Overview
Sony Pictures is a global entertainment company producing and distributing film and television content to audiences worldwide. Supporting that reach requires a network that performs consistently across a wide range of environments, from major production hubs to remote international locations.
For years, Sony relied on a fully managed MPLS network. As user and traffic patterns changed over time it became increasingly misaligned with how the business operated. Most traffic was internet-bound, yet it was still routed through centralized MPLS hubs before reaching the internet. As usage patterns shifted toward SaaS and cloud applications, this approach introduced unnecessary latency, increased costs, and created a growing gap between network design and real-world demand.
Sony’s goal was to modernize the WAN, by reducing total cost of ownership, improving user experience globally, increasing available bandwidth, and simplifying day-to-day operations, while continuing to support their existing segmentation requirements.
Key Values Delivered
Exceeded Cost Reduction Targets:
Graphiant’s consumption-based model, combined with the elimination of MPLS circuits, per-site licensing, and Direct Internet Access (DIA) costs, reduced total WAN costs by 70%, exceeding Sony’s initial 50% target. Break-even was achieved within three months.
Rapid Global Deployment:
Graphiant enabled all 45 global sites to be migrated within approximately four months. Individual site cutovers were completed within just 5 minutes, with users fully operational within 15 minutes.
Improved User Experience:
By enabling direct internet breakout at each location, Graphiant eliminated backhaul through centralized hubs, reducing latency for SaaS and cloud applications, and improving performance for users worldwide.
Simplified Network Architecture:
Graphiant replaced a complex, tunnel-based WAN design with a label-based architecture that provided any-to-any connectivity without requiring ongoing tunnel management, while supporting Sony’s large-scale segmentation needs.
Increased Business Agility:
Graphiant enabled new sites, including production locations, partner environments, and acquired entities, to be brought online in 1–2 business days, replacing provisioning timelines that previously took weeks.
Enhanced Network Visibility and Security:
Graphiant’s data assurance capabilities provided visibility into traffic flows across the network, enabling Sony to identify compromised endpoints communicating with malicious infrastructure that were not visible in their previous environment. What would have required hours or days of manual investigation was reduced to minutes, allowing the team to quickly understand impact and respond.
Aligning the Network with How the Business Operates
As Sony’s reliance on SaaS and cloud applications grew, the limitations of the existing MPLS architecture became more apparent. With most traffic destined for the internet, routing everything through centralized hubs added unnecessary distance and delay.
This was especially noticeable in international and remote locations, where users experienced slower application performance due to indirect routing paths. In some cases, applications behaved as if users were located in a different region, creating additional friction for teams working across geographies.
At the same time, the network team faced rising costs tied to MPLS circuits, with limited flexibility to scale bandwidth or adapt to changing business needs. The network was reliable, but it was no longer aligned with how the business consumed it.
Simplifying Architecture, Improving Performance, and Strengthening Security
With Graphiant, Sony transitioned to a model that better matched real traffic patterns. Instead of relying on centralized backhaul, each site was able to connect directly to the internet, allowing traffic to take the most efficient path to cloud and SaaS applications.
This shift reduced latency and improved overall application performance, particularly for users outside of core regions. At the same time, the underlying architecture became easier to manage. Graphiant’s label-based approach eliminated the need for complex tunnel configurations, allowing the network to maintain full connectivity without the operational overhead of a mesh design.
The platform also simplified key aspects of network operations. Encryption was handled automatically, new sites could be added without coordinating across multiple providers, and the overall design required fewer manual steps to maintain. What had previously required careful coordination became more predictable and easier to operate.
This improved visibility also extended to security. Using Graphiant’s data assurance capabilities, Sony identified a small number of endpoints that were attempting to connect to a destination owned by a state sponsored threat actor, making it difficult to detect using traditional controls.
What would have previously required hours or days of manual triage was completed in minutes. The team was able to quickly identify the scope of affected systems and understand the full impact of the issue through Graphiant’s centralized visibility, doing so in just a few clicks. From there, they were able to isolate and block the threat across the environment immediately, significantly reducing response time and limiting exposure.
This provided an additional layer of defense in depth that had not been available in the previous environment.
Accelerating Deployment and Global Expansion
As Sony began rolling out the new network, speed of deployment became a key advantage. Previously, bringing a new site online required coordination with service providers and often involved long provisioning timelines.
With Graphiant, the process became significantly more streamlined. Hardware could be prepared centrally and shipped globally, allowing the team to deploy consistently across regions. Sites were brought online in just 5 minutes, with minimal disruption to users who were back online within 15 minutes.
Over the course of the deployment, all 45 sites were migrated within approximately four months. What had once been a multi-step, provider-dependent process became a repeatable and controlled rollout, managed directly by Sony’s team.
This change also impacted how the business approached expansion. Instead of treating new locations as complex infrastructure projects, they became routine operational tasks supporting faster growth without adding strain to the network team.
Improving Cost Efficiency Beyond Connectivity
The financial impact of the transition was immediate and sustained. By moving away from MPLS and going to Graphiant, who doesn’t charge for DIA, per-site services, or licensing, Sony significantly reduced overall WAN spend.
Graphiant’s simplified architecture also reduced the need for external dependencies. With fewer components to manage and a more streamlined operational model, the Customer was able to eliminate their reliance on a third-party professional services contract, achieving additional cost savings while simplifying network operations.
Graphiant’s consumption-based model aligned cost with actual usage, providing greater predictability as the network scaled. At the same time, simplifying the architecture reduced reliance on external services and tools, lowering operational overhead.
These combined efficiencies allowed Sony to achieve 70% total cost savings while improving both performance and manageability without increasing team size.
“…the simplicity that we had within the Graphiant solution means that we were able to move from something that was fully managed to something that we self-manage and we did not have to add any additional headcount.”
Michah Bartell
Executive Director, Global Network Architecture
Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc
The Graphiant Advantage
For global enterprises operating across distributed environments, traditional WAN architectures often create a disconnect between how networks are built and how they are used, which introduces unnecessary cost, operational complexity, and performance limitations.
Graphiant addresses this by delivering a simplified, consumption-based networking platform that aligns connectivity with real traffic patterns. Instead of relying on centralized backhaul, complex tunnel architectures, or multiple provider dependencies, organizations can connect users, applications, and cloud environments directly and efficiently.
This approach allows teams to reduce total cost of ownership, improve application performance through localized connectivity, and bring new sites online quickly without the delays typically associated with traditional network provisioning. At the same time, operations become easier to manage, with fewer moving parts and complete visibility into how traffic flows across the environment.
As business demands evolve, whether expanding into new regions, supporting cloud and SaaS adoption, or integrating new environments, Graphiant enables organizations to scale without re-architecting the network or increasing operational burden.
When performance, user experience, and cost discipline must scale together, Graphiant delivers. Without compromise.
