About the project
A top Romanian bank decided to migrate its branch network to an SD-WAN architecture, with new routers in every location. A project like this has a “lab” side - configuring and integrating the equipment into the central platform - and a “field” side, on which the rollout calendar depends: someone has to physically reach every branch, at the right time, work together with the integration team, move the lines without stopping the branch, and hand over a complete installation file.
Claritech organized and delivered the field teams’ work for 163 branches and regional offices, across 15 counties.
Project requirements
The branches could not be closed for the migration. Every cutover had to be executed during business hours, with the branch fully operational at the end, confirmed remotely by the integration engineer. The deadline was firm - the entire assigned network, in six weeks - which meant dozens of branches per week, in parallel, in counties hundreds of kilometers apart. And every location was different: from small branches with a rack in a closet, to large regional offices with fully equipped technical rooms.
Project type
Nationwide network equipment rollout: installation, WAN/LAN cutover and handover, in branches in full operation.
Scale
163 locations - 146 branches and 17 regional offices - across 15 counties, including Bucharest and Cluj.
Timeline
Roughly six weeks of field execution, with dozens of branches per week, in parallel.
The solution
Teams assigned per county
We split the network by county and assigned a dedicated team to each one - the rule was “one team takes the whole county”, for continuity and short travel. Bucharest and Cluj, the densest, were each split between two teams.
A schedule agreed with every branch
Each location received a date and a time slot, planned with the bank and confirmed with the branch - so the team was expected, and the cutover landed at a moment with minimal impact on customers.
Coordinated two-step cutover
In every branch, our team cabled the two WAN lines into the new router, worked live with the integration engineer until operation was confirmed, then moved the local network (LAN) from the old equipment to the new one - and re-confirmed the branch after the restart.
A file for every branch
Photos of the installation, equipment labels and serial numbers, a signed handover report - archived per location. In the end, the bank received the complete documentation for the network-migration project.
The network’s central point: routers, firewalls and servers, with organized cabling.
A branch rack after installation: patch panel, switch and the location’s active equipment.
What we delivered
| Component | Details |
|---|---|
| Locations migrated | 163 (146 branches + 17 regional offices) |
| Geographic coverage | 15 counties, including Bucharest and Cluj |
| Field execution time | ~6 weeks |
| Teams | County-based assignment, with dedicated teams |
| Work per branch | New router installation, 2× WAN + LAN cutover, test, handover |
| Documentation | Execution file and signed handover report for every location |
The results
Delivered to plan. 163 branches migrated in roughly six weeks - a pace of dozens of locations per week.
No interruption to business. Every network-equipment change was executed with the branch in operation and ended with confirmation that the branch was running on the new network.
Predictability for the bank. Schedule kept, a single coordination interface and one file per location - the basic requirements of a rollout across more than 150 sites.
A model we repeat. The same organization - teams per county, a schedule per location, a complete file per job - is what we apply in every nationwide rollout we execute.
Why Claritech
Serial rollouts are what we do most often: over 8,000 IT&C projects in over 4,000 locations, for banks, retail networks, energy and public institutions - with permanent teams in six cities and the same documented process in every location. See the Connectivity & IT&C infrastructure solution →