Case Study: Transforming a Multi-Site Healthcare Provider with SD-WAN

How Group9 Streamlined Network Performance, Increased Bandwidth, and Cut Costs for a 52-Site Medical Group

The Challenge

A 52-site healthcare provider was struggling with a patchwork of legacy cable connections and multiple telecom carriers. The organization faced ongoing issues with inconsistent bandwidth, fragmented billing, and limited visibility across their wide area network (WAN). With over 20 different vendors supporting their infrastructure, managing service levels and resolving outages had become time-consuming and inefficient—putting both operations and patient care at risk.

They needed a scalable, secure, and centralized solution that could support growing data demands and unify their network operations. That’s when they partnered with Group9 Communications.

The Solution: SD-WAN Strategy + Vendor Consolidation

Group9 launched a comprehensive Request for Proposal (RFP) process to evaluate the healthcare system’s needs and identify the most effective SD-WAN solution. As part of our engagement, we:

• Conducted a full audit of existing carrier contracts and network performance

• Designed a modern SD-WAN architecture to deliver redundancy, performance, and centralized management

• Consolidated network services from 20+ vendors down to a single provider

• Significantly increased bandwidth across all sites

• Unified and simplified monthly billing and support

• Implemented secure, application-aware routing for sensitive healthcare data

The Results

• Vendor Consolidation: Reduced from 20+ carriers to 1—eliminating complexity and improving service accountability

• Bandwidth Upgrade: Network capacity expanded across all 52 sites, improving performance for clinical applications, VoIP, and data exchange

• Cost Savings: Achieved significant monthly cost reductions through competitive RFP sourcing and optimized service packaging

• Operational Efficiency: IT gained centralized visibility and control over the entire WAN environment, with automated failover and traffic prioritization for mission-critical services

Conclusion

By leveraging Group9’s SD-WAN expertise and vendor-agnostic approach, the healthcare provider transformed its fragmented network into a high-performance, cost-efficient infrastructure—built for scalability, reliability, and better patient outcomes.