Securing Data Center Infrastructure for a Regional Credit Union

Overview

As part of a broader digital transformation and security modernization strategy, a regional Credit Union partnered with TDI Vertical to revamp the security architecture across its two critical data centers. These data centers were the foundation of the organization’s core banking, member services, and internal operations, and operated with outdated firewalls and flat, unsegmented network architecture. This left the Credit Union vulnerable to lateral threats, lacked effective traffic visibility, and presented challenges in maintaining compliance with evolving financial regulations.

The primary goal of the engagement was to elevate the security posture of these data centers by migrating to a next-generation firewall (NGFW) platform. This involved a hardware refresh and a complete redesign of how internal traffic was segmented, monitored, and controlled. TDI Vertical’s work enabled granular east-west traffic segmentation, centralized policy management, and enhanced visibility into application-level flows, capabilities previously unavailable due to legacy constraints.

Redesign of data center firewall architecture created groundwork for future advancements such as SD-WAN connectivity, branch consolidation, and zero-trust security adoption. By transforming the data center infrastructure from a reactive, static security model to a proactive and dynamic one, the Credit Union positioned itself to meet both current operational demands and future scalability. The data centers, once a security liability, became resilient hubs of secure connectivity and compliance readiness.

Business Challenge

Despite operating critical services out of two primary data centers, the Credit Union’s existing security infrastructure lacked the capabilities needed to protect against modern threats, support compliance, and scale with digital transformation goals.

• Outdated Firewall Infrastructure
  Both primary and secondary data centers were protected by legacy firewalls that lacked modern security features and could not support advanced threat prevention or segmentation strategies.
• Flat Network Architecture
  The absence of granular segmentation meant that all internal environments (e.g., dev, prod, member services) were interconnected, exposing the organization to unchecked lateral movement in the event of a breach.
• Limited Traffic Visibility
  Security teams had minimal insight into application-level traffic flows within and between data centers, impairing their ability to detect anomalies or enforce intelligent policy controls.
• Inconsistent and Manual Policy Management
  Firewall policies were applied manually and inconsistently, increasing the likelihood of configuration errors, delays in policy enforcement, and audit failures.
• Operational Inefficiencies
  Lack of centralized firewall management resulted in time-consuming administrative processes, poor change management workflows, and increased overhead for IT and compliance teams.
• Inability to Scale with Digital Strategy
  The existing infrastructure could not support the Credit Union’s digital banking roadmap, SD-WAN, or evolving regulatory compliance needs.
• Security and Compliance Risks
  Without a unified, modern security model, the organization faced elevated operational risk and challenges in demonstrating compliance with financial services regulations.

Solution & Design

To meet the Credit Union’s urgent need for a secure, scalable, and regulation-ready data center environment, TDI Vertical provided an end-to-end solution that seamlessly integrated strategic architecture design with hands-on implementation. The initiative focused on migrating to a next-generation firewall (NGFW) platform while simultaneously establishing the technical groundwork for future SD-WAN deployment and zero-trust security enablement. Key elements of the solution included:

• End-to-End Firewall Migration
  Seamless transition of all Layer 3 gateway interfaces from legacy firewalls to modern NGFWs at both data centers, ensuring uninterrupted services and enhanced performance.
• Granular East-West Segmentation
  Designed and implemented traffic segmentation across distinct environments such as development, production, member services, and core banking to isolate traffic and reduce lateral threat exposure.
• Centralized Management Console
  Deployed a unified management platform that enabled consistent policy enforcement, real-time traffic visibility, and centralized logging across both data centers.
• Advanced Traffic Analytics
  Integrated analytics tools to monitor application-layer traffic, optimize firewall policies, and generate actionable insights for security and operations teams.
• SD-WAN Enablement
  Activated features within the NGFW platform to support future WAN consolidation, hybrid connectivity models, and branch-level network simplification.
• Phased Cutover and Operational Planning
  Executed migration in carefully staged phases using detailed runbooks, minimizing risk and ensuring zero downtime during implementation.
• Cross-Team Collaboration
  Worked closely with infrastructure and compliance teams throughout the project lifecycle to align design decisions with audit requirements and operational priorities.

This integrated solution transformed the Credit Union’s data center security architecture, enabled operational agility, reduced administrative overhead, and positioned the institution for long-term digital growth.

Unique TDI Vertical Contributions

TDI Vertical played a pivotal role in transforming the Credit Union’s data center security posture not just by deploying technology, but by delivering strategic value through deep industry expertise and execution excellence. Key contributions included:

• Financial Services Security Expertise
  Brought domain-specific knowledge of security frameworks, compliance mandates, and operational priorities unique to the financial services sector, ensuring alignment with regulatory and business objectives.
• Proprietary Segmentation Framework
  Deployed a battle-tested, proprietary segmentation strategy that allowed rapid deployment of environment-specific security zones without disrupting core applications or workflows.
• Turnkey Migration Strategy
  Delivered an end-to-end plan covering architecture, phased cutover, rollback contingencies, testing protocols, and compliance readiness, ensuring a smooth, risk-managed transition.
• Operational Efficiency Gains
  Enabled a centralized firewall management approach that significantly reduced policy changes overhead, streamlined audits, and improved operational agility.
• Empowered Internal Teams
  Provided hands-on training and enablement for in-house security analysts and infrastructure teams, ensuring they could confidently operate and manage the new security platform.
• Compliance-Driven Design
  Architected the solution to be audit-ready from day one, with embedded logging, policy versioning, and monitoring features aligned with examiner expectations.

TDI Vertical’s value went beyond implementation—it elevated the Credit Union’s IT organization into a proactive, strategic enabler of secure digital services and future-ready infrastructure.

Results & Impact

The credit Union’s data center security architecture modernization delivered immediate, measurable outcomes: strengthening cyber resilience, streamlining operations, and providing the groundwork for future strategic initiatives.

Key results included:

• Significant Risk Reduction
  East-west segmentation reduced lateral movement risk by over 80%, sharply limiting the spread potential of internal threats and elevating the organization’s overall security posture.
• Enhanced Visibility and Control
  Security and network teams gained full application-layer visibility across environments, allowing faster detection, better traffic management, and informed decision making.
• Streamlined Policy Management
  Centralized firewall management enabled consistent policy deployment and auditing. As a result, firewall change requests became faster and significantly less error prone.
• Improved Compliance and Audit Readiness
  Unified logging, monitoring, and policy versioning supported real-time audits and compliance reporting, reducing preparation time and enhancing regulator confidence.
• Future-Ready Network Foundation
  Activation of SD-WAN features unlocked the potential for branch network consolidation, MPLS cost savings, and hybrid cloud connectivity, positioning the Credit Union for scalable, secure growth.
• Operational Empowerment
  With in-house teams fully trained by TDI Vertical, the organization became self-sufficient in managing and scaling its new security environment, transforming IT into a trusted, strategic enabler of digital banking.

Beyond the technical achievements, the project provided the critical foundation for the Credit Union’s broader zero-trust and cloud-readiness roadmap. Executive leadership viewed the outcome as a major milestone in aligning security with innovation, enabling the secure delivery of modern member services.