The Account 

This financial services software provider helps small and midsize businesses automate essential back-office work, from payments and spend management, to financial workflows and integrations. More than 7.1 million businesses and supply chain members rely on the company’s ecosystem, which supports transactions across all 50 states and more than 130 countries. 

As its business grew, so did its network. Customer sites, new offices, partner environments, and vendors were spread across the United States and as far away as Australia. As the internal IT team struggled to support an increasingly complex, distributed footprint, it didn’t have the time to develop platforms for continued international expansion. What the client needed, more than anything, was a little breathing room. 

Time is Money 

How do you keep a sprawling network dependable when it’s already stretched thin? 

A Global Operations Model (or lack thereof.) The client didn’t have dedicated, round-the-clock maintenance and support to monitor its network services. An issue in one location could affect a site, office, partner, or vendor somewhere else. 

A Growing Footprint. That was a problem because all those new sites and offices were already making it difficult to maintain network health. Some locations had pockets of poor connectivity that required special attention. 

Lean IT. But the client was already struggling to make things work with limited IT support. Every new issue being managed was time that could have been spent instead on business growth. 

Financial automation should remove friction. The client knew that to achieve its goals, it would need a managed services partner to help it modernize its network and provide dependable, global coverage. 

A Sound Investment 

This engagement aligned with three areas of AHEAD’s relevant expertise. 

• Operational Excellence: Managed network operations with 24x7x365 monitoring, event management, and incident response. 
• Secure & Resilient Architecture: Modernizing the network across switching, wireless, routing, SD-WAN, and identity. 
• Platform & Workload Modernization: Taking on day-to-day network operations for internal teams. 

The work unfolded across three phases: 

Advise 

AHEAD first met with key stakeholders to talk through the existing environment, from the network’s hardware and software, through ISP circuits, routing and switching, firewalls, and more — plus all the ways they were interconnected. AHEAD also reviewed other site concerns, especially the areas with inconsistent performance.  

The goal was to answer the most essential questions for the design: What does each device do, who needs access to it, what KPIs matter most, and how does an incident get escalated when the pressure’s on. 

Why the Groundwork Mattered: Like a true partner, AHEAD didn’t just tell the client what it wanted to hear. It was important to challenge assumptions and test the proposed direction, so the best choices were based on what the client needed to solve. 

Build 

AHEAD and Cisco then built out a multi-site network environment, complete with: 

• Switching 
• Wireless access 
• Routing and SD-WAN 
• Identity services 
• Security controls 
• Centralized network management 

It also included Cisco DNA capabilities, Meraki technologies, and wireless site surveys, all of which would make the new environment easier to operate over time.  

In addition, AHEAD stood up managed services for the network, with monitoring and event management for its assets and ISP circuits, and ServiceNow to support incident reporting and change management.  

How It Came to Life: The result was a modern, predictable network for management and maintenance. When something changed, the people in charge knew what had changed, why it mattered, and what to do about it. 

Run 

Even after the new environment and its services went live, AHEAD remains involved. Its NOC performs monitoring around the clock, working through incidents to resolve or escalate them for review. Regular performance reporting and comprehensive documentation keep things running smoothly with equipment records, runbooks, and essential KPIs available. 

How It Kept Delivering: AHEAD’s approach meant it could keep an eye on the books while the client focused on the next phase of business growth. 

In the Black 

A little less operational drama, a lot more confidence. 

Always-On Collaboration. AHEAD provides 24x7x365 network monitoring and event management through its global NOC model. It also meets regularly with stakeholders to review performance data and address areas where connectivity remains shaky.  

Visibility and Response. Managed services assets reached 100% observability and reporting. AHEAD’s balanced books also make it easier to manage the environment and respond to incidents as they occur. 

No More Unwelcome Surprises. Zero unplanned outages since go-live, and meaningful improvement in what were previously problematic pockets of network connectivity. 

A Cisco Foundation. The client now has a modernized network platform spanning switching, wireless, routing, SD-WAN, identity, and security capabilities, with AHEAD providing the operational discipline around it. 

What’s Next 

The client’s network can keep supporting growth across business units, locations, partners, and digital products. As needs have expanded, AHEAD’s coverage has expanded too, including additional network access points and managed services for remote access. Reliability is at the core of any product experience. AHEAD and Cisco make the infrastructure behind that experience visible, resilient, and easier to operate.