Streamlining Processes with Automation and Network Discovery for a Global Financial Market

Global financial services firms often turn to mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to combat complex macroeconomic conditions, conquer increased digital competition, and transform how they do business with increasingly digitally savvy customers.

But corporate M&A is a high-stakes, high-reward environment in which even the smallest setback can hinder success.

One of the world's leading global financial market infrastructure and data firms experienced such headwinds firsthand after a multi-billion acquisition of another data and trading company stalled due to integration challenges.

Challenge

Through prior acquisitions, this global financial firm found itself with multiple strategic data centers around the globe — each with its own monitoring software — and its teams had to manually investigate which old devices were still useful and which were not.

In the previous year, the firm implemented a software-defined networking (SDN) solution, which allowed them to gain programmatic access to its network devices that modernized network management and control. However, the solution lacked the intelligence needed for its IT teams to make decisions about decommissioning devices. Also, no infrastructure monitoring tools were in place, so the status of individual devices was not always clear, which created conflicting data.

The SDN solution was an important step towards modernizing the firm's legacy infrastructure, but the client still needed a good way to track the progress of legacy device migration to save money and power.

Solution

WWT designed a solution framework in our Advanced Technology Center (ATC) that leveraged the client's own equipment to help push the strategy forward:

We started with a small zero-touch provisioning proof of concept (POC) that helped establish visibility around the firm's applications, systems and infrastructure.
We developed an automated data-driven solution that could accurately identify the status of compute, network and storage devices, and classify them correctly, which aids the lifecycle management of these devices.
Then our software developers wrote a logic-based code to determine if devices were eligible for renewal, decommission or investigation. This involved developing a Python decision engine to perform data modeling and processing that provided a sole source of truth for accurate device statuses.

Benefits and results

The collaboration between the firm and WWT resulted in the successful modernization of legacy infrastructure and the achievement of key objectives, including:

Cost savings and efficiencies: We scoured data sources to identify and decommission unused devices, which drove more than $1.5 million in cost savings.
Accelerated sustainability initiatives: We reduced the client's infrastructure footprint by removing redundant equipment, while a reduction in power and cooling usage contributed toward the client's sustainability goals. The removal of more than 1,600 devices lead to a significant reduction in the firm's operational carbon footprint.
Dashboard enabling analytics: A new data visualization dashboard tool was created providing valuable data insights into infrastructure device trends, performance and hardware.
Increased data confidence: We normalized data from multiple sources and aggregated it into a single source of truth the firm could use to populate a data visualization dashboard. More than 2,000 device records were cleansed in the client's configuration management database (CMDB), and 2,100 more were flagged for investigation.

By leveraging WWT's automation framework, the client realized substantial cost reductions, increased operational efficiencies and enhanced data-driven decision-making capabilities.

By accurately decommissioning devices and developing a reliable data source, our supply chain solution helped the client enhance visibility, increase data confidence and provide superior service to customers worldwide. This partnership has not only delivered immediate savings but it has given the firm a future-ready foundation to compete on for years to come in a globally competitive financial services market.

How we did it

With more than 30 years of experience helping the world's largest companies and government entities solve their technology challenges, we've learned that digital transformation and IT modernization thrive in the space between:

Our deep domain expertise cuts across business and technology. And our ability to extensively test solutions and deploy them at scale allows us to both advise and execute to create new realities for our clients.

Here's how we did it:

We started with cross-functional collaboration

We partnered with key teams within the client's organization, such as network engineering, finance, cost optimization and sustainability. This enabled our teams to work closely with the client by understanding key pain points, prioritizing use cases and outlining a high-level roadmap to achieve desired outcomes.

We designed a scalable architecture model

After familiarizing ourselves with the client's data governance and maturity, our data science and automation experts designed a scalable architecture that collected, aggregated and normalized data from multiple sources into a single source that populates a data visualization dashboard filled with trends and actionable insights.

The solution, which worked across the firm's entire device estate, allows them to break down historical siloes and incorporate key insights from various stakeholder groups to collectively drive business objectives.

We delivered a user-friendly analytics tool

We delivered a data visualization trends and insights dashboard that tracks infrastructure utilization trends, performance and hardware.

Areas of expertise involved from WWT

Transformation isn't simply a technology decision. Such undertakings demand the right mix of technology, people, capabilities and areas of expertise — all of which WWT can provide, from strategy development through project execution. Areas of consulting and technical expertise tapped in this engagement include:

How we can help you

Our comprehensive services portfolio is designed to help at every stage of the journey to digital transformation. From idea to outcome, you won't find another technology partner who combines strategic consulting expertise with the ability to seamlessly execute complex IT deployments worldwide:

Combine the insights of a traditional consulting firm with the ability to execute complex infrastructure solutions at scale globally.
Work collaboratively to find the optimal way to develop high-quality, easy-to-use software that delivers value early and often.
Cut your POC time from months to weeks, if not days, by leveraging the ATC's testing and automation infrastructure.
Accelerate the planning, design and implementation of complex technology investments at scale around the world.