Interview with the Chief information officer of RusHydro Garald Bandurin

TAdviser: Garald Ivanovich, tell, please, about the main points of IT strategy of RusHydro.

Garald Bandurin: Highlights of strategy include formation of a common information space, reduction in cost of all costs - both institutional, and transactional that it was possible to implement such technologies which bring qualitative effect. For example, technologies of multidimensional design of power facilities, technologies of asset management and funds, any technologies of management systems, including technology processes of the top level.

Strategy forms on several fabrication cycles. The IT equipment has a fabrication cycle: at the general economy equipment, for example, it makes 5-7 years, at technology - about 15 years. And strategy is an understanding of your behavior on several fabrication cycles therefore it is not reviewed cardinally. Our current strategy in a basic type was accepted in 2006, and it is quite regularly upgraded, including - in the form of plans which affirm as the company annually, and their accomplishment is very tremblingly monitored by the relevant divisions.

TAdviser: What your plans concerning development of basic IT infrastructure of holding? Not so long ago, for example, RusHydro carried out the choice of the contractor for design of network of DPCs which are going to be set for all HEPS.

Garald Bandurin: Here we have two vectors of development. The first — the second year Technical Council for IT of holding discusses and makes decisions on how to integrate infrastructure in holding reasonably, and there are already corresponding results. We are going to integrate everything is not total and so that conveniently worked e-mail, document flow, reference books, etc. We expect to complete expansion and streamlining of infrastructure within two years.

Concerning a qualitative vector of development — we have a system of DPCs, but each hydroelectric power station, each power facility is a DPC by determination therefore to say that we build them from scratch it would be incorrect: there are a lot of computing resources. Let's say on hydroelectric power stations only of the Volga and Kama area there are about 500 servers, and about the same - on technology tasks, in total it is more than one thousand.

If to speak about projects of improvement of our infrastructure — yes, we build the distributed DPC on all power facilities which for today we have, using cloud computing including some innovations in this part. In particular, with industrial cloud applicaions for the solution of a number of technology tasks, so-called "industrial cloud". It is the cloud computing allowing to solve problems with guaranteed response time.

It begins to develop now, and we in this part very actively work as at us, from the point of view of DPC, over the country of a condition it is better, than anywhere for today. Magnificent data transmission channels: if to look at hydropower objects on top, then all types of communications of the country pass through our dams, as a rule. For example, channels of Rostelecom,Transtelecom, different local "telecoms", therefore in terms of data transmission at us very good conditions.

In terms of power security that too is important for DPCs - best of all and more correctly, than at power plant you will not receive electricity anywhere, and ourselves provide ourselves with the electric power. With security at us too everything is good therefore on these three factors we are objects which in terms of construction of DPCs, both from the point of view of CAPEX, and from the point of view of OPEX — are the most profitable. We build network of DPCs with such calculation now that we will provide a part of this infrastructure to somebody on a commercial basis, or to perform some parallel functions with its help.

TAdviser: Whom do you first of all see as consumers of commercial services based on your DPCs?

Garald Bandurin: Any infrastructure companies for which it can be necessary, any companies which need a backup in an infrastructure part both in our industry, and in other industries. Now we conduct negotiations with a number of such companies, I cannot open their names yet. Providing such services should improve also our economy and allow to capitalize these assets that is point of our special strategy.

TAdviser: From large-scale IT projects, as far as we know, at you creation of a management system for financial and economic activity based on a SAP software also starts.

Garald Bandurin: We now use ERP based on the platform of 1C in which several thousands of people work. We worked with 1C long enough – about 10 years. A little who has more than 1000 jobs in a single system where there is both business planning, and the accounting system, and personnel management.

SAP implementation will allow to change our logic of work and to pass into the next generation of systems. At the same time in present logic of management the small enterprises, small offices – like those at us are - will remain on 1C.

TAdviser: The SAP company is your strategic partner?

Garald Bandurin: With large vendors we on strategy build up partnership, and SAP not an exception here. However It should be noted that this process with SAP goes difficult, as well as, probably, with any large vendor. A task in building of the relations — to come to such form of interaction that the vendor listened to requirements of the end consumer more attentively, especially large, and on the other hand — that the consumer using large industry vendor worked a number of technologies which are really necessary to it. At vendors often happens so that they think out something, then the marketing service sells it though the consumer of it did not ask. We build up vendor relations that also we were heard that we could influence the next versions of a product actively.

The main problem here — the most part of vendors is focused only on sales for today, and it concerns also the Russian offices, and even foreign. It is very heavy to find people who would be responsible not for sales current quarter, in the current year, and for the next versions of releases. Therefore to reach such people who make technical solutions which are ready to include us in really acting working groups which would develop new technologies – it is rather difficult.

TAdviser: And still of some business applications you are going to change platforms?

Garald Bandurin: Now we use EDMS Documentum, on several thousands of users too. This system is rather heavy and expensive, and we think now what with it to do. We develop EDMS further, and with the platform, probably, we will watch how to us to move further. We need to go to cost characteristic that one workplace of the user cost us no more than $100, and with Documentum it is extremely heavy to receive it.

If from vendor there is a mutual understanding, then we will meet halfway, but from the technology point of view it is the most profitable to us to work with technologies of Microsoft because at us already infrastructure is unrolled, and it is only necessary to add to it a certain type routing of documents, attributes and everything will work. Therefore we consider such option now.

TAdviser: What most important IT projects did you implement in 2012-2013 and what projects are planned?

Garald Bandurin: There is a lot of projects. In addition to the project connected with automation of our financial and economic activity about which it was told earlier there are very large projects among which – system implementation for management of our assets, expected several thousands of jobs. There are also long projects which are tied on the system of multidimensional design and modeling of power facilities, it becomes with institutes and the construction organizations, with producers and exploiters of systems. Also we have a management system for the water modes, too very big project.

Still we use the systems of multidimensional automated design, we to it move, it is heavy process. In particular, we use solutions Dassault Systems AutoCAD. In the nearest future our coordinating committee is going to create from any experience existing at us single solution for all holding.

TAdviser: What technologies do you use in the field of information security support?

Garald Bandurin: We use components, including, and SAP. We have very large and distributed cybersecurity solution on the country, it is in development. From the technology point of view it is interesting, very similar to Dome at Israelis. I am not a user of this system, in my opinion — it is productive, with interest examine us many other companies, about it there is an interaction. This case is coordinated to risk management system, we can do an economic projection including terrorist threats in order that if necessary to explain to the investor how different risks are connected with these or those threats, directly with the cost of the company.

From interesting projects regarding cybersecurity - we now keep the joint project with Kaspersky Lab: we build a security system of technology processes, including some elements of antivirus protection of the technology systems.

TAdviser: How many people work in IT service "RusHydro" and how it is arranged?

Garald Bandurin: The direct IT-state at RusHydro - 100 people and about 800 people together with RJSC DV. Now we are going to perform optimization of the IT state within holding, but there is no place to reduce it to us, in fact, further already because we are approximately in the European parameters also so now.

Our IT service is organized as Competence Center which is distributed over the country. Technical council of the company now just fulfilled such situation that at us Competence Centers begin to appear in Yakutia, in the Far East, it very conveniently. The call center at us, for example, is located on Zhigulyovsk and on Bureya hydroelectric power stations, working round the clock.

At such organization there is very much an opportunity — it is not necessary to bring up all specialists to Moscow: the person can implement the technical, engineering, financial and human ambitions, without moving to the capital because to manage such network huge — extremely difficult, extremely interesting and honourable if also pay for it rather well.

Now under big projects we will broaden a little the state on separate tasks, with subsequent distribution, it is now discussed. Expansion of states in the company is always heavy history, the wages funds do not like to do it therefore it is difficult discussed issue now.

TAdviser: Speaking about need to broaden the state under large projects which are now kept — whether it is possible to speak about outsourcing of specialists whether it is possible to involve part of them from outside, without broadening own state? What do you think of it?

Garald Bandurin: We treat outsourcing somewhere normally, somewhere not. Under the large project on SAP, for example, we will use resources of partners who will be engaged in its implementation. In practice usually within development of the project in us there is the Competence Center which we move further. For example, on 1C we had a Competence Center on Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP 7 years ago, now in it 10 people work.

Besides, now we create the affiliated service enterprise which will perform our internal IT services and insourcing by analogy with Greenatom in Rosatom. It will be vocational education which will work only for itself.

We are subsector of power, and subsectors have always a certain problem — some types of specialists cannot be found in the market, they can only be reproduced in the own environment. Hydropower engineer you will not find anywhere, too will not find the hydropower IT equipment technologist anywhere, they should be reproduced at themselves therefore also the structure will be such which is able to reproduce them that it was possible to move further.

TAdviser: What specialists will make the main part of the state of this insourcing company?

Garald Bandurin: There are difficult tasks: there are components which are tied on computing powers and on communication, people with a certain quality are precisely necessary there, and partially they already are, and partially we will understaff this state, we will finish learning people. A part of specialists who already in staff of the company, it will be transferred to this project.

TAdviser: What main objectives of this organization will be?

Garald Bandurin: Providing holding with IT services in sufficient volume, with the necessary quality and at the best price. I will note that in addition to service company there is one more structure which we display now - it is structure of general designer of management systems. It is necessary in order that all management systems were projected in one logic that all solutions and that it was possible to perform really integration of these solutions both at the level of infrastructure, and at the level of a data model, and at the level of separate applications, the systems of data exchange in conformity worked.

Now we discuss where this structure will be and as it will be organized – as the separate legal entity or as a part of some of our institutes. Most likely, from the first quarter 2014 we will start process of its creation.