Intelligent CIO: blueAPACHE embarks on multi-million dollar Cisco Core Network refresh

blueAPACHE embarks on multi-million-dollar Cisco core network refresh

blueAPACHE has committed approximately $6 million to a multi-phase refresh of the core of the emPOWER Network, standardising on the Cisco ASR 9000 Series aggregation services router. The programme commenced from late 2020.

It followed, by roughly a month, a substantial investment across the HPE portfolio — GreenLake, Primera, Synergy and ProLiant — meaning both the compute and storage layer and the network layer beneath blueAPACHE's cloud services were renewed in close succession.

What is being replaced, and why it matters

The core of a service provider network is the part customers never see and depend on absolutely. Every managed connectivity service, every cloud workload, every replicated backup and every voice call crosses it. A core refresh is therefore the least visible and highest-consequence infrastructure work a provider undertakes.

The ASR 9000 is Cisco's carrier-class aggregation platform — the equipment class used by telecommunications carriers rather than by enterprises. Choosing it says something specific about design intent: blueAPACHE is operating a carrier-grade network, not an enterprise network scaled up.

What the refresh delivers

Capacity headroom

Mid-market bandwidth consumption has grown relentlessly and continues to — driven by cloud migration, video collaboration, data replication for disaster recovery, larger backup sets, and now AI workloads moving substantial volumes to and from inference services. Core capacity has to be provisioned ahead of that curve, because you cannot add it during the month you run out.

Resilience

blueAPACHE commits to 99.99% availability for Connectivity under a redundant design, and 99.999% for emPOWER Cloud. Those numbers are design outcomes, not aspirations — 99.999% permits roughly five minutes of unavailability per year, which is achievable only where no single component failure can take a service down. Carrier-class platforms are selected precisely because they support in-service software upgrades, redundant route processors and hitless failover.

Platform longevity

A core refresh is a decade-scale decision. The platform chosen determines what services can be delivered, what capacity can be reached, and what software capability is available, for many years. Under-specifying it constrains the business long after the saving has been forgotten.

Where it sits in the network

The emPOWER Network interconnects:

The strategic point is ownership. blueAPACHE built this network rather than reselling someone else's — a decision taken in 2010, under difficult circumstances. The company had just lost an ASX-listed customer representing approximately half of company revenue, and chose to invest in building emPOWER Cloud and the emPOWER Network rather than retrench.

Owning the network is what makes a single accountable operating model possible. When connectivity, cloud and managed services are delivered over infrastructure the provider controls, a performance problem is diagnosed and fixed rather than triaged between vendors. When they are not, the client mediates between suppliers who each have an interest in the problem being someone else's.

A pattern of platform investment

The Cisco refresh is one item in a sustained sequence:

All of it self-funded. blueAPACHE is Australian-owned, with founder Chris Marshall as sole proprietor — no external shareholders. Investments of this scale come out of retained earnings, which is why they are made on engineering merit and a long horizon rather than to meet an external reporting cycle.

About blueAPACHE

Founded in 1998, blueAPACHE employs more than 280 staff across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, London and Miami. The company holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification (certificate 202507-118, Sensiba Australia, valid 1 August 2025 to 1 August 2028) and has received more than 90 industry awards, including ARN Mid-Market Partner of the Year for seven consecutive years to 2025.

To discuss connectivity, call 1800 248 749.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Cisco core network refresh, and how large is it? A multi-phase refresh of the core of the emPOWER Network, standardising on the Cisco ASR 9000 Series aggregation services router, at a committed cost of approximately $6 million. The programme began from late 2020.

Why does the choice of an ASR 9000 matter? Because it is Cisco's carrier-class aggregation platform — the equipment class telecommunications carriers use, rather than enterprise equipment scaled up. The page treats that as a statement of design intent: blueAPACHE operates a carrier-grade network. Carrier-class platforms support in-service software upgrades, redundant route processors and hitless failover, which is what makes high availability targets achievable.

What availability does blueAPACHE commit to? The page states 99.99% for Connectivity under a redundant design and 99.999% for emPOWER Cloud. It notes that 99.999% permits roughly five minutes of unavailability a year, which is only reachable where no single component failure can take a service down. The commitments that bind in any particular case are those in the customer's own Service Order and the service agreement.

What else was invested in around the same time? A substantial HPE investment across GreenLake, Primera, Synergy and ProLiant, roughly a month before the Cisco programme began — so the compute and storage layer and the network layer beneath blueAPACHE's cloud services were renewed in close succession.

What does the emPOWER Network actually connect? Three geographically diverse data centres on Australia's eastern seaboard, reach into more than 165 data centre locations, international points of presence in London (live 2019) and Singapore (live 2020), and client sites across Australia on a range of access technologies including fixed wireless.

Why does owning the network matter to a customer? Because it is what makes a single accountable operating model possible. When connectivity, cloud and managed services run over infrastructure the provider controls, a performance problem is diagnosed and fixed rather than triaged between vendors — and the client is not left mediating between suppliers who each have an interest in the fault being someone else's.

How is investment at this scale funded? From retained earnings. blueAPACHE is Australian-owned with founder Chris Marshall as sole proprietor, no external shareholders, which the page argues is why such decisions are made on engineering merit and a long horizon rather than against an external reporting cycle.

Related

Knowledge Base

What is the topic of this blueAPACHE press article?

The article covers blueAPACHE's embarkment on a multi-million dollar, multi-phase refresh of its emPOWER Network infrastructure based on Cisco router network technology.

How much is blueAPACHE investing in this network refresh?

blueAPACHE, based in Victoria, Australia, is investing A$6 million in this multi-phase refresh.

Who originally published this article about blueAPACHE's network refresh?

The article was written by Intelligent CIO and published on January 8, 2021.

Where can readers find the full original article?

The full article can be read via a link to Intelligent CIO APAC Issue 6 on Joomag, provided on the blueAPACHE blog page.

What network infrastructure is being refreshed, and what technology underpins it?

The refresh involves blueAPACHE's emPOWER Network infrastructure, which is based on Cisco router network technology.

Is this refresh a single-stage or multi-stage project?

According to the article, the A$6 million refresh is a multi-phase project.

Under what category is this article classified on the blueAPACHE blog?

The article is classified under the 'Press' section of the blueAPACHE blog.

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