Helping a global financial services company migrate to SD-WAN

Overview

Customer service is king. Three-quarters of customers say a positive experience influences their purchasing decisions when banking¹. That’s why when one of Europe’s biggest banks asked us for help, we needed to step up and meet these demands. We needed to transform our customer’s infrastructure to provide a secure cloud experience, while offering an innovative new digital service. Agile Connect Nuage SD-WAN was a clear winner, allowing the organisation to fully embrace this technology without increasing their costs.

The challenge

Offering a range of financial services, the customer needed to restructure its architecture to help it deliver on visibility, control and security capabilities for all its branches and subsidiaries worldwide. Operating in more than 30 countries, its vast global reach meant that they needed to upgrade their networks so they could benefit from the improved performances and lower complexity that SD-WAN provides. This would also allow them to meet the needs of their customers and end-users anywhere, anytime. It would also enable them to offer innovative tools that would make customers' lives easier and enhance their ongoing experience, like mobile apps and telematics.

But the customer’s existing network couldn’t keep up with its ambitions. The organisation needed higher bandwidth to keep up with its increased digital demand. But doubling the capacity of its MPLS infrastructure would also significantly increase the cost. In addition, setting up new offices, embracing remote working and cloud connectivity is performed at a much faster pace. But MPLS has strong benefits and moving to the internet also presents security challenges – a key consideration for an industry where security and safeguarding data is paramount.

Moving to an over-the-internet connection would solve many of these problems. But the customer was facing the challenge to provide the same level of service in all countries. They also couldn’t afford to handle a network transformation like this in-house. A managed SD-WAN solution was the obvious choice.

The solution

With Agile Connect, we were able to provide the customer with the speed and scale they needed. The SD-WAN solution is built on Nokia's Nuage Networks, so it can dynamically adapt to traffic needs as they change. Despite being an internet-based solution, it's integrated into our global network. Every user is connected through a single platform. And offices and remote workers get seamless performance, wherever they are.

With Agile Connect's centralised management provided by BT, customers are better able to see and control their entire infrastructure and security. And the network is segmented too. So if a breach happens in one area, data in other areas stays protected.  To secure our global customer sites, the SD-WAN is combined with BT Managed Fortinet Firewall. This is a very cost-effective way of securing your SD-WAN by detecting malicious activity at the edge of the network, so you're protected right away. While built-in SSL decryption keeps every user safe.

The result 

As a result of deploying Agile Connect and Managed Fortinet Firewall, our customer gained simpler deployment and greater control over their network. In return, the customer has been able to enjoy higher bandwidth, greater connectivity and flexibility at lower costs.

By completely revamping the network infrastructure, not only did the customer benefit from the latest innovations but they were able to free up internal resources, allowing them to invest more in their digital transformation. Now they can benefit from a centrally managed and secure network that is agile and cost-effective. Whilst also creating opportunities to open new offices, access the cloud and foster innovation.

All without compromising their security. Sites are now managed through a single pane of glass, deployed in a standard and secure way in each location to ensure business continuity and data protection.