Advertising and Marketing Industry Challenges
The advertising and marketing services industry is highly fragmented. With holding groups managing hundreds of operating companies (OpCos) the fragmentation introduces several challenges such as the need for agencies to balance tight operating margins with scalable and high performing infrastructure.
At the same time, migration efforts are further complicated by application interdependencies and operating system compatibility issues. Multi-tenant environments require enhanced network segregation, while rising licensing costs for workloads add additional financial strain.
Client Challenges
As one of the world’s largest advertising groups, the client expressed dissatisfaction with its previous managed service provider emphasizing the need for greater visibility and control over its infrastructure.
The organization faced unique challenges stemming from its global scale and diverse operating company (OpCo) structure. Strict network segregation was required to ensure compliance across OpCos, while there was also a need to consolidate virtualized network services into cloud environments. Hosting Oracle workloads proved difficult due to the high licensing costs typically associated with public cloud deployments. Additionally, supporting Citrix desktops and virtual applications demanded a flexible and cloud-native approach. Simultaneously, the client needed a seamless strategy to migrate more than 1,600 virtual machines.
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Business Requirements
In addressing these challenges, the client defined several business-critical requirements. The company needed a private cloud platform capable of supporting its most complex workloads while enabling fast, large-scale migrations without disrupting operations.
Cost flexibility was essential, meaning the solution had to support dynamic optimization of workloads and commercial models rather than locking the company into rigid long-term commitments. At the same time, the client required granular control of the full stack, including vCenter and NSX-T gateways, to ensure visibility for both internal teams and its service integration partner. The overall strategy had to balance short-term consolidation with a long-term modernization roadmap for applications.
IBM’s Strategy & Solution
IBM positioned VMware on IBM Cloud as a hybrid extension to client's Azure-first strategy, delivering both immediate value and future-proofing. The approach was built on IBM’s “Migrate and Modernize” framework, which allowed the client to achieve cost savings while preparing for modernization initiatives.
IBM’s flexible commercial models offered significant advantages compared to Azure’s rigid three-year reserved instance pricing, with platform-wide discounts and customizable configurations ensuring costs could be dynamically optimized. By enabling the client and its service integration partner to directly manage infrastructure elements such as vCenter and NSX-T, IBM gave the client full stack visibility and control. Automated deployment capabilities accelerated delivery, allowing IBM to complete three private cloud builds and associated migrations ahead of schedule. In parallel, the client also began collaborating with IBM on Watsonx projects, including a generative AI B2B marketing platform hosted in IBM Cloud.
Solution Components
The solution was built on VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic, providing automated and flexible private cloud infrastructure. VMware HCX enabled seamless migrations at scale, while VMware NSX-T delivered advanced network segmentation and security across the client’s many OpCos. The workloads supported in this environment included custom applications, Oracle deployments, Citrix desktops, and over 1,600 virtual machines, all optimized for performance, governance, and cost efficiency.
Benefits & Measurable Impact
The partnership with IBM delivered tangible business outcomes. The client achieved savings of £2 million year over year by leveraging flexible commercial models and optimized workloads. Costs were reduced by 20% compared to Azure’s three-year reserved instance VMware pricing through IBM’s platform-wide discounts.
The three private cloud location builds and migrations were completed three months ahead of schedule thanks to IBM’s automated deployment capabilities, helping the client accelerate its cloud migration targets. Optimized infrastructure reduced carbon emissions and improved sustainability performance, while direct ownership of vCenter and NSX-T gave the client full governance and control across its stack. These improvements allowed the client to modify infrastructure in real time, aligning IT performance with the demands of fast-moving advertising campaigns.
Next Steps
In the short term, the client’s focus is on stabilizing and optimizing its consolidated environment across its hybrid multi-cloud landscape. Over the longer term, the company plans to migrate more complex workloads that are not currently supported by HCX and continue its work with IBM on next-generation initiatives. These include expanding the use of Watsonx to build AI-driven marketing platforms, which will complement its Azure strategy while reinforcing IBM Cloud as a specialized private cloud platform for its most complex workloads.
Organizations looking to reduce infrastructure costs can take advantage of IBM Cloud’s flexible pricing for VMware Cloud Foundation for Classic. With 30% savings on 1-year commitments and 38% savings on 3-year commitments, clients gain predictable costs while extending the value of their existing VMware investments. This promotional pricing enables enterprises to modernize their VMware environments on IBM Cloud with confidence, combining cost efficiency with the security, compliance, and scalability required for long-term growth.
Pricing and Promotions
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