Deploying the Next Generation Network to 130 Million People Required More Than Good Spectrum. The IT Organization Had to Scale Just as Fast.

A publicly traded wireless carrier was building one of the largest networks in the country, covering more than 70 markets and reaching approximately 130 million people. The IT organization supporting that buildout was under pressure from every direction at once.

Industry: Digital Infrastructure & Telecommunications

Size: ~3600 employees; wireless network reaching ~130M people across 70+ U.S. markets

Ownership: Public

Business Challenge

The company's IT organization had grown rapidly and unevenly to support a deployment effort of enormous scale. Infrastructure and deployment teams were operating as separate functions when the work required them to operate as one. Architecture practices were underdeveloped for a company running a national telecommunications platform. Data architecture was fragmented, with no clear data domain model to support the system integrations the business depended on. The systems environment required tighter integration with architecture standards across the organization.

At the same time, the IT department was managing multiple concurrent projects with inadequate project management capacity and a PMO that had not established consistent processes. The result was friction at every level: between teams, between systems, and between the speed the business needed and the speed IT could deliver.

• Multiple simultaneous projects across care and billing systems without adequate project management coverage

• Fragmented data architecture with no data domain model to support complex system integrations

• Infrastructure and deployment teams operating as separate silos, requiring consolidation into a unified Technical Architecture function

• No formal technical and solutions architecture practice to govern a national-scale telecommunications IT environment

• PMO lacking formal SDLC processes, best practices, and the structure needed to support department-wide execution

Our Approach & Solution

CIO Source deployed a team of senior consultants targeting specific capability gaps. A principal consultant provided director-level leadership to consolidate the infrastructure and deployment teams into a new Technical Architecture group, establishing technical and solutions architecture practices aligned to the company's platform strategy.

A data architecture specialist developed the data architecture framework and data domain definitions the IT organization needed, providing advisory support to development teams navigating complex integration decisions. Project managers provided project planning, resource coordination, issue tracking, and stakeholder reporting across active programs in the care and billing systems. A solutions architect supported those programs by documenting data flows, mapping system interactions to business processes, and providing architecture guidance on key design decisions. Finally, a principal consultant joined the PMO to define SDLC processes, establish PMO best practices, and help build a high-performing program management capability across the department.

Business Results & Outcomes

• Consolidated fragmented infrastructure and deployment teams into a functioning Technical Architecture group with defined leadership and practices

• Established technical and solutions architecture standards aligned to the company's core platform

• Delivered data architecture framework and domain definitions enabling cleaner system integrations across the IT environment

• Provided project management coverage across multiple simultaneous care and billing system programs

• Defined SDLC processes and PMO best practices that gave the IT department a foundation for consistent program delivery

Executive Takeaway

Building a national wireless network while simultaneously standing up the IT organization capable of sustaining it is a management challenge that few companies face at this scale and speed. CIO Source provided the architecture leadership, data architecture expertise, project management capacity, and PMO development the IT organization needed to operate at the pace the business demanded.