Aligned Energy LLC, a US-based colocation/data center provider, approached Ticvic with concerns regarding the uptime and performance of their SaaS-based applications, expansion plans to multiple locations, challenges in obtaining WAN links for remote locations, vendor dependency during the transition, and the need to ensure uninterrupted critical business application operations.
Synopsis:
In order to address their problems, improve their network infrastructure, and support their expansion objectives, Aligned Energy looked for validation and solutions. They want to increase SaaS application uptime and performance, provide scalability for future expansion, get around WAN connectivity issues, manage vendor dependencies, and guarantee continuous business operations throughout the shift.
Key Challenges:
The main issues that Aligned Energy had to deal with during the MPLS to SD-WAN migration were ensuring a smooth transition and compatibility with existing infrastructure, dealing with complex network design specifications, managing vendor dependencies, preserving business continuity, and enhancing application performance across numerous locations while minimising potential risks and downtime.
Service Offered:
Ticvic conducted numerous workshops with the IT and business teams at Aligned Energy to better understand their expansion goals and present difficulties. On the basis of architecture documents and interviews, they examined network and security designs, acquired configuration and usage statistics, and suggested substitutes for hardware without management ports or remote management capabilities. Through weekly meetings, Ticvic also regularly updated the CIO on progress and discoveries.
Key Benefits:
- Ticvic found 238 original findings and offered solutions to help Aligned Energy achieve its goals.
- The opex was reduced by about USD 4.14 million annually by a consolidated Silver Peak SD-WAN architecture.
- SD-WAN technology cut the time it took to deploy a new location by four weeks.
- 120 SD-WAN policies were enhanced to enhance application performance.
- Solutions to improve uptime, performance, and quantifiable metrics have been applied.
- Profound WAN optimisation results in SaaS-based application performance enhancements.
- Cost savings of 60 to 80 percent on MPLS monthly costs.
- Management is made easier thanks to a single-pane view of the network architecture.
Quantitative Results:
The company’s strategic initiatives delivered remarkable results, transforming operations and enhancing the customer experience. It saved USD 4.4 million in OPEX annually, achieved 98% uptime, streamlined 80% of network security policies, reduced new site deployment time by 50%, implemented an energy-efficient infrastructure with a 20% power consumption reduction, and improved service quality by decreasing average response time by 30%.
Qualitative Impact:
SD-WAN implementation at Aligned Energy brought significant benefits, including improved application performance, increased network flexibility, simplified management, enhanced scalability, and vendor independence, leading to potential cost savings.
Tools and Technologies:
Tools and technologies used in SD-WAN implementations include controllers for centralized management, virtualized network functions (VNFs) for routing and security, QoS mechanisms for prioritizing critical applications, traffic analysis tools for monitoring and identifying patterns, encryption and security features, and network monitoring and management tools.
