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Network Leadership Brief – Michaels’ Three-Week Shift to Network Infrastructure as a Service

Network Leadership Brief – Michaels’ Three-Week Shift to Network Infrastructure as a Service
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Discover how Michaels, one of North America’s largest arts and crafts retailers, transformed its nationwide network in just three weeks with Alkira’s Network Infrastructure-as-a-Service (NIaaS) platform Alkira-Michaels-Futuriom-v1.3-f…. Faced with peak-season traffic surges, growing cloud adoption, and the operational risk of datacenter backhaul, Michaels needed a faster, more resilient approach. By leveraging Alkira’s cloud-delivered global network fabric—powered by Cloud Exchange Points (CXPs)—the company securely connected approximately 1,400 stores across the U.S. and Canada directly to Google Cloud. The result: a modern, scalable architecture that eliminated new hardware investments, reduced complexity, and delivered enterprise-grade reliability at national scale.

This Futuriom case study showcases how Michaels went from pilot to full nationwide deployment in just three weeks, with individual stores brought online in hours Alkira-Michaels-Futuriom-v1.3-f…. By abstracting connectivity and security policies from underlying infrastructure, Alkira enabled centralized control, consistent segmentation, and rapid provisioning across a vast retail footprint. The outcome is a powerful example of how enterprises can accelerate cloud transformation, minimize downtime risk, and shift from capex-heavy networking to an agile, service-based model built for growth.

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