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In November 2022, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team announced its partnership with Cato Networks, declaring Cato the team’s official SASE partner. Cato Networks provides the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team with the connectivity and security they need to deliver superior on-track performance during the races.
According to Thomas Eue, Lead IT Product Manager of the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team, “Cato is a real game changer for us. I would absolutely recommend Cato to other enterprises because it’s really simple to set up and the network is really getting faster now.”
In this blog post, we examine the challenges the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team was dealing with before using SASE, why they chose Cato and how Cato’s SASE solution helps the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team win races. You can read the entire case study this blog post is based on here.
The Challenge: Real-Time Data Transmission at Scale
During the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship races, the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team relies on insights and instructions delivered in real-time to drivers from the team’s headquarters in Germany. These instructions are derived from live racing data, like tire temperature, battery depletion, timing data and videos of the driver. The accuracy and reliability of this process is critical to the team’s success.
However, it was challenging for the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team to transmit live TV feeds, live intercom services and live communication across several different channels, since they were only provided 50Mbps of bandwidth.
In addition, the nature of the races requires the team to travel to each new racing site before each competition and set up the network. According to Friedemann Kurz, Head of IT at Porsche Motorsport, this is challenging because “Technologically we are not a hundred percent sure on what’s awaiting us in the different countries. So especially the latency of course by the pure physics, it’s changing a lot between countries.”
Simplicity at Speed: How Cato’s SASE Drives the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s Racing | Watch the WebinarThe TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team’s Choice: Cato Networks’ SASE
The TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team chose Cato’s SASE, turning it into a cornerstone of their racing strategy. Cato’s global and optimized SASE solution connects the drivers, the garage and the HQ with a high-performing infrastructure. During the races, vital data is transmitted across Cato’s global private backbone for real-time analysis at the HQ and back to the drivers and on-site teams to boost driving performance.
According to Friedemann Kurz, Head of IT at Porsche Motorsport, “Cato Networks will allow us to focus on the critical decisions that make a difference on-track by lessening the administrative work to set up and manage our IT network infrastructure. Using the Cato SASE Cloud, we’re able to have the reliable and secure connectivity we need to have anywhere around the world, whether at a racetrack, during travel or at the research and development center in Weissach, the home of Porsche Motorsport.”
Cato Networks also ensures the connection is secure. “We have the most secure connection wherever we are – between all the racetracks, cloud applications and Porsche Motorsport in Weissach,” says Carlo Wiggers, Director of Team Management and Business Relations at Porsche Motorsport
To answer the deployment challenges, Cato Networks enables setting up a site in a mere five hours. “We are very well prepared and confident, as soon as the engineers arrive the services are ready to run,” comments Friedemann Kurz, Head of IT at Porsche Motorsport.
A Streamlined and High-Performing Solution
With Cato Networks’ technology, the team’s IT engineers and the Motorsport IT department, are reliably transmitting data in real-time. The HQ team, in turn, is able to analyze the data and make informed decisions instantly.
- In the first week of usage, the team transferred more than 1.2 TB of data.
- In the Cape Town race, for example:
- 1.45 TB of data were transmitted.
- The round-trip-time from the race track to the HQ was stable at 80-100 milliseconds.
- Packet loss was only 0.23% over the whole event.
“Every enterprise that has any similarity with what we are doing, acting worldwide, having various branches around the world can definitely benefit on all the solutions that Cato is providing,” concludes Friedemann Kurz, Head of IT at Porsche Motorsport
Learn more about the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, how the TAG Heuer Porsche Formula E Team leverages Cato’s SASE and the joint values the two teams share by reading the complete case study, here.
Eyal Webber Zvik
Eyal Webber-Zvik is Cato’s Vice President of Product Marketing. In his role, Eyal manages a global team of product marketing directors that are tasked driving the company's messaging, position, press and media relations, and more. Previously, Eyal ran Cato's product management organization, translating Cato's SASE vision into a global, successful cloud service. Throughout his years at Cato Networks, Eyal has been involved in dozens of SASE projects across various enterprises and markets. Eyal has more than 20 years of ICT experience in engineering, product management and product marketing.