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Case Study · Enterprise Networking · Gulf

30-site network refresh for a Gulf financial group — 6 weeks, single supplier

A Gulf-headquartered financial institution needed to replace end-of-life switching and firewall hardware across its entire branch footprint before a regulatory audit deadline. Haink sourced and delivered the full BOM — Cisco Catalyst and Fortinet FortiGate — in six weeks.

30Branch sites refreshed
2Core data centres
6 wkFull delivery lead time
1Supplier, one PO

Context

The client's existing Cisco Catalyst 2960 and 3560 switches were end-of-support and had generated findings in an internal audit on network segmentation. The firewall estate was a mix of generations with no unified policy management. The refreshed architecture needed micro-segmentation for payment card environments and centralized FortiManager visibility.

Why single-supplier mattered

Coordinating 32 separate delivery windows across 30 branches with multiple distributors was the previous project's failure point. The client needed one accountable party for freight, staging, customs clearance to each emirate, and warranty registration — all under one PO.

Haink's role

Haink acted as sole supply partner: sourced all Cisco and Fortinet hardware, managed freight consolidation in Hong Kong, handled customs documentation for UAE import, and coordinated phased delivery aligned to the client's branch migration schedule.

Hardware supplied

ProductModelRoleQty
Cisco Catalyst9300-48PBranch access — 48× PoE+ ports, 25G uplinks60
Cisco Catalyst9500-40XDC distribution / core, 40× 10G4
Cisco Catalyst9200-24PSmall branch (under 50 staff), PoE+30
Fortinet FortiGate200FBranch NGFW, SD-WAN, IPS, 20 Gbps throughput30
Fortinet FortiGate400FDC perimeter NGFW, 40 Gbps throughput2
Fortinet FortiSwitch448E-POEFortiLink-managed access switching, branch tier30
Fortinet FortiManagerVM-500Centralised policy management, all 30 branches2 (HA)

Site breakdown

24
Standard branches
Catalyst 9300-48P + 9200 + FortiGate 200F + FortiSwitch 448E. Staging pre-configured in Hong Kong; shipped rack-ready.
6
Large branches / regional hubs
Dual Catalyst 9300-48P stacked + FortiGate 200F HA pair. Higher staff count, dual-uplink WAN.
2
Data centres (primary + DR)
Catalyst 9500-40X core, FortiGate 400F perimeter HA, FortiManager VM on private cloud. All configured and burn-tested by Haink before delivery.

Outcomes

Audit findings closedAll segmentation findings cleared; firewall policy unified under FortiManager before audit deadline.
6-week delivery vs 14-week estimateCompetitor quote assumed 14 weeks. Haink delivered full BOM in 6 weeks through HK freight consolidation.
Single warranty contactAll Cisco and Fortinet serial numbers registered under one Haink-managed warranty record. One support number for the IT team.

Related resources

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Multi-site network project in the Gulf?

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