Resourcive was introduced to enterprise CTO and Procurement team from leading PE firm in April 2021 to support their efforts and completion of rearchitected network following a failing 2.5yr SD-WAN deployment by a network aggregator (only 30% installed). The company’s post-bankruptcy strategy centered around digitally transforming the in-store experience for both customers and in-store associates to breathe new life into the brand, accelerate sales cycles and create an interactive, dynamic experience for people in their 550+ retail locations across North America.
Network ($2.1M/yr savings)
Foundational to this strategy, and the layers of transformation necessary to execute on the vision, was a high performing core managed edge network that would connect their proprietary app, stores, contact center and all devices in the field. This would require increased bandwidth to the retail locations, a more stable support model w/helpdesk and managed services from provider, flexibility for future connectivity requirements, as well as improved visibility, performance and reliability.
Working hand-in-hand with the client’s IT and Infrastructure teams as well as Procurement, Resourcive was able to design the core network connectivity improvements by moving from MPLS T1 connections to broadband with wireless LTE 4G backup while adding high availability hardware with redundant power supplies. This re-design also yielded significant savings on their connectivity costs of ~40% with a run-rate savings of $2.1M per year.
In order to maintain full accountability and support, the underlying connectivity carrier will also provide a fully managed SD-WAN network solution with 24/7 NOC monitoring and support – giving the customer a more consistent experience across their 550+ store footprint.
The network design and configurations will enable future growth as well as changes in location requirements by allowing for shorter install times while also incorporating flexibility to add Dedicated Internet Access (“DIA”) circuits for future needs.
Voice ($3M/yr savings)
Fundamentally, the network was a necessary step for the client’s digital transformation journey as it was required to support an overhaul of their voice infrastructure and wireless access point ecosystem.
Moving from their current disparate, on-premise legacy infrastructure to a cloud-based unified communications platform, Resourcive was able to negotiate sub $7/user phone services, additional conferencing capabilities, and a level of support that would solve for many existing pain points.
The contracted services included conferencing licenses at $7.54 per seat which included voice conscription services for foreign languages and a sub-$7/seat voice license ($6.72) for 7,500 users. The Premier+ Support added on top resulted in a blended rate of $13.95 per phone which resulted in a 82% reduction in total cost of service.
This 82% savings on $4.1M in baselined voice spend translated to roughly $3M in annual savings following a required $800k capex spend for hardware and associated infrastructure upgrades.
Ultimately, this voice and conferencing transformation empowers their “connected associate” in-store strategy, includes Premier Support, and eliminates any long-distance chargers.
Summary
Overall, Resourcive has generated over 50% in savings on the Company’s network and voice spend, resulting in more than $5M in savings per year while upgrading the systems and infrastructure required to execute on the company’s transformation strategy and the PE firms’ investment thesis.
Notably, like most network implementation projects, service delivery and configurations across a diverse and substantial footprint has presented challenges for rapid deployment and upgrade to all 550+ sites. Resourcive’s implementation team and senior level resources have worked closely with the Company to ensure carrier accountability and helped remove as many obstacles as possible to accelerate project timeline.
Additional Workstreams
Given the success of these two projects, Resourcive and Company are now targeting value creation opportunities within their Technology Expense Management (“TEM”) platform, their cloud connectivity (AWS on-ramps), Cybersecurity review and roadmaping, POTS aggregation, and their contact center.
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