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Anatomy of the deal · Aggregation, SASE and mobility

Two hundred retail stores. One bill.

Nimbl Networks is a technology advisory firm based in Dallas, Texas, that helps multi-site organizations design, negotiate, implement and support telecom and managed services. A national specialty retailer ran 200+ retail stores on dozens of internet providers, separate security and wireless contracts, and invoices nobody reconciled line by line. We put all of it under one inventory and one monthly reconciliation, and keep it there as the store count grows.

Client
National specialty retailer
Footprint
200+ retail stores nationwide
Scope
Broadband aggregation, SASE, mobility, expense management
Model
One inventory, reconciled every month

The starting point

Two hundred stores, bought one location at a time.

The client opens new retail stores every quarter. Each one needed an internet circuit from whichever provider served the mall or street, a security edge, a backup path and a few wireless lines, and each came with its own contract and its own bill.

Over time that meant dozens of internet providers, a security platform being moved to a new managed service while the old one kept billing, wireless lines and failover SIMs nobody had audited, and invoices paid through a prior vendor without being checked against what was ordered. The IT team needed one partner to own the whole picture.

What was not working

  • Dozens of internet providers, each with its own contract and invoice
  • Circuits that were meant to be on one bill still billing separately
  • The old SD-WAN service still billing after the move to a new platform
  • Wireless lines and failover SIMs with no regular usage review
  • Invoices paid without being reconciled to an inventory of what was ordered
  • New retail stores every quarter, each one a fresh round of quotes and paperwork

01The path

From first call to one bill, and beyond.

  1. Onboard

    First call

    The IT team moves its supplier relationships to us and asks for one point of accountability.

  2. Secure

    Managed SASE

    A three-phase managed SASE and SD-WAN rollout, with a 36-month agreement and a set renewal date.

  3. Consolidate

    One bill

    Store broadband moves under one aggregator, with a weekly carrier call to keep the rollout on track. Split billing found and fixed.

  4. Reconcile

    Expense management live

    Every invoice now lands in one inventory and is checked against what was ordered.

  5. Renegotiate

    Renewed on better terms

    A 12-month aggregation renewal with a port commitment the client can grow into.

  6. Expand

    Next round

    A second aggregation agreement signed, and every site on an older lease requoted.

02The value

One inventory. Every invoice checked.

$82Kin billing errors identified by audit
$36Kcredited back so far in credits and savings
$2.9Ka month in recurring savings from fixed and wireless audits
1,300+services in one inventory, across 59 providers
280+store circuits from about 50 internet providers on one bill
100%of invoices reconciled to the inventory, every month
Line illustration: dozens of thin threads from separate locations converge into a single receipt marked with a cyan check.
Every store, every provider, one reconciled bill.

03The diligence

Every store accounted for. Nothing drifts.

First callManaged SASEOne billExpense managementRenewalNext round
Working sessions with the client team. The cadence rises whenever a rollout or a renewal comes due.
92invoices checked against the inventory every month
59providers under one inventory
68services found no longer needed and disconnected
6vendors on one monthly reconciliation
1point of accountability for every store

Run with the client’s infrastructure and finance teams, the aggregator, the managed SASE provider, the wireless carriers and Nimbl.

Before and after

What changed.

AreaBeforeWith Nimbl
Store broadbandA contract and a bill per provider, store by storeAbout 280 circuits from some 50 providers on one aggregated bill
SecurityThe old SD-WAN service still billing after the moveOne managed SASE platform, and the old billing caught and credited
WirelessLines and failover SIMs with no usage reviewAudited lines, disconnects and plan changes, and 5G failover where it pays
InvoicesPaid as receivedEvery invoice reconciled to the inventory each month, to within a dollar
ErrorsFound by accident, if at all$82K identified and disputed, $36K credited back so far
New storesA fresh round of quotes and paperwork each timeSourced, booked and added to the same bill every month

Consolidation is not a project, it is a habit. Every new store, every renewal and every invoice runs through the same inventory, so nothing drifts.

Nimbl Networks advisory team

Client details are anonymized. Figures are rounded and come from the client’s audit and reconciliation records.

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