Case Studies > A10 Thunder ADC Enables Improved Proxy Server Performance for Softbank Corp.

A10 Thunder ADC Enables Improved Proxy Server Performance for Softbank Corp.

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Region

Asia

Country

Japan

Product

A10 Thunder ADC

Tech Stack

API Integration
SDN
NFV

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Cost Savings
Customer Satisfaction
Productivity Improvements

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Cloud Computing
Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

Applicable Industries

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Services

System Integration
Software Design & Engineering Services

About The Customer

Softbank Corp. is a core company within the Softbank Group, providing both fixed-line and mobile communication services, as well as Internet connection services. The company offers a variety of gateway services to customers who use corporate network and VPN services. Softbank Corp. operates various businesses, including mobile, audio/fixed-line telephones, network/VPN, cloud, security, data center, and digital marketing services. The company aims to be essential to people everywhere, guided by its management philosophy, 'Information Revolution – Happiness for Everyone.'

The Challenge

Softbank Corp. faced a significant challenge with the performance of their proxy servers due to a surge in the use of cloud applications like Office 365 and Suite. The increased number of network service users led to an Internet bottleneck, affecting the performance of services that required many sessions. Additionally, mounting individual security functions for each client was costly and time-consuming, failing to meet customer budgets and schedules. Softbank needed a new system to improve proxy performance and reduce the load caused by the rapid uptake of cloud applications.

The Solution

Softbank Corp. turned to A10 Thunder ADC, a next-generation application delivery controller by A10 Networks, to address their proxy performance issues. The A10 Thunder ADC was already familiar to Softbank as they had used it as load balancers. The ADC's multi-tenant function and fully open API made it suitable for providing high-performance proxy services to multiple clients. The ADC's shared memory architecture and ACOS Harmony Platform OS enabled flexible cooperation with virtualizations in network domains like SDN and NFV. This setup allowed Softbank to automate complex setup changes, reduce operational costs, and improve proxy performance.

Operational Impact

The A10 Thunder ADC enabled Softbank to provide high-performance proxy services as a network service for corporate users, redirecting normal Internet traffic to a server for Web filtering and allowing direct access to specific cloud applications.
The adoption of A10 Thunder ADC significantly reduced the load for manual maintenance by automatically reflecting domain information changes for Office 365 via the API.
The automation of complex procedures through the provided APIs simplified operations and reduced man-hours, cutting costs by about half compared to the previous environment.
Lead times for service implementation were reduced by a couple of months, allowing Softbank to offer services demanded by clients more inexpensively.
The diligent support from A10 Networks, including setup information and knowhow, contributed to the smooth installation and efficient operation of the ADC.

Quantitative Benefit