SD WAN Rollout Implementation

SD-WAN rollout / implementation

Initial situation:

A global pharmaceutical company with over 300 locations previously only had five central Internet breakouts. All locations were connected via expensive MPLS lines, which led to high monthly costs and performance challenges, especially when moving to the public cloud. To solve these problems, SD-WAN was to be rolled out globally and consistently.

Our approach:

qedcon provided several consultants for project, rollout and migration management. We assisted the company in selecting the required lines, placing orders with the service provider and providing support in contract negotiations. We tracked the delivery of the required hardware and cables to the individual locations worldwide and in some cases also on site, and prepared them for migration.

In addition, we managed the external service provider in India who was responsible for the technical implementation in the company's network (CISCO switches, routers, network routes, firewall, etc.). We took over the coordination, created the necessary change requests in accordance with the company's ITSM processes as well as regular status reports and took over the risk management including the corresponding reports, as well as the communication with the management up to C-level.

Challenges and dependencies:

During implementation, we not only had to overcome numerous regulatory challenges in China and Russia, but also support the necessary hardware refresh of the CISCO switches at many locations.

Comprehensive project planning and implementation:

The successful implementation of SD-WAN in a large and complex environment required detailed project planning and execution. Our experienced project and rollout managers developed a granular project structure and timeline that covered all aspects of the implementation.

We worked closely with the local IT teams and key users at the various locations to ensure that all requirements were met and that the implementation ran smoothly. Our project managers held regular status meetings with the management to present the progress of the project and to identify and resolve potential problems at an early stage.

Implementation:

Within two years, all locations were successfully migrated to SD-WAN. Most sites now use Internet connections and also have local Internet breakouts via Zscaler. This has resulted in considerable cost savings as well as a significant increase in Internet performance.

Conclusion:

Thanks to the expertise and commitment of qedcon GmbH, our customer was able to successfully implement the SD-WAN rollout and the migration of all locations within two years. Thanks to the successful implementation of the project, the company was not only able to save costs, but also improve performance and create the necessary conditions for a move to the cloud. The numerous challenges and dependencies in the ongoing project were successfully mastered by our project managers, ensuring a smooth implementation and the achievement of all project goals.

Initial situation:

IT Sourcing

IT transformation

Project management

At qedcon, we create value and drive change!

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