Replacing Legacy MPLS with a Scalable, High-Performance Network Architecture for a Financial Institution

Client Overview

The Challenge

A financial services organization in the southeastern United States relied on a highly sophisticated but expensive legacy network environment built on MPLS connectivity. While the network had historically delivered reliability, the organization was paying a significant premium—and that confidence was undermined by a major service outage.

Network reliability and scalability were mission-critical. Leadership needed to reassess its architecture to ensure performance, resilience, and future growth, while reducing long-term cost and increasing visibility across the environment.

Norstar’s Advisory Role

Norstar engaged directly with the CIO to guide a structured evaluation of alternative network architectures and providers.

Advisory support included:

  • Assessment of current network architecture, usage patterns, and risk exposure
  • Evaluation of existing and future bandwidth requirements across:
    • On-premise compute applications
    • Cloud-based SaaS platforms
    • Security and compliance needs
  • Exploration of alternatives, including IPVPN, SD-WAN, and SASE architectures
  • Facilitation of multiple vendor working sessions to assess:
    • Network architecture and design
    • Security and compliance controls
    • Reliability, scalability, and manageability
    • Application-layer performance and support

Guidance through provider selection based on performance, flexibility, and long-term fit

The Outcome

  • Replacement of the legacy MPLS network with a modern SASE-based architecture
  • 500% increase in available bandwidth across the organization
  • 30% reduction in network costs
  • Significant performance improvements across all sites
  • New levels of management visibility that were not possible with the prior network provider
  • Ability to blend multiple carrier strategies, combining bring-your-own-bandwidth with provider-delivered services
  • Creation of diverse, redundant connectivity at all 17 locations, at a lower overall cost than the legacy environment

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