How ACL Digital Transformed SDN Operations and Drove Operational Excellence for a European NEM
Overview
A leading European Tier 1 Network Equipment Manufacturer partnered with ACL Digital as a long-term strategic technology and services provider through a major Offshore Development Center (ODC) engagement spanning over 8 years. The client managed a large-scale, business-critical SDN (Software-Defined Networking) environment that had gradually become complex, expensive to operate, and slow to scale.
With surging data demand and escalating network complexity, the client needed to transform its SDN platform while aggressively reducing OPEX without sacrificing stability, security, or delivery timelines. ACL Digital collaborated directly with the client’s engineering and operations teams to rearchitect core SDN functionality, enhance upgrade resilience, and implement automation across the delivery lifecycle, driving tangible improvements in network reliability, reduced operational costs, and faster time-to-market for new services.
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Challenges
Prolonged orchestration delays during cluster reboots and maintenance, with settling times of ~1.5 hours, leading to productivity loss.
Complex and high-risk GA-to-GA upgrade cycles, taking 7–10 days, requiring heavy manual oversight and creating service disruption risk.
Manual security and administrative processes, especially certificate renewals consuming ~10 hours, increasing downtime and SLA exposure.
A reactive operational model that limited scalability and made cost optimization difficult without increasing engineering headcount.
Solution
ACL Digital designed and implemented a focused, multi-layered transformation program centered on performance, resilience, and automation:
- SDN Framework Redesign
- Re-engineered reboot orchestration, L2GW processing, MAC programming, and enabled parallel job execution across clusters.
- Reduced cluster reboot settling time from ~1.5 hours to 30–45 minutes, delivering a 50% improvement in operational efficiency.
- Resilient SDN Upgrade Design
- Introduced state tracking and checkpoint-based upgrade mechanisms.
- Enabled safe re-runs after failures while reducing operational risk and support dependency.
- Reduced GA-to-GA upgrade execution time from 7–10 days to 5 days, achieving a 50% improvement.
- Certificate Renewal Automation
- Refactored dependency workflows and enabled high-concurrency processing.
- Cut certificate renewal time from ~10 hours to 1 hour, achieving a 90% improvement while eliminating errors and downtime.
- Zero-Touch CI/CD Automation
- Implemented end-to-end zero-touch CI/CD covering build generation, sanity/nightly/weekly testing, and integrated security scans.
- Improved Time-to-Market by 50% through fully automated, secure-by-design releases.
Outcomes
ACL Digital’s engineering-led execution delivered tangible and sustained business value:
- 30% overall cost improvement achieved in 2025
- 100% SDN automation coverage with a 100% pass rate
- 50% faster Time-to-Market through zero-touch delivery
- All security vulnerabilities addressed within SLA
- On-time SDN releases enabled through innovative architecture and design
- Successful management of all customer emergencies and escalations without breaching performance targets
Through deep domain expertise, scalable delivery models, and a strong focus on measurable outcomes, ACL Digital proved to be an ideal technology and services partner, helping the client convert a complex SDN environment into a lean, resilient, and cost-efficient platform that supports long-term growth and competitiveness.
