The Value of the MSP to Big Business
When two Fortune 500 companies merge, it’s both exciting and daunting. In this case we’re talking about two global giants with a combined footprint totaling a few thousand locations. Each having their own established teams, processes, networks, and vendors, it’s a tall order to construct the joint path forward. And while all that is being sorted, the business still needs to operate and key initiatives need to be implemented. In this case, an SD-WAN deployment. This is the story from s2s’ perspective, serving as the long-term Managed Service Provider (MSP) to one of the companies.
Consolidating the Footprint
Due to the size of each company, there was overlap of physical presence in certain regions. As such, one of the first initiatives was to consolidate branches. This meant the closing and combining of locations. The network teams were feeling the pain of lack of communication and lack of notice from their planning and real estate teams. This resulted in an even heavier reliance on s2s as their MSP/ISP aggregator. Key areas of support s2s provided were:
- Verification of existing service and terms
- Cancellation of internet service at closed locations (removal from billing and return of equipment)
- Migration of existing connectivity into management
- Installation of new internet service, on a term that was comfortable for the business
- Real-time update of location and circuit inventory to reflect all MACD activity
Essentially, we were the team who kept everything organized and current, so they always knew (1) what was happening and (2) what they had where.
SD-WAN Deployment
In addition to sorting the footprint, the networks needed to be merged. Hence the SD-WAN deployment, involving a refresh of network equipment across the combined footprint and installation of redundant failover connectivity. The latter is where we provided support. Taking into consideration the last mile provider of the primary MPLS connections, our team delivered redundant broadband or dedicated internet access (DIA). This is when things became a bit hairy for their network teams. With so much going on, it was challenging for them to keep everything straight. Our team solved that issue by tracking everything for them, in a single, real-time status report. This way they always had access to the details of the internet service checks, orders and installations across the project list.
Managing the Chaos
As if there wasn’t enough going on, there was another variable in the mix – some of the locations were accustomed to procuring their own internet. This would only surface once it came time to install the SD-WAN equipment. Either the equipment wouldn’t connect based on the IP details provided by our team or there was confusion as to which connection to connect to. That’s where our team came in, we:
- Confirmed the correct connection
- Updated and maintained the circuit inventory
In short, we made sure the SD-WAN equipment was connected to the correct ISP connection AND that our customer was not paying for a duplicate, unnecessary connection.
Long story short, we handled everything ISP-related so there was less headache on their plates.
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