Tata Communications IZOTM+ Multi Cloud Connect is a cutting-edge, software-defined interconnect-as-a-service solution meticulously designed to streamline multi-cloud connectivity. It empowers enterprises to establish secure and seamless connections across their diverse applications, data centres, branches, and various cloud environments, all managed through a unified “single pane of glass.”
This case study focuses on reducing cloud latency from global sites and builds on our previous success in solving Azure latency issues between regions. It’s part of a series showcasing real-world customer transformations through our solutions.
As many in the industry understand, cloud latency is not solely a concern for inter- or intra-cloud communication. Its pervasive impact extends significantly to the performance of applications when accessed by multiple sites, users, and applications attempting to connect to the cloud. This delay, inherent in network communication, directly influences the responsiveness and reliability of cloud-based services.
For businesses relying on real-time data processing, such as Point-of-Sale (PoS) transactions, high latency can lead to failed operations, frustrated users, and ultimately, lost revenue. Factors like geographical distance to the cloud data centre, network congestion, inefficient routing paths, and protocol overhead all contribute to this critical performance bottleneck.
This critical scenario was precisely what our customer, a prominent global retail company, was grappling with. Their operational model relied on a centralised database hosted at the Microsoft Azure UAE North location, which served as the backbone for all their global PoS transactions. Multiple retail stores, situated across various international locations, constantly accessed this single database to initiate and fulfil customer transactions.
However, the customer’s original setup utilised the public internet for these critical connections. This reliance on an unmanaged, best-effort network resulted in significant cloud latency. The delays were so pronounced that transactions frequently failed, creating a direct negative impact on their business operations and, crucially, on the end-customer experience at each retail endpoint. The inherent unpredictability and high Azure latency over the public internet between their global stores and the centralised Azure database were severely hindering their ability to conduct business efficiently.
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When the retail customer approached Tata Communications, our solution experts quickly identified the core problem and proposed a comprehensive architectural overhaul. The solution revolved around the strategic implementation of IZOTM+ Multi Cloud Connect nodes at each of the customer’s key store regions globally. These nodes were then seamlessly “strung together” by Tata Communications’ robust MPLS backbone. This private, high-performance network was then extended directly to the Microsoft Azure UAE North cloud location, establishing an end-to-end committed latency pathway.
To facilitate this, Virtual Network Function (VNF) devices – specifically Cisco 8Kv – were hosted directly at the IZOTM+ Multi Cloud Connect nodes in each of the major store regions, including the USA, UK, Singapore, and Australia. These VNF devices were meticulously configured with the necessary internet and MPLS ports to ensure optimal connectivity. Subsequently, local peering or site-to-site VPN connections were established with these VNF devices for individual stores within each respective region. This meticulous setup effectively onboarded each store onto the Tata Communications MPLS network, creating a secure, reliable, and low-latency pathway directly to their centralised Azure database.
The implementation of this solution brought about profound and immediate benefits for the customer:
As is evident, even while specifically solving for a critical use case like reducing latency from sites to the cloud, Tata Communications IZOTM+ Multi Cloud Connect proves its adaptability across multiple complex business scenarios.
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If your organisation identifies with this scenario and is grappling with site-to-cloud latency issues or any other multi-cloud connectivity challenges, we encourage you to explore the transformative potential of Tata Communications IZOTM+ Multi Cloud Connect.