Case Study: California-Based Credit Union
The Customer
This California-based credit union supports more than 140,000 members across a growing branch network. With an increasing reliance on digital banking and real-time financial transactions, consistent uptime and reliable network performance were essential to maintaining trust and operational efficiency.
The Challenge
As new branches and services were added, the IT team struggled to maintain consistent performance across a complex mix of carriers and circuits. Unplanned outages, vendor delays, and bandwidth bottlenecks began to impact member experience.
- Network congestion: High-demand applications strained available bandwidth.
- Outage vulnerability: Each branch relied on a single internet circuit with no backup path.
- Operational inefficiency: Troubleshooting across multiple vendors caused unnecessary delays.
"When a branch lost connectivity, everything stopped: transactions, communication, member service. We needed redundancy and smarter routing to stay resilient."
— CIO, California-Based Credit Union
The Solution
L3 Networks implemented a managed SD-WAN service combined with 5G backup connectivity to strengthen uptime, performance, and control.
- Dynamic Path Selection: SD-WAN intelligently prioritized critical traffic and automatically rerouted around congestion or outages.
- 5G Failover: Each branch gained cellular redundancy, ensuring uninterrupted service during primary link failures.
- Centralized Management: A single platform provided real-time insights and control across all branches.
- 24/7 Support: L3's network operations team continuously monitored and optimized performance to prevent downtime.
"The combination of SD-WAN and 5G backup gave us performance and peace of mind. We can now operate confidently knowing every branch has a reliable connection."
— IT Director, California-Based Credit Union
The Results
Following our Elevate framework, the deployment delivered significant improvements in connectivity, reliability, and operational efficiency:
- Stronger Resilience: 5G failover eliminated single points of failure and maintained continuous branch operations.
- Higher Performance: Dynamic routing improved application speed and overall user experience.
- Simplified Management: The IT team gained full visibility into network performance and carrier activity.
- Reduced Downtime: Automated failover and proactive monitoring minimized disruptions and reduced support tickets.
"Our members don't see the network but they feel the difference. Transactions are faster, and branches stay up even when carriers go down."
— CIO, California-Based Credit Union
Next Phase: Advancing Resilience and Visibility
Building on the success of SD-WAN and 5G failover, the credit union is now partnering with L3 Networks to integrate advanced reporting and analytics into its network management tools. These enhancements will allow IT leaders to track performance trends, streamline vendor accountability, and continue optimizing the member experience across all locations.
"With L3's guidance, our network has gone from reactive to resilient. We're better positioned to handle growth and new technologies with confidence."
— IT Director, California-Based Credit Union
