Network Infrastructure Redesign and Refresh After Years of Significant Acquisitions and Mergers

The Challenge: Network Infrastructure Redesign Required for Operational Continuity and Security Following Acquisitions

A global manufacturing conglomerate required a redesign of their network infrastructure supporting an expanding company with operations worldwide. This need was underscored by the fact that the company had completed multiple acquisitions and mergers since their last refresh, causing data and security requirements to fall out of synch and networks to become non-standard. Network and data security were paramount to the client’s operations and environment, with production and executive spaces requiring zero downtime.

The Solution: Conducting Current State Assessment and Redesign Across a Complex Global Network

The client engaged Judge Consulting to review the current state and configurations of business and operational networks as a first step. Judge collaborated with key stakeholders, including site leaders, operational leads, and business managers, conducting a technical assessment to inform their recommendations for new design standards, global best practices, and network optimization for future needs.

After aligning recommendations with leadership, Judge worked with the client to upgrade and implement the recommendations from the current state analysis. The network redesign recommendations included a redesign of Local Area Network (LAN), Wide Area Network (WAN), and Wireless infrastructure utilizing prominent vendor equipment such a Cisco Catalyst Switch, Cisco Viptela SD-WAN, Cisco Catalyst, and Cisco Meraki wireless components to provide stable and resilient network infrastructure. Updates also included a security refresh around Fortinet to drive secure configuration and standards across business units, operations, and executive level network environments.

The Result: A Network Infrastructure Redesign with a Focus on Security, Stability, and Reliability

Turning to Judge as a trusted partner allowed for an updated infrastructure across the organization. By implementing changes in the realm of Firewall Management, Firmware Upgrades and Policy Modification, the client was able to bring their systems up to date, aligning policies to work for all organizational acquisitions added over the years. Judge delivered the network redesign in budget and on time, while ensuring business connectivity and continuity for zero impact on executive and day-to-day operations. These updates and network redesigns coupled with Judge’s recommended best practices, provided the network infrastructure the organization needed with an emphasis on data integrity and security.