Over 100 stores, one network: SD-WAN transformation for Fashion Retail

A major Italian Fashion Retail company, with over one hundred stores across the country and a strategic logistics hub, was facing a common challenge for multi-site organizations: the growing operational complexity of its network and communication infrastructure.

Over the years, business growth had led to the layering of different providers, technologies and services, creating an ecosystem that was difficult to govern, expensive to maintain and not flexible enough to support new business requirements.

High recurring costs for connectivity and telephony, redundancy that was not always effective, heterogeneous and partially obsolete devices, limited centralized visibility, long troubleshooting times and limited scalability.

The objective was to build a modern platform capable of delivering reliability levels comparable to a traditional MPLS network, while removing its rigidity and cost structure.

The company asked World.it, with design and consulting support from iTeamProject, to completely redesign its networking model.

The requirement was clear: create a highly reliable, resilient, monitorable and centralized private corporate network, able to support future business growth while reducing Total Cost of Ownership.

A new Enterprise SD-WAN architecture was designed using a centralized Hub & Spoke model. The infrastructure connects over one hundred sites through encrypted Always-On VPN tunnels to a redundant central platform.

The solution includes a centralized Data Center, high-availability firewalls, Always-On VPN, centralized cloud management, VLAN segmentation, 24/7 monitoring, centralized VoIP telephony and independent LTE backup for each site.

Each store was designed around real redundancy principles. Every site includes primary FTTH/FTTC connectivity, independent LTE backup, Enterprise router, dedicated LTE router, managed PoE switches, Enterprise WiFi, VoIP telephony and professional DECT.

If the primary line becomes unavailable, traffic is automatically routed to the secondary connection with no significant operational interruption.

The new architecture allows the IT department to manage the entire infrastructure from a single control point, introducing Next Generation Firewall, Deep Packet Inspection, Intrusion Prevention, Application Control, centralized logging, real-time monitoring and traffic segmentation.

The result is a safer platform, easier to manage and more aligned with corporate compliance requirements.

The project was later extended to the logistics facility operated by an international provider.

The intervention included a new Enterprise network core, Full-PoE switching, industrial WiFi coverage, multicell DECT infrastructure, integration with the central system and full link redundancy.

iTeamProject supported the customer and World.it throughout the entire transformation journey: technical assessment, economic analysis, requirements definition, architectural design, technology validation, project governance, vendor coordination and migration support.

The goal was to ensure that every technology decision delivered concrete and measurable business value.

The project delivered a modern, resilient and fully governable Enterprise platform.

The main benefits include reduced infrastructure costs, greater IT autonomy, stronger service continuity, site standardization, improved security, better scalability and fewer on-site interventions.