Rackspace Technology · Technology · Seattle, WA · 30 weeks
Rackspace Technology System Consolidation case study
A cloud infrastructure provider had 14 business units operating separate data warehouses with no way to share reports across units. Their data infrastructure cost $4.7 million annually. We designed and implemented a federated data mesh that cut costs by consolidating infrastructure but kept each unit’s control intact. This approach enabled cross-unit analytics, which the company couldn’t do before.
Challenge
Over eight years, 14 business units built separate data warehouses with no coordination. This created silos, no shared metrics, no cross-unit reporting, and no way to analyze data across units. Maintaining all 14 warehouses cost $4.7 million annually. The CTO ordered a consolidation, but past efforts stalled because business units resisted change.
Outcome
By week 30, all 14 business units were fully integrated into the data mesh. This cut infrastructure costs from $4.7 million to $1.1 million annually. We built cross-unit analytics dashboards that tracked revenue, customer overlap, and operational efficiency for the first time. Switching to a federated ownership model resolved the resistance from business units.
Results
- $4.7M to $1.1M Annual infrastructure cost
- 14 Business units on unified mesh
- 30 wks Full deployment timeline
- 0 Business unit escalations
We tried to consolidate these warehouses twice before, but it didn’t work because the business units wouldn’t cooperate. With the federated mesh model, that changed. Now every BU is on board, and we’re able to do analytics we never could before.