KEO retired its MPLS circuits and VPNs with NetFoundry, cutting network costs by more than half and deploying secure networks in minutes.
50% reduction in network costs
60% improvement in operational efficiency
Minutes instead of weeks to deploy a secure network
1 Global environment connecting offices, project sites, and remote teams
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Costly MPLS circuits and VPNs could not scale or secure KEO’s global workforce, project sites, and growing Azure footprint.
NetFoundry Cloud replaced circuits and VPNs with software-defined, identity-first connectivity across offices, sites, and cloud.
Network costs are more than 50% lower, secure networks deploy in minutes, and operational efficiency is up about 60%.
For more than 57 years, KEO International Consultants has delivered iconic architecture, engineering, and project management work around the world. ENR and World Architecture rank KEO among the top international firms in its field, and its mission is to drive innovation and create remarkable experiences for clients.
KEO runs a global operation with a diverse workforce spread across branch offices, active project sites, and remote locations. Keeping all of those people connected, securely and without friction, is a daily requirement of the business.
KEO’s global operations ran on MPLS private circuits and VPNs. As the firm’s connectivity needs grew, that setup became harder to justify on cost, security, and speed.
MPLS private circuits and VPNs proved expensive and inefficient for a firm connecting branch offices, project sites, and remote employees around the world. The VPN technology lacked modern security features and could not deliver the agile connectivity KEO’s workforce needed. It also took real effort to manage, both for KEO’s own teams and for the customers, third parties, vendors, and partners who relied on VPN access. KEO wanted a replacement that was lighter to manage and maintain for all of them.
KEO expanded its cloud presence through Azure in Europe, and it needed to securely connect employees across branches, project sites, and remote locations to that environment. The firm also wanted lower costs and better performance. KEO planned to decommission its outdated MPLS circuits, but it had no scalable, secure alternative to move to, which made the decommissioning a significant hurdle.
KEO partnered with NetFoundry and deployed NetFoundry Cloud as the foundation for its site-to-site connectivity. NetFoundry Cloud gave KEO a software-defined, cloud-native alternative to traditional networking, with secure, micro-segmented connections from endpoints, branches, and cloud environments like Azure.
KEO no longer needed physical circuits or complex hardware. Software-defined networking simplified both management and deployment, and it unified KEO’s connectivity into a single, global Zero Trust environment.
Identity-first overlay networking gave KEO private network segments for its endpoints, branches, and cloud environments, and those segments replaced the VPNs KEO had used. NetFoundry applies Zero Trust Workload Connectivity, connecting workloads over outbound-only paths. That design removes the need for open inbound ports, VPNs, and firewall rule changes, so KEO’s sites and workloads are not exposed to the public internet.
NetFoundry maintains all of the infrastructure, so KEO pays an operating expense instead of buying and running network hardware. The platform scales and adapts to any use case, which gave KEO room to support additional cloud and digital transformation initiatives.
“NetFoundry presented us with the opportunity to reset the old clichés and to disrupt long-standing operating models, creating a far more agile workforce and work itself. By collaborating with NetFoundry we are changing the game and building a highly agile digital organization to deliver unmatched innovation to our clients.”
Damir Jaksic, Chief Information Officer, KEO International Consultants
With NetFoundry Cloud in place, KEO’s global network is a fully programmable, cloud-native fabric. The firm scales quickly and efficiently, and its IT team no longer manages network hardware. That time now goes to delivering value to clients.
KEO cut network costs by more than 50% compared with its MPLS circuits, and throughput performance remains high.
Setup that once took weeks now takes minutes. Simplified network management improved KEO’s operational efficiency by approximately 60%.
KEO supports a globally dispersed workforce and runs its Work from Anywhere initiatives seamlessly. Zero Trust architecture, applied end to end, provides secure web access and reduces the risk of security breaches and vulnerabilities.
KEO’s transformation gives the firm a foundation for further cloud-first and digital transformation initiatives, and a way to manage high-performance Zero Trust networks across the globe efficiently and securely. Other NetFoundry customers have made similar moves, including Rhapsody, which replaced brittle VPN tunnels, and Digibee, which replaced VPN complexity for its iPaaS platform.
NetFoundry helps global firms connect offices, project sites, clouds, and remote teams over outbound-only paths, with no open inbound ports, no VPNs, and no firewall changes. See what it would look like across your sites.
NetFoundry is the leader in Zero Trust Workload Connectivity, founded by the inventors and maintainers of OpenZiti, the world’s most widely used open source Zero Trust platform. Its identity-first fabric connects sites, clouds, users, APIs, and machines over outbound-only paths, so organizations can retire VPNs and private circuits like the MPLS network KEO replaced, with no open inbound ports and no firewall changes. NetFoundry secures billions of sessions for critical infrastructure on three continents and supports Fortune 10 companies across regulated industries including healthcare, financial services, and energy.
