Sprawling Infrastructure Nightmare

Modernizing Infrastructure to Restore Stability and Compliance

A large enterprise was weighed down by an aging infrastructure of more than 280 physical servers scattered across its environment. Power, cooling, and maintenance costs were spiraling out of control, and the complexity of the sprawl left systems increasingly unstable and vulnerable. Compliance with regulatory standards such as SAS 70 and SOX was at risk, and with nearly the entire IT budget consumed by “keeping the lights on,” innovation had ground to a halt. Modernization was no longer optional—it was mission-critical for the business to stay competitive.

The Challenge

The lack of centralization also created major operational blind spots. Routine patching and updates became inconsistent, disaster recovery plans were untested, and security gaps multiplied as new vulnerabilities went unnoticed. Departments complained about slow application performance, downtime became a regular occurrence, and leadership struggled to get even the most basic visibility into system health. With regulators raising red flags and competitors investing heavily in modern, agile infrastructures, the business faced an existential risk: either modernize or fall further behind, risking fines, reputational damage, and the erosion of customer trust.

Client Testimonial

"Our infrastructure had grown into a major liability—hundreds of physical servers consuming budget, dragging down performance, and leaving us exposed on compliance. We knew the risks but didn’t have a path forward. Integratz came in with a clear modernization strategy, consolidating our server footprint and introducing virtualization that immediately cut costs and improved stability. Within months, we were not only compliant again but also operating on a foundation that is secure, efficient, and scalable. What had been an obstacle to growth is now an enabler for the business."

— VP of Infrastructure & Operations, Enterprise Client

Project Type

Infrastructure Project

Industry

Manufacturing & Distribution

Expertises

Server consolidation & virtualization
Infrastructure modernization
LAN/WAN upgrades
Storage & disaster recovery architecture
Regulatory compliance (SAS 70, SOX)
Cost optimization & TCO reduction

The Integratz Recovery

We initiated a Project Recovery program centered on a complete enterprise infrastructure overhaul. The first priority was addressing the bloated server environment. Our team led a server consolidation and virtualization initiative, carefully assessing which systems could be decommissioned, which required upgrades, and where virtualization would unlock the greatest efficiency. Through a combination of targeted equipment refreshes and a large-scale VMware deployment, the server footprint was reduced from over 280 physical servers down to 170—a dramatic reduction that immediately cut energy, cooling, and maintenance costs.

Serving as Prime Integrator, Integratz extended the recovery effort beyond servers to encompass the full network and storage architecture. We executed enterprise-wide LAN and WAN upgrades to increase bandwidth and resiliency, while deploying new Storage Area Networks (SANs) from Pillar and EMC to centralize data, improve reliability, and establish robust disaster recovery capabilities. These infrastructure improvements were designed not only to stabilize the environment but also to ensure compliance with strict regulatory requirements such as SAS 70 and SOX.

The Impact

The impact was significant. The 40% reduction in physical servers immediately lowered the company’s total cost of ownership while freeing up budget capacity for innovation. System performance improved measurably, reducing downtime and accelerating application response times across the enterprise. The new SAN architecture strengthened backup and recovery processes, closing critical compliance gaps and giving leadership confidence in the resilience of their IT operations.

Most importantly, the modernization created a scalable and secure foundation to support the company’s most critical business applications, including Great Plains, Filenet, and numerous in-house developed systems. What had once been a sprawling, fragile infrastructure was transformed into a streamlined, compliant, and cost-effective environment—an enabler of growth instead of a barrier to it.