Chief information officer of SK "Rostra": We have high expectations from "clouds"

: Dmitry, tell, please, how IT in Rostra company are organized? What "economy" do you direct?

Dmitry Savelyev: Rostra is the universal insurance company rendering services in all territory of Russia. 61 branches and 135 separate divisions are its part, for each of which the continuity of insurance services has paramount value. Therefore in SK "Rostra" serious requirements to IT in terms of access to the different systems are imposed.

In the company the centralized architecture at which all information resources are in head office in Moscow is essentially used. We have practically everything, including telephony, works through IP network. Access of territorial subdivisions to IT services is organized through terminal services on the basis of solutions of Microsoft and Citrix.

We try to use as much as possible architectural opportunities of business applications, without setting them on client stations. The majority of server nodes in our corporate network, including virtual, is constructed based on technologies of Microsoft. Information environment of the company is focused also mainly on software solutions of this vendor, including main systems of versions 2008 and 2003.

Recently in the company several serious infrastructure projects came to the end. In particular, we implemented Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and the system of universal electronic communications Skype for Business (before Microsoft Lync) Server 2010. Based on the last in the company the systems of distance learning, a video conferencing, holding meetings and meetings, etc. now work.

In respect of "iron" the basis of infrastructure is formed by the equipment of HP. Our server base developed gradually and today includes both standard servers, and cluster solutions on a basis a blade systems.

TAdviser: What specialized and accounting systems do you use?

Dmitry Savelyev: A basis of a software platform of any insurance company – the insurance and financial systems. As like those in SK "Rostra" a specialized system "KIAS are used: Insurance" and solution "1C: Enterprise 8.0". Both systems are integrated with each other.

Work with documents is automated using DocsVision. But in respect of EDMS we still have big field for activity. Our internal portal and also the system of Internet sales and mobile sales with which intermediaries and insurance agents work are constructed on Microsoft SharePoint. The external portal for clients now actively develops. For example, we prepare start of the "personal account of the insurer" function thanks to which our clients will have an opportunity to find information on the status of request on an insured event, on own contracts, to pay insurance services, to direct requests for new services, to get advice at the same time considerably to save the time and, as a result, time of our company.

TAdviser: When you had an idea of creation of private "cloud"?

Dmitry Savelyev: The subject cloud computing, of course, attracted us, but seemed rather distant future. We did not set before ourselves the purpose in the next several months to implement "cloud". However, when experts suggested to make a pilot project of Asteros Consulting, we like this idea. At that time several clusters on the basis of Microsoft Hyper-V already worked for us. But, certainly, it was very interesting to us to understand possibilities of development in the "cloud" direction.

Asteros Consulting created a test "cloud" environment using our software products and licenses and showed how it works on four physical servers. We saw how the system of self-service works as the fault tolerance is provided and runtime allocation of loading between applications and servers is performed.

So far it is impossible to tell that we passed to "cloud computing". Colleagues from Asteros Consulting told us what tools exist, and showed how to use them. Now we have a clear vision, what systems we could transfer to "cloud" as to make it what finance and labor costs on it will be involved. Plans for deployment of a cloud environment in complete scale found specific outlines.

TAdviser: What part IT ifrastruktury Rostra is ready to place in "cloud"?

Dmitry Savelyev: Actually we are ready to transfer all our applied systems to "cloud". The matter is that they have rather big dependence on the calendar. During a reporting time when more than 50 branches prepare the mass of documents, unload large volumes of data, load of IT sharply increases. They will be excessive select large-scale IT resources for these transactions on a permanent basis not the most rational approach – in the rest of the time. It is interesting to us to use advantages of runtime allocation of loading which is imperceptible for the user and will not affect his work in any way, be he in Moscow or Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Besides, corporate applications constantly develop, improved, there are new versions and updates of programs. And it is better to implement all changes in a test environment which should resemble "fighting", and here "cloud" could help us very much.

As for infrastructure solutions, for example MS Exchange or MS SharePoint, cloud placement is not so relevant for them. It is interesting to transfer these applications to "cloud" in terms of simplicity of service, management, distribution, ensuring stability of loading and fault tolerance.

TAdviser: In official release it is said about start of a test zone that Rostra to 30% of charges of infrastructure will allow to save use of "cloud". How did you receive these digits?

Dmitry Savelyev: It is conditional calculation on the basis of the techniques offered by integrator. In particular, we expect to lower costs due to economy on "iron". So far we should be put on the maximum loads and performance measures. In a case with "cloud" there is no such need. In addition we will save on service and somewhere even on licenses. We connect high expectations with "cloud". But to check as far as they will come true, we will be able only on the experience.