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HCL opens the floodgates on data capture upgrade for WaterNSW

Updated data capturing for a network of around 4,600 IoT devices
River Dam Warragamba, NSW

River Dam Warragamba, NSW

IT services and consulting provider HCL Technologies has upgraded WaterNSW’s background infrastructure to support its water data capturing capability.

The new platform, implemented by HCL and built on Nutanix software, supports the capture of data in real-time across approximately 4,600 internet of things (IoT) measurement devices located in waterways across the state.

The captured data is then processed and utilised across a number of applications, including WaterNSW’s WaterInsights portal, which shares that data to farmers and irrigators, as well as the Bureau of Meteorology and other government organisations.

The need for the capturing of this data, according to WaterNSW CIO Ian Robinson, is vital, as he labelled the data as “critically important”.

“All our SCADA [supervisory control and data acquisition] and telemetry systems sit on the platform, which acts as the engine room for gathering all that data from the field in real-time," he said. 

“Our infrastructure allows us to move our data between the point it is captured and the output location with integrity and automation so it’s consistent and meets our customer promise.”

The upgrade of the infrastructure was sustained through a data centre refresh, which began in September 2019 and ended a year later in September 2020 as an open market procurement. 

Additionally, the state-owned corporation also considered moving all of its workloads to the cloud as part of a data centre refresh by the two companies, but going for a hybrid cloud approach instead meant WaterNSW would see additional savings of 50 per cent.

Since implementation, 400 applications from old data centres, as well as some Azure virtual machines, have been transitioned into a new on-premise environment, with a large number of these modernised to the latest Windows and SQL server versions, which prompted upgrades for many underlying applications.

The upgrades have also meant business critical applications have removed legacy system security vulnerabilities, as well as automating failover to an alternative data centre.

Prior to the upgrade, WaterNSW relied on a Dell server and SAN architecture.

Lee Thompson, managing director of Nutanix A/NZ, said WaterNSW is just one example of the data hybrid cloud model gaining in popularity throughout enterprise and government organisations.

“While some applications and data are suited to public cloud, the risk of handing others over to a third party is just too immense – particularly in the case of critical infrastructure such as water, utilities, and government services,” Thompson said.

“WaterNSW understands the incredible value of its data. Through an innovative approach to its architecture, it has retained ownership and control over its most important asset, while simultaneously having the flexibility to share it in real time with those who matter most – its customers.”