When a national retailer and manufacturer set out to modernize its wide area network, the goals were clear. Lower costs, simplify management, and make the network more reliable across every store and plant, without disrupting round-the-clock operations.
The company has more than 4,000 employees, 100+ retail locations and 18 manufacturing facilities. Fiber Solution Consulting helped it overhaul its WAN infrastructure. The result was substantial savings, streamlined network management and more reliable service.
The Challenge: High Costs, Limited Visibility and a Complex Rollout
The client’s existing network was costly and hard to manage. Billing visibility was limited, and billing was tracked manually in Excel, which consumed significant staff time every week. It was difficult to see where money was going, let alone control it.
Reliability was also a concern. With retail and manufacturing operations running around the clock, the client needed carrier redundancy with diverse and tertiary connection options, and the existing setup lacked those diverse paths.
Any change also had to be carefully managed. Past circuit installations had suffered from circuit fallout and construction delays. With dozens of locations to migrate, the client needed:
- A clear deployment and migration strategy for new circuits
- Flexible deployment schedules that worked around store and plant operations
- On-site support during deployment
- Circuits installed within a set window to limit double billing during the transition
The Approach: One Platform, One Partner, Full Lifecycle Support
Fiber Solution worked with the client to define four core objectives: cost savings, a single plaform to manage everything, a strategy for deployment and migration, and installs timed to avoid paying for old and new services at the same time.
A Single-Vendor Managed I Solution
With those priorities set, we designed a single-platform solution that combined managed ITSM, security and connectivity. Consolidating under one provider gave the client:
- One platform for the entire lifecycle, from design and deployment to advanced monitoring, ticketing and custom NOC response
- Dedicated 24/7 engineer support for round-the-clock retail and manufacturing operations
- A simpler deployment process for short-term and new site rollouts
- Optimized network connectivity with the redundancy and diverse paths the business needed
- Competitive pricing through a single, consolidated agreement
A Structured Deployment Plan
Just as important was how the rollout was managed. We built a deployment strategy for circuits, coordinated flexible schedules, and provided on-site support, so each location could move over with minimal disruption and limited double billing.
The Outcome: More Than 30% in Monthly Savings and Hours Back Every Week
The project delivered on every objective.
More Than 30% Monthly Savings
Cutting costs was the main goal of the project, and the client’s savings reached more than 30% of its monthly spend.
Nearly 30 Hours Saved Every Week
Moving away from the previous WAN provider, and its Excel-based billing process, saved employees nearly 30 hours a week.
Unified Network Management
The client now uses a single service management platform that brings analytics, billing, circuit inventory, monitoring, support and ticket management together in one place.
A Smoother Rollout
The structured deployment plan resulted in minimal circuit fallout and major construction savings.
Fiber Solution’s Impact
Network overhauls across many locations often force a choice between cost, speed and reliability. There’s also a real risk of overlapping bills, missed install dates and construction surprises along the way. This engagement shows that with clear objectives, the right single-vendor partner and a disciplined deployment plan, you can have all three.
By consolidating onto one partner with managed ITSM, security and connectivity, the client lowered its monthly costs, gained full visibility into its services, and freed up time that had been spent on manual billing. It also gained a more resilient network and a single point of accountability for design, deployment and ongoing support.
Ready to Take Control of Your Network Costs?
Fiber Solution Consulting helps multi-location organizations simplify complex network decisions across connectivity, SD-WAN, security and cloud. With vendor-agnostic guidance and a structured, requirements-first approach, we support you from discovery and solution design through procurement, deployment and beyond.
If you’re managing rising costs, limited billing visibility or a network spread across many locations, contact us today.
