US LBM simplifies network architecture to eliminate downtime and support business growth

The history

As the largest privately owned specialty building materials distributor in the United States, US LBM operates a vast network of more than 450 locations nationwide from its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The company’s diverse operations encompass lumber yards, distribution centers, kitchen and bath showrooms, hardware stores, and truss manufacturing plants. This extensive footprint supports the distribution of a comprehensive portfolio, including windows, doors, millwork, wallboard, roofing, siding, decking, engineered components, cabinetry, and lumber products.

With a track record of steady expansion and increasing connectivity demands across its nationwide network, US LBM needed an IT foundation that could scale seamlessly while maintaining reliability.

Connecting the company’s nationwide network of showrooms, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities required a dependable infrastructure to ensure uninterrupted service to customers.

The challenge

Complex hub configuration hinders network performance

As US LBM planned for future growth, the team recognized the need for a more efficient network design that would integrate seamlessly with the company’s Microsoft Azure environment.

The existing IT architecture, reliant on 14 virtual Meraki hubs, had grown increasingly complex with each expansion. Managing 14 separate virtual hubs led to an unnecessarily complex network design, time-consuming manual configurations, and frequent outages due to device limitations.

To support its continued growth trajectory, US LBM needed a solution to eliminate configuration complexity and ensure consistent network performance across its expanding operations.

The solution

Optimized connectivity delivers unmatched speed and enables growth

US LBM’s journey with Flexential began with strategic data center colocation deployments in key markets, providing the scalability and performance needed for its nationwide operations.

Building on this foundation, US LBM leveraged Flexential Cloud Fabric across select locations to establish direct cloud connections and improve automated interconnection capabilities. This approach placed the company’s critical infrastructure closer to major cloud providers.

The high-performance infrastructure provides automated connections to leading cloud providers through a single, user-friendly portal to dramatically simplify operations while delivering enterprise-grade reliability nationwide.

The result was a streamlined network, delivering unmatched connection speeds through four strategic points, powered by private 100 Gbps connections to major cloud providers and carriers.

This combination of location and connectivity created a powerful foundation for US LBM’s hybrid cloud strategy.

Key features: After reviewing other options, US LBM selected Flexential for its unique solution to integrate with the company’s existing Fortinet and Meraki

data security infrastructure, eliminating the need for additional hardware investments.

“We wanted to connect all our locations to the cloud as efficiently as possible, making things simpler and more reliable for our team,” said Ryan Wallace, Director of Network Operations at US LBM. “It’s exactly the comprehensive solution I was looking for to simplify our operations.”

Flexential Cloud Fabric delivers seamless cloud connectivity through automated, software-defined connections while giving US LBM control over its bandwidth and scaling needs with self-service capabilities.

“Flexential’s user-friendly portal gives us complete visibility into our operations, including circuit health, power consumption, and billing,” said Wallace.

The real-time, on-demand capabilities of Flexential Cloud Fabric allow US LBM to deploy new network connections within minutes across its operations.

The Flexential extensive U.S. network also enabled US LBM to minimize latency and boost application performance, supporting seamless operations across hundreds of locations from coast to coast.

The result is a simplified network that reduces management complexity while ensuring the scalability and reliability needed to support the company’s continued growth.

“Moving to Flexential Cloud Fabric meant we could focus on more strategic work instead of getting bogged down in manual configurations and troubleshooting outages,” said Wallace.

Implementation: The implementation aimed to maximize interconnection capabilities through Flexential Cloud Fabric. The onboarding philosophy is simple: show, teach, and empower. Flexential led the initial hub deployment and provided a walkthrough of the Cloud Fabric self-service portal and automation features, enabling the US LBM team to deploy the remaining three hubs independently. This efficient approach minimized downtime and allowed US LBM to quickly scale its network transformation.

“Flexential made the implementation process remarkably efficient. The team led us through the first site, providing the knowledge and confidence we needed to manage future deployments on our own,” said Wallace.

The results

End-to-end infrastructure provides performance and peace of mind

Performance: US LBM’s network has maintained 100% uptime with the support of Flexential Colocation and Cloud Fabric solutions, ensuring consistent connectivity across more than 450 locations.

Efficiency: US LBM eliminated the burden of time-consuming manual network management, replacing complex configuration tasks with Flexential Cloud Fabric automated interconnection capabilities.

Customer experience: The Flexential end-to-end infrastructure framework delivers peace of mind on two fronts: the ability to rapidly expand operations without network constraints, and the confidence that business-critical systems remain protected through industry-leading data security and backup capabilities.