Case study · Healthcare
Ballad Health

Consolidating five data centers to two with Cisco ACI.

Ballad Health, an integrated healthcare delivery system in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia operating 21 hospitals and 250+ clinics, unified its post-merger network on Cisco ACI with BTA leading the consolidation.

  • Cisco ACI
  • Software-defined networking
  • SIMPLE methodology
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DC CONSOLIDATION · 5 → 2DC1DC2DC3DC4DC5DC-ADC-B
Outcome 01
5 → 2
Data centers consolidated
Outcome 02
21
Hospitals integrated
Outcome 03
250+
Clinics on the unified network
“Cisco recommended BTA to us, they earned our trust and they absolutely delivered on time and under budget.”
PAPam AustinCIO, Ballad Health

Engagement story

At a glance
Customer
Ballad Health
Industry
Healthcare
Technologies
Cisco ACI · Software-defined networking · SIMPLE methodology

The problem

After a 2018 merger and a $200 million investment in a unified EMR platform, Ballad Health needed to consolidate five data centers into two while integrating thousands of endpoints. The CIO described it as a monumental task with no comparable healthcare consolidation precedent at this scale and timeline. Internal teams were initially skeptical about transitioning from legacy infrastructure to software-defined networking.

How BTA delivered

BTA implemented the transition to Cisco ACI using the SIMPLE methodology. The engagement emphasized trust-building with internal teams, clear architecture planning, prioritized migration waves, and staff education. The joint team migrated together to the new platform.

Outcomes in production

The migration completed on schedule despite a January implementation window during the pandemic. Endpoint communication improved across the system, manual monitoring effort dropped, and the new fabric became the foundation for ongoing macro and micro segmentation work.

What makes us different

We're architects who execute.

Three principles every BTA engagement runs on. Visible in the work itself.

  • We architect, deploy, and stay through Day-2.

    Every engagement is end-to-end. We design the target environment, deploy it in stages, and remain on hand through the operational handoff.

  • We train your team to own the outcome.

    Training is part of every engagement. By the close of an engagement, your operators can run, maintain, and defend the system to an auditor.

  • We measure success when your team runs it alone.

    An engagement closes when your team is operating the solution without us in the room. SIMPLE methodology enforces this exit criterion on every project.

SIMPLE Methodology
See how SIMPLE works
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