The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) works to protect the UK’s people, territories, values and interests at home and overseas, across the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force. Cisco technology underpins some of the most secure and demanding operational environments in the world, including critical infrastructure aboard aircraft carriers deployed across the globe.
The challenge
The MoD needed to increase capacity across seven datacentres based on aircraft carriers operating worldwide. The existing platform relied on Cisco technology that had reached end of sale, meaning like-for-like replacements could no longer be sourced directly from Cisco.
- Hard to source parts - end-of-sale status meant Cisco could not supply new like-for-like components. A standard refresh would have required a full refit with new hardware at significant cost.
- Minimal disruption required - taking carriers out of active service for a full hardware refit was operationally unacceptable. The solution had to preserve mission readiness throughout.
What we did
Working in close collaboration with the MoD from the outset, Cistor analysed the network requirements in depth. Using specialist knowledge of the used Cisco market and Cistor’s Cisco Circular Economy Partner status, the team sourced the end-of-life components needed, returned them to Cisco for remanufacturing, and delivered a resilient solution blending new, remanufactured and reused technology.
- Cisco Circular Economy Partner status allowed end-of-life components to be returned to Cisco for remanufacturing, ensuring all hardware met Cisco Refresh standards before deployment.
- Specialist EOL sourcing - deep knowledge of the used Cisco market enabled Cistor to locate the specific end-of-life parts that Cisco itself could no longer supply directly.
- Cisco Refresh remanufacturing met the performance and reliability standards required for operational military infrastructure.
- Direct port delivery - completed hardware was distributed to the nearest port to each of the seven carriers, ready to be moved on board for installation with minimal operational downtime.
The results
Instead of a costly and time-consuming full hardware refresh, Cistor extended the lifespan of the MoD’s existing Cisco platform across all seven aircraft carriers by a further five years, with mission readiness maintained throughout and zero disruption. 1.8 tonnes of e-waste was avoided in the process.
This is a summary of a published Cistor case study.
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