Ciena Corporation, the global leader in high-speed connectivity, transformed its SharePoint site creation from a multi-hour IT bottleneck into a streamlined, few-click process that freed time for strategic innovation.

Using BindTuning's Automate365, Ciena reduced site delivery time from several hours per each site to minutes while implementing smart governance that maintains brand standards and security compliance. The solution eliminated manual configuration tasks and freed 3+ working days every month for IT professionals to pursue innovation.

"Now we can branch into AI research, additional automation research, and learn about the new tools. Every company out there is coming out with their version of AI, and Ciena won't lag," explains Berney Gehring, Enterprise Solution Architect.

The Challenge

SharePoint bottlenecks in the fast-moving corporation

As the global leader in high-speed connectivity, Ciena holds the world record for data transmission—1.6 terabits per second on a single fiber optic cable. "We are the best in the world at moving optical bits," explains Gehring.

For a company transmitting data across continents at such speed, internal delays undermined both innovation culture and competitive positioning. "Everything moves so fast that if I have an idea today, I can't wait four days, three days, before I can apply that idea," Gehring emphasizes.

And some of those ideas across departments at Ciena had to wait. The IT team, responsible for creating and supporting branded SharePoint sites, managed a massive digital ecosystem of Ciena’s 5,000+ sites serving nearly 10,000 employees and couldn’t move at the desired pace because:

• They were spending several hours per site request using migration tools.
• There were no standardized collaboration spaces, so departments operated in silos.
• Users defaulted to uploading files on basic Microsoft templates instead of creating properly branded workspaces.

Underneath, there was a deeper problem that impacted Ciena's strategic IT vision: being trapped in transactional relationships instead of serving as corporate consultants.

"We don't want IT to be a transactional organization that users come to say, I need this, then you give it to them," Gehring notes. "By positioning IT as the company's strategic partner, we can help advance and truly impact the bottom line."

However, what looked like a bottleneck for Ciena was the right challenge for SharePoint experts at BindTuning.

The Approach

Trust Before Technology

Ciena didn't stumble into BindTuning by accident. The relationship evolved organically over three years, starting with the SharePoint Web Parts solution, then naturally progressing to Automate365.

Over that time, it evolved into a true partnership built on two critical factors:

• Feedback implementation: BindTuning's approach includes active listening to the customer feedback and implementing it in the next iteration or implementation phase. The BT team took all Ciena's requests, questions, and needs as the solution's 'building blocks.'
• Strategic Understanding: Unlike vendors pushing generic automation, BindTuning understood Ciena's vision of transforming IT from transactional service to strategic consultant.

"It's been a great partnership, back and forth. I've come to Ricardo and the product team several times with a request like: 'I'd really love it if your product did this'. Then they would put their heads together and deliver exactly what we wanted." Gehring says.

The Solution

Automation Balanced With the Human-In-The-Loop

Automate365 transformed Ciena's site creation from a multi-hour manual process into a streamlined governance system that puts the right controls in the right places. But it also ensured people stay on top and critical touchpoints preserve human oversight.

"With Automate 365, users fill out a form; once they've filled out the form, then it comes to me for approval, I click one button, and they've got their SharePoint site, and they've got a templated, branded, ready-to-use SharePoint site with instructions on how to move forward," Gehring explains.

The solution addressed three critical layers:

• Smart template system: Ciena implemented three distinct site templates—full-fledged department sites, standard SharePoint sites, and externally available sites—each with automatic security configurations and pre-built page structures.
• Strategic approval workflow: The system notifies both IT and internal communications departments, ensuring high-level department sites get proper oversight while standard requests flow smoothly.
• Built-in governance: Users can edit their sites but cannot change permissions out of the box, requiring conversations with IT before publishing company-wide sites.

"We specifically put the roadblock in there so that users, before they publish their new site, must talk to the Enterprise Digital Strategy & Technology or the internal communications department. That helps us avoid that they're not publishing company-wide sites without all the standards, branding, and other rules," Gehring notes.

For example, sensitivity labels automatically apply to external sites, eliminating the common problem where users build everything only to discover that they can't share externally.

Templates include pre-configured web parts and page layouts, giving users the "art of the possible" rather than just what they requested.

The Outcomes

Ready For Strategic IT

The numbers tell the story of a fundamental shift from reactive service to strategic innovation at Ciena.

Productivity Boost

• From several hours to minutes: Site delivery time for users
• 4-5 sites per month: Current request volume
• 20+ hours saved every month on the creation of sites
• Within 1 hour: Site availability during business hours for urgent requests

Strategic Impact

• Zero manual configuration: Eliminates repetitive SharePoint setup tasks
• Freed developer time: Less time spent on authentication and technical issues
• Reduced administrator overhead: Less global admin and SharePoint admin time required

The time previously spent on manual site creation now fuels initiatives like Microsoft Copilot trials, Python development for large language models, and advanced automation research. This is the exact kind of work that IT Pros expect as they build the next wave of innovation for a high-speed moving company.

What’s Next

Scaling the Success Formula

With SharePoint site governance streamlined, Ciena is eyeing the next frontier: Microsoft Teams collaboration standardization.

"That's one of the areas we want to look into as we move forward. It’s coming up with Teams templates and then using Automate 365 to roll out easy, pre-configured teams," Gehring explains.

The 'Teams upgrade' will build on the success of SharePoint governance and strategic automation that maintains human oversight, so IT professionals can have even more time to focus on new initiatives.

As Ciena continues connecting continents at record-breaking speeds, its internal collaboration infrastructure now follows the pace of innovation—the one that positions the corporation at the forefront of global networking technology.