Lumen Consolidates 23 Backup Platforms and Saves $3.5M with Commvault
Enterprise-scale cyber resilience across on-prem and three hyperscalers, with immutable Air Gap Protect backups delivering 99%+ success rates and 70% faster recovery.
Unified management across multi-cloud
Immutable ransomware protection at scale
AI-powered automation
90%
Platform consolidation eliminated 23 disparate backup systems into a single control plane, dramatically reducing complexity and freeing infrastructure teams to focus on strategic modernization initiatives.$3.5M
Projected annual savings achieved through licensing consolidation, infrastructure optimization, and operational efficiencies, with predictable consumption-based spending replacing unpredictable multi-vendor costs.99%
Backup success rate processing one million jobs monthly across hybrid cloud and edge environments, with 70% faster recovery times restoring critical systems in minutes instead of days.Challenge
- 23 backup platforms created operational sprawl and inconsistent policies
- No immutable or air-gapped backups increased ransomware exposure
- Compliance reporting across siloed systems drained time and increased audit risk
Solution
- Unified legacy backup environments and modern hybrid workloads on a single, cyber resilience platform
- Air Gap Protect delivered immutable, logically isolated backups
- Centralized management across on-prem, AWS, Azure, and GCP
Results
- Teams shifted from managing platforms to modernization and AI initiatives
- Consumption-based pricing reduced cost volatility and optimized storage efficiency
- FedRAMP High and FIPS 140-3 strengthened public sector assurance
From acquisition complexity to enterprise resilience
Compliance reporting for SOC audits, CMMC certifications, and security assessments required aggregating data across siloed systems, consuming staff time and increasing audit risk. More critically, the environment lacked comprehensive immutability and air-gapped protection, with the possibility of exposing the organization to ransomware threats at scale.
“Our environment’s complexity was approaching critical mass. Reducing service levels was not an option, and with increased demand on the backup team, it was clear that new technology was required.”
When Lumen’s board mandated a comprehensive ransomware recovery strategy, the team consolidated to a unified platform.
Strategic consolidation at enterprise scale
Lumen required a platform capable of protecting enterprise data across on-premises infrastructure and three hyperscalers: Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform. The solution needed to scale globally while maintaining compatibility with legacy systems during transition.
After a rigorous evaluation, Lumen selected Commvault as its strategic cyber resilience platform.
Commvault’s architecture unified legacy and modern workloads under a single Command Center. Centralized management eliminated the complexity of operating multiple tools across hybrid environments.
Air Gap Protect introduced immutable, logically air-gapped backup copies that cannot be altered or deleted, even by privileged administrators or ransomware. Proactive anomaly detection at data ingest strengthened early threat detection and reduced mean time to respond.
Implementation emphasized cross-functional alignment and transparent communication across infrastructure, database, and application teams. Commvault’s 24/7 enterprise support and remote managed services provided stability throughout migration.
“During the transition, Commvault support teams were available and responsive 24/7. We partnered with their architecture and leadership teams to address design challenges and make quick adjustments throughout the migration. As a result, we’ve centralized management that supports about a million backup jobs per month with a success rate more than 99%, delivering data protection on-premises and across three public hyperscalers.” — Joe Meyer, Principal Architect, Lumen
Measurable impact across operations and security
The consolidation delivered significant financial and operational gains. Lumen was positioned to save $3.5 million annually through licensing consolidation, infrastructure optimization, and operational efficiencies. The shift to consumption-based pricing contributed to a 40% reduction in total cost of ownership.
Recovery times improved by 70%, enabling critical systems to be restored in minutes rather than days. Centralized visibility eliminated the need to determine which platform protected which workload, accelerating response during high-pressure incidents.
Security posture strengthened dramatically. With immutable protection for 100% of enterprise data and anomaly detection embedded into the backup process, Lumen gained confidence in its ransomware recovery capabilities across all environments.
Compliance reporting simplified from 23 disparate systems to a single, unified interface supporting SOC audits, CMMC, GDPR, and government requirements. FedRAMP High authorization and FIPS 140-3 validation further reinforced assurance for public sector workloads.
The consolidation also transformed the team’s role. Engineers who once managed fragmented platforms now focus on modernization, optimization, automation, and AI-driven initiatives.
“With Commvault, reducing the number of backup platforms has enabled infrastructure teams to focus on modernization, optimization, automation, and AI. We’re no longer just managing backups. We’re managing resilience with a proactive approach that scales with our business.”— Kara Smith, Senior Manager, Enterprise Storage and Backup Teams
Looking ahead, Lumen is refining its validated design and exploring Commvault’s AI-powered assistant, Arlie, to streamline troubleshooting, enhance compliance monitoring, and further automate threat detection as part of its evolving cyber resilience strategy.