Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise: Migrating DDI Solution to Optimize Network Costs, Efficiency, and Reliability

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, with over 2,000 employees across 50 countries, is a software company providing communication and networking equipment and services to businesses, telecommunications companies, ISPs, and data providers. The company develops infrastructure software for access networking, data centers, wireless networks, VoIP, unified communications, contact centers, and cloud services.

Project Objectives

• Overcome spiralling licensing costs of incumbent DDI solution
• Reduce architectural complexity for ensuring failover
• Enhance customization for domain configurations and DNSSEC
• Address DNS Security requirements against attacks such as DDoS
• Improve inefficient, error-prone, manual network management

Main Benefits

• Significant reduction in operational costs while gaining technical advantage
• Streamlined redundancy with simplified architecture
• Better alignment with business requirements due to customizable solution
• Strengthened network security to ensure service continuity
• Improved operational efficiency with enhanced integrations and automation

“Moving from Infoblox DDI to EfficientIP was a sensible choice for us. It addressed our cost concerns and our need for customization, making it a more suitable option for our business requirements.”
Sathish G, IT Deputy General Manager, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Situation and Challenges Being Faced

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise had relied on Infoblox for several years to manage its DDI (DNS-DHCP-IPAM) needs, first through on-premises hardware and later via AWS EC2 virtual machines. The organization faced significant expenses due to both DDI licensing fees and AWS instance charges, creating a dual cost burden. Management grew concerned as pricing continued to rise each year and an Infoblox version upgrade was required, leading to a cost nearly three times more than the current setup, prompting an evaluation of more cost- effective and streamlined alternatives.

In addition to financial challenges, the company required greater flexibility. As an R&D-driven business, it needed customization capabilities for domain and subdomain configurations, as well as support for specialized DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). Limited customization options, coupled with an expensive licensing model made the current platform less viable for the company’s long-term needs. These constraints pushed the team to explore other solutions that could better align with their technical and financial requirements.

Beyond cost and customization, operational issues also arose with the incumbent DDI solution. Ensuring redundancy required multiple regional deployments, which was both complex and costly. Security was another pain point, as the company suffered DDoS attacks that could only be mitigated through additional paid modules. Moreover, day-to-day tasks like bulk uploads and integrations with LDAP or Active Directory had to be handled manually, slowing down workflows. Taken together, these challenges led the company to choose EfficientIP SOLIDserver™, a platform that addressed their needs for simplification, affordability, customization, security, and efficiency.

The Selected EfficientIP Solution

Many solutions were considered for their DNS and IPAM needs, but quickly discarded as Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise required a stable and established DDI solution that would also cater to their DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) architecture. As an OEM with a large R&D network, the company required advanced customization options. Their DNSSEC setup demanded specific Access Control Lists (ACLs), filters, and custom configurations beyond the basic DNSSEC capabilities offered by a standard Windows server.

The company selected EfficientIP DDI after conducting a successful proof of concept (POC) that demonstrated the solution’s ability to meet all their requirements. The smooth migration process was much appreciated by Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, with IT Deputy General Manager Sathish emphasizing that “the seamless migration from Infoblox to EfficientIP caused minimal downtime, ensuring none of the applications experienced any disruption. What stood out was the stability after go-live — there were almost no user tickets or escalations reported following the migration, which is truly commendable given the scale of change.”

A key objective of the POC was to validate EfficientIP’s ability to support technical requirements, while also simplifying DNS management. The company wanted to separate external and internal DNS systems to avoid conflicts and ensure long-term stability, and EfficientIP enabled this separation effectively.

At present, the Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise team has deployed EfficientIP’s SOLIDserver DDI module along with Cloud Observer which they expect will add significant value for their cloud visibility and management. Sathish remarked on EfficientIP’s customer-centric approach, stating: “During the implementation, I found the EfficientIP professional teams to be very good. They listened to our requirements, which I truly appreciate.”

“The EfficientIP solution has delivered clear cost and technical advantages compared to Infoblox DDI.”
Sathish G, IT Deputy General Manager, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise

Main Results

According to Sathish, “the EfficientIP solution has delivered clear cost and technical advantages compared to Infoblox DDI”. That is particularly true when it comes to redundancy. While previously two separate instances across regions were required to achieve failover, EfficientIP allows two nodes to act as a single redundant unit. This not only reduces infrastructure complexity but also lowers overall costs, as fewer resources are needed to establish a reliable and resilient environment. By streamlining redundancy, SOLIDserver enables Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise to maintain high availability without overspending, while also simplifying their architecture.

Moving to SOLIDserver DDI has provided greater customization capabilities, which were critical given the complexity of their operations. EfficientIP’s interface also offers everything available on a single page, allowing users to browse and select options easily.

Another strong benefit perceived by Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is the smooth and effortless handling of bulk uploads. In the past, administrators had to carefully format and map data before executing bulk actions, which often led to failures and manual rework. In contrast, EfficientIP makes the process seamless and highly reliable, significantly reducing technical friction. This capability saves time and minimizes the risk of human error, empowering administrators to process large- scale requests quickly and confidently. As a result, tasks that once required tedious manual intervention can now be completed with ease, boosting both productivity and accuracy.

Lastly, concerning their network ecosystem, Satish remarked that: “EfficientIP has brought significant improvements regarding integrations, particularly with systems like LDAP and Active Directory.” SOLIDserver offers a much smoother and more straightforward process, enabling better interoperability across IT environments. This streamlined integration has reduced dependency on manual workarounds and has increased automation potential, enhancing the overall efficiency of network management. By simplifying redundancy, easing bulk operations, and improving integrations, the EfficientIP solution has ultimately reduced costs, saved time, and made administration far more efficient and reliable.

In the Future

Once the system is fully stabilized with the EfficientIP DDI and Cloud Observer products, there are plans to expand by implementing additional SOLIDserver modules. Example functionalities being explored include the EfficientIP DNS security suite, as well as analytical features which were not available with the previous DDI solution.

Overall, EfficientIP DDI has not only met the company’s need for a customizable and cost-effective solution, it also provided a clear path for future scalability.