Every acquisition shouldn't trigger another network redesign. See how one company standardized connectivity and security without ripping out what still worked.
Building a Repeatable Network and Security Model for Acquisition-Led Growth Business Challenges A Fortune 200 North American infrastructure services company had grown through years of acquisition, leaving each operating business with its own mix of network providers, inherited infrastructure, VPNs, security controls and ways of working. As the portfolio expanded, integrating each new business effectively became a separate project, making it harder to connect operating companies to corporate infrastructure, shared services and cloud- hosted applications in a consistent way. The company needed a repeatable integration model that could connect new operating companies into the wider enterprise without redesigning the network and security architecture each time, while preserving appropriate elements of their existing local connectivity. Acquisition-Driven Complexity Each acquired business introduced its own combination of network providers, inherited infrastructure, VPNs and security controls, requiring IT teams to work through different technical dependencies, third-party arrangements, security requirements and operational processes with every new acquisition. A Shared Services Ambition Without a Scalable Network Model The organization wanted to move toward a corporate IT shared services model, where acquired operating companies could access ERP and other core systems through a common enterprise network rather than relying on individually designed connectivity back to shared resources. Operational Complexity at Scale As the number of operating companies grew, the cumulative burden of supporting different providers, configurations and processes increased. Troubleshooting, change management and ongoing support depended on knowledge of each individual environment, making the estate harder to manage consistently over time. Consistent Access Across Operating Companies As the portfolio expanded geographically, the company needed to maintain consistent security controls for communication between operating businesses participating in shared services. Relying on two centralized U.S. data center locations for secure inter-company traffic became increasingly difficult to scale as the organization grew. globalgig.com | 1 Globalgig Case Study
The Solution Globalgig worked with the customer to establish a repeatable network and security model that could support acquisition-led growth, shared services and future cloud expansion. The engagement began with executive architecture workshops, followed by hands-on technical evaluation and a three-year TCO analysis comparing cloud-native and cloud-independent approaches. This gave the customer a clear technical and financial basis for selecting the architecture, which Globalgig then turned into a deployable standard for current and future operating companies. • A three-year total cost of ownership analysis compared cloud- native versus cloud-independent networking, native firewalls and Palo Alto Networks VM-Series, and cloud-provider routing and Cloud Connect, giving the customer a clear technical and financial basis for selecting the architecture. • Using the customer’s existing Cisco environment, Globalgig designed and deployed a standardized SD-WAN model that allowed each operating company to retain its local connectivity while joining a consistent enterprise network, replacing the ad hoc VPN connections previously used to integrate acquisitions. The SD-WAN fabric’s any-to-any capability also supports partial-mesh connectivity where needed, including workflows such as sharing large CAD and design files between offices. • Globalgig deployed Palo Alto Networks VM-Series across Azure, AWS and OCI, adapting the design to each platform, and established Cloud Connect as a common private routing model for inter-cloud and egress traffic. Strata Cloud Manager lets the customer apply one security policy across all three. • The architecture deliberately retained the customer’s existing branch security service, introducing VM-Series only where additional control was required. This avoided the cost and complexity of deploying new firewalls at every location while preserving the investments that still met the customer’s needs. • Globalgig created a detailed, as-built design showing how the operating companies, corporate infrastructure, cloud environments, routing and security controls fit together. Maintained as a living document throughout deployment, it gives the customer a reliable reference for support, troubleshooting and future changes, reducing guesswork and reliance on knowledge held by individual engineers. Key Solution Components: globalgig.com | 2 Globalgig Case Study
The customer now has a scalable network and security model that can support future acquisitions, workload migrations and cloud expansion without requiring a new architecture each time the business changes. The standardized approach reduces the number of policy models and configurations the team has to maintain, lowers the risk of controls drifting between environments, and gives engineers a more consistent foundation to support and expand. The Result Common Networking Standard The customer now has a defined architecture for connecting operating companies, cloud environments and shared services, replacing an approach that had previously been designed separately for each business. Repeatable Acquisition Onboarding The SD-WAN overlay provides a repeatable way to connect acquired companies while retaining appropriate elements of their existing local infrastructure. Consistent Security Across Clouds A common firewall policy can now be applied across Azure, AWS and OCI through Strata Cloud Manager, reducing the need for separate cloud-specific policies and lowering the risk of gaps, duplication and configuration drift. Lower Cloud Connectivity Costs By routing cloud-to-cloud and cloud egress traffic through dedicated connectivity rather than internet- based paths, the model was projected to reduce AWS and Azure egress costs by approximately 50% while creating a more predictable cost structure for inter-cloud traffic. Reduced Infrastructure Footprint The selected design reduced the SD-WAN deployment model from as many as six virtual appliances per region to two larger appliances, simplifying the architecture while maintaining connectivity across Azure, AWS and OCI. Reduced Operational Guesswork The maintained as-built design gives internal teams and support engineers a shared reference for troubleshooting, change planning and future expansion, reducing reliance on knowledge held by individual engineers. Built to Scale The architecture provides a foundation for introducing east- west inspection, consolidating remote access and expanding into Prisma SASE without redesigning the underlying network. Cloud Migration Enabled The architecture provided the network and security foundation required to migrate critical JD Edwards workloads from the company’s legacy data centres into OCI. globalgig.com | 3 Globalgig Case Study
For a company that grows through acquisition, network complexity is not just an operational problem. Every one-off integration adds time, effort and risk, increasing the potential for inconsistent configurations and security controls as newly acquired businesses are connected into shared services. Globalgig replaced that approach with a repeatable standard: a common network architecture for integrating acquisitions, a consistent security policy model across three clouds, and a shared connectivity model for supporting multi-cloud connectivity and workload migration. That same foundation now supports the next phase of the customer’s strategy, including east-west inspection, remote access consolidation and expansion into Prisma SASE, without requiring another redesign of the underlying network. Globalgig managed the engagement from financial and technical evaluation through design, deployment and cutover, giving the customer a single point of accountability across networking, security and cloud. Conclusion One of North America’s largest infrastructure services companies, supporting the electric power, renewable energy, communications, pipeline and utility industries. Built through years of acquisition, the organization operates a portfolio of regional operating companies across North America, each with unique infrastructure, networking standards and IT requirements. Infrastructure Services Leader CUSTOMER PROFILE globalgig.com | 4 Globalgig Case Study