty of guests

Guest WiFi Guest WiFi solution enables secure, Internet-only access, Meraki WiFi with Facebook Login, and on-the- fly guest logins

Centralized ManagementCentralized visibility and control over all your networks from a single web-based dashboard

Award Winning Cloud Management Architecture• Network-wide visibility and control

• No on-site controller hardware

• Automatic monitoring and alerts

• Seamless over-the-web upgrades

• Scales to networks of all sizes

“No one provides this kind of

traffic shaping and

content filtering at such an

affordable price.”

–Cedric Sahuc, Manager,

Hotel Agora

“The main difference with

Meraki is that anybody can

manage it, from anywhere,

through the dashboard. This is

a big advantage.”

–Kristof Michiels, IT Manager

and Developer at the Museum of

Contemporary Art in Antwerp

“Meraki is good quality, good

service, and good value.”

–John Sands, COO and GM of

Prospector Square Lodge

“The Meraki MX made a

complex project very simple.

The entire installation was

a smooth and enjoyable

experience. There was no need

for training or certification like

other vendors.”

–Andrew Ruginis, Director of IT at

the Chicago Architecture Foundation


Datasheet | Cloud Management

OverviewMeraki’s cloud based management provides centralized visibility & control over Meraki’s wired & wireless networking hardware, without the cost and complexity of wireless controllers or overlay management systems. Integrated with Meraki’s entire product portfolio, cloud management provides feature rich, scalable, and intuitive centralized management for networks of any size.

Highlights

• Unified visibility and control of the entire network via a single dashboard: wireless, switching, and security appliances

• Streamlines large networks with tens of thousands of endpoints

• Zero-touch provisioning for rapid deployment

• Built-in multi site network management tools

• Automated network monitoring and alerts

• Intuitive interface eliminates costly training or added staff

• Network tagging engine - search and sync settings by tag

• Role-based administration and auditable change logs

• Continuous feature updates delivered from the cloud

• Highly available and secure (PCI / HIPAA compliant)

Cloud Management

Cloud Managed NetworksMeraki’s hardware products are built from the ground up for cloud management. As a result, they come out of the box with centralized control, layer 7 device and application visibility, real time web-based diagnostics, monitoring, reporting, and much more.

Meraki networks deploy quickly and easily, without training or dedicated staff. Moreover, Meraki provides a rich feature set that provides complete control over devices, users, and applications, allowing for flexible access policies and rich security without added cost or complexity.

Meraki’s cloud management provides the features, security, and scalability for networks of any size. Meraki scales from small sites to

campuses, and even distributed networks with thousands of sites. Meraki devices, which self-provision via the cloud, can be deployed in branches without IT. Firmware and security signature updates are delivered seamlessly, over the web. With the cloud, branches can automatically establish secure VPN tunnels between one another with a single click.

With a secure, PCI and HIPAA compliant architecture and fault tolerant design that preserves local network functionality during WAN outages, Meraki is field proven in high security and mission critical network applications.

Meraki Inc. | 660 Alabama St, San Francisco, CA 94110 | (415) 432-1000 | [email protected]

Cloud Management ArchitectureMeraki’s architecture provides feature rich network management without on-site management appliances or WiFi controllers.

Every Meraki device - including wirelesss access points, Ethernet switches, and security appliances - connects over the Internet to Meraki’s datacenters, which run Meraki’s cloud management platform. These connections, secured via SSL, utilize a patented protocol that provides real time visibility and control, yet uses minimal bandwidth overhead (typically 1 kbps or less.)

In place of traditional command-line based network configuration, Meraki provides a rich web based dashboard, providing visibility and control over up to tens of thousands of Meraki devices, anywhere in the world. Tools, designed to scale to large and distributed networks, make policy changes, firmware updates, deploying new branches, etc. simple and expedient, regardless of size or location. Meraki’s real time protocols combine the immediacy of on-premise management applications with the simplicity and centralized control of a cloud application.

Every Meraki device is engineered for cloud management. Specifically, this means that Meraki devices are designed with memory and CPU resources to perform packet processing, QoS, layer 3-7 security, encryption, etc. at the network edge. As a result, no network traffic passes through the cloud, with the cloud providing management functionality out of the data path. This architecture enables networks to scale horizontally, adding capacity simply by adding more endpoints, without concern for centralized bottlenecks or chokepoints. Equally important, since all packet processing is performed on premise, end-user functionality is not compromised if the network’s connection to the cloud is interrupted.

Meraki’s cloud platform is designed to spread computation and storage across independent server clusters in geographically isolated datacenters. Any server or datacenter can fail without affecting customers or the rest of the system. Additionally, Meraki’s datacenter design is field proven to support tens of thousands of endpoints.

Browser-based management

Teleworker

Retail Store

Campus / HQ

http://meraki.com

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On premise Meraki hardware

ManagementData

Cloud HostedManagement


Scheduled Firmware Updates

Automatic E-mail Alerts

User and Device Fingerprints

Integrated multi-site management

Powerful Insight and Troubleshooting ToolsMeraki’s cloud architecture delivers powerful insight and includes live tools integrated directly into the dashboard, giving instant analysis of performance, connectivity, and more. Using live tools, network administrators no longer need to go on site to perform routine troubleshooting tests. Visibility into devices, users, and applications gives administrators the information needed to enforce security policies and enable the performance needed in today’s demanding network environments.

Troubleshooting tools such as ping, traceroute, throughput, and even live packet captures are integrated directly into the Meraki dashboard, dramatically reducing resolution times and enabling troubleshooting at remote locations without on-site IT staff.

Layer 7 application visibility

Live Troubleshooting Tools


Out-of-Band Control PlaneMeraki’s out-of-band control plane separates network management data from user data. Management data (e.g., configuration, statistics, monitoring, etc.) flows from Meraki devices (wireless access points, switches, and security appliances) to Meraki’s cloud over a secure Internet connection. User data (web browsing, internal applications, etc.) does not flow through the cloud, instead flowing directly to its destination on the LAN or across the WAN.

Advantages of an out of band control plane:

Scalability

• Unlimited throughput: no centralized controller bottlenecks

• Add devices or sites without MPLS tunnels

• Add switching capacity without stacking limitations

Reliability

• Redundant cloud service provides high availability

• Network functions even if management traffic is interrupted

Security

• No user traffic passes through Meraki’s datacenters

• Fully HIPAA / PCI compliant

What happens if a network loses connectivity to the Meraki cloud?Because of Meraki’s out of band architecture, most end users are not affected if Meraki wireless APs, switches, or security appliances cannot communicate with Meraki’s cloud services (e.g., because of a temporary WAN failure):

• Users can access the local network (printers, file shares, etc.)

• If WAN connectivity is available, users can access the Internet

• Network policies (firewall rules, QoS, etc.) continue to be enforced

• Users can authenticate via 802.1X/RADIUS and can roam wirelessly between access points

• Users can initiate and renew DHCP leases

• Established VPN tunnels continue to operate

• Local configuration tools are available (e.g., device IP configuration)

While Meraki’s cloud is unreachable, management, monitoring, and hosted services are temporarily unavailable:

• Configuration and diagnostic tools are unavailable

• Usage statistics are stored locally until the connection to the cloud is re-established, at which time they are pushed to the cloud

• Splash pages and related functionality are unavailable

T1 / DSL

Management Data

User Traffic


Redundancy

• Five geographically dispersed datacenters

• Every customer’s data (network configuration and usage metrics) replicated across three independent datacenters

• Real-time data replication between datacenters (within 60 seconds)

• Nightly archival backups

Availability Monitoring

• 24x7 automated failure detection — all servers are tested every five minutes from multiple locations

• Rapid escalation procedures across multiple operations teams

• Independent outage alert system with 3x redundancy

Disaster Recovery

• Rapid failover to hot spare in event of hardware failure or natural disaster

• Out of band architecture preserves end-user network functionality, even if connectivity to Meraki’s cloud services is interrupted

• Failover procedures drilled weekly

Cloud Services Security

• 24x7 automated intrusion detection

• Protected via IP and port-based firewalls

• Access restricted by IP address and verified by public key (RSA)

• Systems are not accessible via password access

• Administrators automatically alerted on configuration changes

Physical Security

• High security card keys and biometric readers control facility access

• All entries, exits, and cabinets are monitored by video surveillance

• Security guards monitor all traffic into and out of the datacenters 24x7, ensuring that entry processes are followed

Out-of-Band Architecture

• Only configuration and usage statistics are stored in the cloud

• End user data does not traverse through the datacenter

• All sensitive data (e.g., passwords) stored in encrypted format

Disaster Preparedness

• Datacenters feature sophisticated sprinkler systems with interlocks to prevent accidental water discharge

• Diesel generators provide backup power in the event of power loss

• UPS systems condition power and ensure orderly shutdown in the event of a full power outage

• Each datacenter has service from at least two top-tier carriers

• Seismic bracing for raised floor, cabinets, and support systems

• In the event of a catastrophic datacenter failure, services fail over to another geographically separate datacenter

Environmental Controls

• Over-provisioned HVAC systems provide cooling and humidity control

• Flooring systems are dedicated for air distribution

Certification

• Meraki datacenters are SAS70 type II certified

• PCI level 1 certified

Service Level Agreement

• Meraki’s cloud management is backed by a 99.99% uptime SLA. See www.meraki.com/trust for details.

Meraki Datacenter DesignMeraki’s cloud management service is colocated in tier-1, SAS70 type II certified datacenters. These datacenters feature state of the art physical and cyber security and highly reliable designs. All Meraki services are replicated across multiple independent datacenters, so that customer-facing services fail over rapidly in the event of a catastrophic datacenter failure.


Security Tools for AdministratorsIn addition to Meraki’s secure out-of-band architecture and hardened datacenters, Meraki provides a number of tools for administrators to maximize the security of their network deployments. These tools provide optimal protection, visibility, and control over your Meraki network.

Two-factor authenticationTwo-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to an organization’s network by requiring access to an administrator’s phone, in addition to her username and password, in order to log in to Meraki’s cloud services. Meraki’s two factor authentication implementation uses secure, convenient, and cost effective SMS technology: after entering their username and password, an administrator is sent an a one-time passcode via SMS, which they must enter before authentication is complete. In the event that a hacker guesses or learns an administrator’s password, she still will not be able to access the organization’s account, as the hacker does not have the administrator’s phone. Meraki includes two-factor authentication for all enterprise users at no additional cost.

Password policiesOrganization-wide security policies for Meraki accounts help protect access to the Meraki dashboard. These tools allow administrators to:

• Force periodic password changes (e.g., every 90 days)

• Require minimum password length and complexity

• Lock users out after repeated failed login attempts

• Disallow password reuse

• Restrict logins by IP address

Role-based administrationRole-based administration lets supervisors appoint administrators for specific subsets of an organization, and specify whether they have read-only access to reports and troubleshooting tools, administer managed guest access, or can make configuration changes to the network. This minimizes the chance of accidental or malicious misconfiguration, and restricts errors to isolated parts of the network.

Configuration change alertsThe Meraki system can automatically send human-readable email and text message alerts when configuration changes are made, enabling the entire IT organization to stay abreast of new policies. Change alerts are particularly important with large or distributed IT organizations.

Configuration and login auditsMeraki logs the time, IP, and approximate location (city, state) of logged in administrators. A searchable configuration change log indicates what configuration changes were made, who they were made by, and which part of the organization the change occurred in.

SSL certificatesMeraki accounts can only be accessed via https, ensuring that all communication between an administrator’s browser and Meraki’s cloud services is encrypted.

Idle Timeout30 seconds before being logged out, users are shown a notice that allows them to extend their session. Once time expires, users are asked to log in again.

Configuration Change Audits

Role-Based Administration

Password Security Policies

Documents

Meraki for Hospitality – dsgn network