PRGX offers new analytics services with a software-defined network

Think of a network that’s over a decade old, and the first words that come to mind probably aren’t “flexible” or “scalable.”

Yet when Jason James was hired by PRGX Global Inc. three years ago, those two qualities were at the top of his to-do list. On joining the Atlanta, Ga.-based company as VP of global IT infrastructure support and operations, James was assigned the task of finding a network solution that was, well, both flexible and scalable. The company’s then-current networks and infrastructure, he quickly discovered, were anything but.

“We’d been with one of our service providers for probably 14 years,” James says now. “We wanted solutions that made us a lot more flexible and scalable. But with the traditional providers we had, that really wasn’t an option.”

For PRGX, flexibility and scalability are both vital. The company is the world’s leading provider of accounts payable recovery audit services. Its customers — which include more than three quarters of the top 20 retailers — turn to PRGX for help recovering profits, buying smarter and managing risk. PRGX in turn, needs a global reach, with more than 1,400 employees serving clients in some 30 countries. Scalability is vital, too, because PRGX’s work involves massive data volumes that approach nearly 3,000 terabytes.

Recognized results

• Enhanced security posture
• Expanded business opportunities
• Increased flexibility and scalability
• Enhanced competitive positioning
• Improved network reliability/performance

Bandwith on demand

So about a year ago, James brought in Masergy to manage his company’s global MPLS (multiprotocol label switching) network. Masergy’s global network connects PRGX’s larger sites, both in the U.S. and elsewhere. James wanted Masergy to give PRGX the ability to swap circuits with little to no business interruption; be very cost-effective; and be highly scalable, giving PRGX the ability to burst on demand.

“As you can imagine,” James explains, “we consume quite a bit of data. That data fluctuates — the amount of gigs we get may vary from month to month. And in certain cases, we have very stringent deadlines.”

James and his team have also conducted several tests of the new Masergy setup, with rewarding results.

Bigger data

The new services have also helped PRGX launch a big data analytics service for its recovery audit business. The company’s big data platform accelerates audits, moving them closer, or even prior, to payment dates.

“We’ve been able to take distributed computing with Hadoop and actually process data significantly faster,” James says. “It’s been extremely impactful to the business.”

Solution highlights

• Masergy brought in to deploy a new private, global network
• Ability to provide bandwidth on demand to meet rigorous big data processes needs
• Ability to scale network services to meet global distributed computing needs and process data significantly faster than before

This work also earned PRGX a ranking spot on the InformationWeek Elite 100 list. To qualify, an organization must demonstrate a pattern of technological, procedural and organizational innovation, as judged by InformationWeek’s editors.

Live support is yet another benefit PRGX has gotten from working with Masergy. Unlike many competing service providers, Masergy offers 24×7 live support from a company technician.

James also gives high marks to the Masergy team for their project management and other implementation services. “The team has been very much on top of things,” he says. For a company that prioritizes both flexibility and scalability, that’s welcome news.