Commvault: Lumen Consolidates 23 Backup Platforms

Name: Commvault: Lumen Consolidates 23 Backup Platforms
Uploaded: 2026-08-24T07:19:22-04:00
Duration: 3 min 24 s
Description: Managing data protection at enterprise scale requires more than backup. It requires a strategy that can support growth, simplify operations, strengthen cyber resilience, and protect data across on-premises and multi-cloud environments. In this customer...

Commvault

08/24/2026

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Transcript

Teams here at Lumen. I'm Joe Meyer. I'm a Principal Architect and I support the Storage and Backup Teams at Lumen. Lumen is a company that's made up of many companies we grew through acquisition. Before Commvault, we actually had 23 separate backup environments to manage. Our environment's complexity was approaching critical mass, facing increased demand on the backup team. It was clear that new technology was required. Lumen's requirements are vast. We needed a proven solution that would provide performance, scalability, cloud protection, and immutability. The highlights really were compatibility with the legacy systems that we have. Other suppliers didn't align with our desire to provide ransomware protection for 100% of our data. The support portals for on-prem and cloud implementations are basically the same. They're seamless. An established data protection provider for GovCloud as well. Commvault's design enables us to provide ransomware protection and immutability for 100% of our data. Support for a broad range of database as well as VMware. The robust Active Directory and Entry ID protection is critical. Commvault's presence in the three major hyperscalers, Azure, AWS, and GCP, aligned with our goals to be a multi-cloud environment. AGP or AirGap Protect has enabled us to enhance data protection with immutability and indelibility for all of our data copies. As a result, we've centralized management that supports about a million backup jobs per month with a success rate in excess of 99%. The centralized management has really let the team gel around one platform. The robust deduplication and compression engines that are built into the product have achieved significant capacity savings and thus cost savings. Reducing the number of backup platforms has enabled infrastructure teams to focus on modernization, optimization, automation, and AI. Yeah, it really boils down to one thing, and that's capacity planning. It's really crucial to understand your current data set. What's your rate of change? What are your RTO and RPO requirements? We look forward to continuing our partnership with Commvault while we refine and optimize the Lumen validated design.

TL;DR

Lumen consolidated 23 separate backup environments into a single Commvault platform, dramatically reducing operational complexity across a large enterprise built through acquisition.
Commvault's ransomware protection and AirGap Protect immutability capabilities secured 100% of Lumen's data — a requirement that competing vendors could not fulfill.
The centralized platform now manages approximately one million backup jobs per month with a success rate exceeding 99%, spanning on-premises and multi-cloud environments including Azure, AWS, and GCP.
Consolidation freed Lumen's infrastructure teams to redirect focus toward modernization, optimization, automation, and AI initiatives rather than managing backup sprawl.

Summary

Lumen, a large telecommunications and technology company built through decades of acquisition, found itself managing 23 separate backup environments before turning to Commvault. The operational complexity had reached a breaking point, with growing demand on the backup team and no clear path to scale. Kara Smith, Senior Manager of Enterprise Storage and Backup Teams, and Joe Meyer, Principal Architect, explain how Commvault addressed Lumen's core requirements: performance, scalability, legacy system compatibility, ransomware protection, immutability, and multi-cloud support across Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud. A key differentiator was Commvault's ability to deliver ransomware protection and immutability for 100% of protected data — something competing vendors could not match. The AirGap Protect feature added an additional layer of indelibility across all data copies. The result is a centralized platform managing approximately one million backup jobs per month at a success rate exceeding 99%. Built-in deduplication and compression engines have driven meaningful capacity and cost savings, while consolidating platforms has freed infrastructure teams to focus on modernization, automation, and AI initiatives. Lumen's experience illustrates how enterprise-scale backup consolidation can simultaneously reduce operational burden, strengthen cyber resilience, and enable strategic technology investment.

Chapters

0:00 - Speaker Introductions
0:19 - Lumen's Backup Complexity Problem
0:45 - Why Commvault Was Selected
2:10 - Outcomes and Business Impact

Key Quotes

0:24 "Before Commvault, we actually had 23 separate backup environments to manage."
1:05 "Other suppliers didn't align with our desire to provide ransomware protection for 100% of our data."
1:54 "AGP or AirGap Protect has enabled us to enhance data protection with immutability and indelibility for all of our data copies."
2:10 "We've centralized management that supports about a million backup jobs per month with a success rate in excess of 99%."

FAQ

Why did Lumen choose Commvault over other backup vendors?

Lumen required compatibility with legacy systems, ransomware protection and immutability for 100% of data, multi-cloud support across Azure, AWS, and GCP, and GovCloud coverage. Competing vendors could not meet the ransomware protection requirement for all data, which was a decisive factor.

What practical advice does Lumen offer for large-scale backup consolidation?

Joe Meyer emphasizes that capacity planning is critical — organizations must understand their current data set, rate of change, and RTO/RPO requirements before undertaking a consolidation of this scale.

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