How Trustmark Modernized a Six-State Network — and Reduced Annual Telecom Costs by Nearly 40%

When Trustmark needed to modernize a legacy network across 249 locations while managing billing disputes and a complex SD-WAN selection, they brought in BAZ Group to take over and get it done. The result: a nearly 40% reduction in annual telecom spend, a completed six-state migration, and zero exit penalties — on time and under budget.

COMPANY SNAPSHOT

THE CHALLENGE

Trustmark had been running on legacy carrier services — copper-based voice and data circuits, plus an AVPN WAN network that had served the bank well for years but had reached the end of its useful life. Leadership recognized it was time to modernize, and set out to do exactly that, moving away from AVPN toward an SD-WAN solution.

Two challenges were running in parallel. On the legacy side, planned disconnects were lagging behind schedule — meaning old voice and AVPN circuits were staying on the bill longer than they should have. Billing stewardship issues with the legacy carrier needed someone to own them and push them to resolution.

At the same time, Trustmark needed to select the right SD-WAN provider — a decision big enough to warrant a formal RFP process. They wanted an objective, vendor-neutral perspective to help navigate that selection and stay ahead of upcoming contract renewals.

The call to partner with BAZ came from Charlie Shields, the project manager overseeing Trustmark's SD-WAN initiative. Charlie had worked with BAZ President Molly Zraik at a previous client, and based on that track record, reached out to bring the team to Trustmark. Closing out the legacy carrier MPLS/AVPN exit on time with zero penalties, and staying under budget was the direction from leadership — and it had to be done right.

THE ENGAGEMENT

When BAZ came in, they stepped into an active, multi-front situation: legacy billing disputes to resolve, a vendor selection process to navigate, and a full network migration to manage — all running simultaneously across 249 locations.

BAZ worked closely with Trustmark's internal Network and Telco team throughout the engagement. On the legacy side, the team built and maintained a comprehensive service inventory, scrubbed every data circuit at every location prior to conversion, and mapped every contract into a renegotiation timeline. That groundwork made it possible to stay ahead of renewals and avoid unnecessary spend.

Billing stewardship on the legacy carrier side required BAZ to coordinate the carrier's own account resources to fairly resolve disputes and to work through conflicting paper trails across disconnects and credits. BAZ navigated the complicated process professionally — keeping Trustmark, the legacy carrier, and the broader project moving forward.

The SD-WAN migration kicked off in mid-2025, rolling out DIA and broadband services at all branches. BAZ coordinated vendors, technicians, and billing teams to keep the transition clean across every location type — standard branches, pilot sites, ATMs, and corporate locations in transition all required differentiated treatment. Data center connectivity and facility charges were tied out in full as well.

The migration completed in mid-2026, on time and under budget, with zero penalties on the legacy carrier MPLS exit — a result that required precise execution across a multi-year, multi-vendor, multi-location engagement.

Engagement Timeline

THE RESULTS

The numbers tell the story. Chris Davidson shares his thoughts from Trustmark's internal business review:

BAZ drove a nearly 40% reduction in Trustmark’s annual telecom spend during 2024–2025 — every dollar ongoing, recurring, and traceable to the invoice. And that’s only since BAZ was contracted into the project. The savings Trustmark achieved before BAZ arrived push the overall reduction even higher, making this one of the most impactful telecom transformations in the bank’s recent history.

The SD-WAN conversion alone accounted for the majority of the savings — and delivered more than just cost reduction. Legacy MPLS and ANIRA infrastructure was retired entirely, the project was completed on time and under budget, and the legacy carrier MPLS exit closed with zero penalties. In a transformation of this complexity and scale, that last point is no small achievement.

Savings Breakdown — Annual Telecom Spend Reduced

Every percentage point in the table above is ongoing, recurring, and traceable to the invoice — not a one-time credit.

FROM THE BAZ TEAM

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