Interview with the head of the department of development and maintenance of software of FG "Life" by Evgeny Pavlov

Head of the department of development and support of the software of FG "Life" Evgeny Pavlov

TAdviser: Evgeny, today for most financial companies technology development comes to the forefront. Whether there is an IT strategy at Life Financial Group? If yes, that what term it is expected and what its key points?

Evgeny Pavlov: Certainly, we have an IT strategy. The Life financial Group has wide experience of development and use of the strategic maps based on the balanced scorecard (Balanced Scorecard). In 2008 the Life Group became the first Russian company which entered the Hall of Fame balanced the systems of indicators for achievements in the field of strategy implementation (Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame for executing strategy) of the Palladium company founded by ideologists of BSC Norton and Kaplan. Strategy of group is developed till 2020, and IT strategy is its branch and is updated each 3 years.

More than 7 years our permanent consultant during creation of IT strategy is the Gartner company using which strategies of the last years were successfully developed and implemented. The previous option of IT strategy was accepted in 2010, and strategy the next three years affirms now. It includes four key directions: infrastructure management and cloud computing, management of lifecycle of applications,information security, management of IT services.

The direction on development of infrastructure and cloud computing assumes creation in Financial Group of a hybrid cloud that afterwards together with any provider of services to sell cloud services to third-party customers. Here different options are possible, including - cloud services within banking services. It is one of the priority directions.

If to speak about control block lifecycle of applications, he mentions everything that is connected with development and software testing. We have rather big team of own developers, and this part of IT strategy includes also correction of some moments connected with it. Besides, the block assumes selection of new commands which would not be tied on the current projects and could react to innovations quickly.

As for management of IT services, it is important to note that now all services which are rendered by any service division of Group, including IT are on sale at cost to our businesses by means of the conclusion of SLA. Therefore this block of strategy is aimed at the development of process management of IT, the correct formation of cost of IT services and the conclusion of SLA and also aims to increase transparency of pricing of IT services as for his understanding in Group, and outside at further possible sale of IT services to external clients.

TAdviser: Possibly, IT strategy assumes implementation of a project portfolio. How in FG "Life" project activity is based?

Evgeny Pavlov: Yes, in relation to project activity in the direction of IT we have a concept of the Single service technology platform, and annually within it the project portfolio which intermediate results controls, including, the president of Group forms. Each project has the KPI, meetings where reports on the done work and further plans of implementation of the tasks are considered are weekly held. Such opersistema allows to detect timely problems and to avoid risks.

TAdviser: Throughout a project subject what key IT projects were implemented in FG "Life" in 2013?

Evgeny Pavlov: Creation of reserve DPC was the most large-scale and difficult project in 2013, perhaps. For it we used the leased platform where we placed own equipment. In addition to directly creation of DPC, we also carried out evolution of the majority of our systems on virtual environment based on software of VMware that will allow them to work in distributed environment.

Among other large projects - start of the bus (Enterprise Service Bus), creation of a universal layer of bank services within transfer of software to the service-oriented architecture. This project proceeds also in 2014. On the one hand, it is directed to an outcome of the existing systems, and on the other hand - to connection new.

One more project - implementation of a MDM system for management of the normative reference documentation. Most often the MDM projects mention only client data, but we went a little further and created reference books which are used in all main systems on the MDM system. As a result all our software products, and their more than 20, will address the same reference books.

Among interesting projects of 2013 there is a big project on lead generation. Its purpose – processing of an array of unstructured client data using the mathematical models allowing to receive leads – customer information with high probability having this or that need. Leads go to personal managers who process them, and, having convinced available at the client of the revealed requirement, make upsell.

TAdviser: What main IT projects are planned for 2014?

Evgeny Pavlov: This year at us the Enterprise Service Bus project actively proceeds, we connect all new systems to the bus. A presumable date of completion of this project – the end of 2015.

In 2014 within IT strategy the project on management of lifecycle of applications started. Initially this project was planned for a year, but, most likely, the term of its implementation will be prolonged and will be not less than two years. It is connected with the fact that, despite quite large number of own developers, at us had no time for the end development process of software is built: there were no classical services of testing, etc. Now we already outgrew that level of development when the same people can be engaged in both that, and another, and we need distribution of functionality and high-quality management of lifecycle.

This approach of reasonable distribution of functionality is applicable also to all IT service FG "Life". Last year ripened and its structural changes were implemented. Within division of IT we selected several processes and departments: direction of architecture and operation of applications, management of IT infrastructure, blocks of support of jobs, development, plastic cards,RBS, analysts and reportings.

Continuing to speak about projects, it is possible to note that development of cloud computing - LifeCloud - also the project of 2014, same year began a new stage of the project on development of the risk reporting. The project on lead generation proceeds. In addition, now we start a number of the pilot projects aiming at check of some hypotheses.

TAdviser: Any strategy is based on infrastructure. How Group IT infrastructure is arranged? What main IT systems are used? How unified IT infrastructure for different banks of Group is?

Evgeny Pavlov: In addition to classical banks enter into Life Financial Group also Банк24.ру, Bureau of finance solutions "We will go" also National bank of savings. These three banks have own infrastructure and the software. All others are integrated by the general infrastructure and use same software.The Solidarnost bank which is recently sanified by Group was also transferred to our systems.

IT infrastructure of FG "Life" is completely centralized. We use two data centers which are located in Moscow, and all banks operate software, placed on these platforms. As for main systems, for accounting of the credits and deposits we use our own development - Front which was written from the basis of Group, and the ledger and RKO work for us based on RS-Bank V6 software.

In a type of the fact that the Group constantly is replenished with new assets in 2013 we conducted examination as far as our own development is capable to cope with such expansions, and it showed that in the next 5-10 years it can successfully work. Last year we performed its upgrade.

If to speak about plastic cards, we use Way4 system. Our processing center is also located in Moscow, and in it both banks of the Life Group, and some third-party banks, for example, Territorial bank and Neklis-bank are serviced.

TAdviser: Continuing a conversation on applications, what analytical systems you use?

Evgeny Pavlov: The corporate storage at us is constructed based on Oracle, it was implemented in 2011 and is used, generally for the management reporting. For the risk reporting we use SAS for banking. In addition, last year we implemented software of SAS for the analysis of operational risks. We also look towards analytical CRM. Now inspection is complete, and we conduct the choice of vendor of such system.

TAdviser: And some other the CRM system you already use?

Evgeny Pavlov: Yes, in total we use four different CRM in different business divisions. Among them are present as industrial solutions, such as,Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and a self-written system to which from business there are no complaints.

TAdviser: How much the person works in IT department of FG Life and how its state changed lately?

Evgeny Pavlov: The number of staff of IT departments of Group – a little more than 500 people. It is quite big command, and recently the number of employees in it remains approximately at the same level. We do not plan expansion of the state, for the purpose of cost optimization new tasks will be redistributed inside and to be transferred partially to outsourcing.

We use outsourcing already now: in particular, for service of all our hardware solutions and also for administration of databases. On outsourcing also RS-Bank support is found. We work with the selected outsourcer's employees who accommodate in our territory, it allows to control quality of accomplishment of tasks. In work with outsourcers it is extremely important for us that the same KPI which before IT service put business divisions were stated in agreements with them. With such contractors we have long-term partnership.