Information Technology at Otkritie Bank

2023: Departure from Otkritie Bank of the head of the IT block Sergei Rusanov

On February 4, 2023, the board of Otkritie Bank leaves Sergei Rusanov, who oversaw the IT unit for 5 years. On February 1, 2023, TAdviser was informed about this by representatives of Otkrytie. Read more here.

2022

Implementing a Single Enterprise Data Warehouse

At the end of December 2022, Otkritie Bank announced the introduction of a unified data management platform, with the help of which the credit institution optimized key processes. The project was implemented with the participation of DIS Group. Read more here.

Presentation of the concept of building an IT infrastructure based on components of domestic production

Otkritie Bank on November 11, 2022 presented the concept of building an IT infrastructure based on components of domestic production.

In 2022, the bank began to apply a different approach to the formation of the IT landscape - from the architecture of applied applications to methods for ensuring the high availability of information systems, focused on the use of affordable components of domestic production. The concept of NextGen was presented by Andrey Zalmanov, Vice President, Director of the Department of Architecture, Integration and Processing Services of Otkritie Bank.

According to Zalmanov, in 2022, banks and large companies adopted new challenges related to the restrictions on foreign IT solutions, the lack of adequate domestic substitutes for many components of the technological stack, primarily in terms of hardware, and the need to compensate for these restrictions.

After the departure of Western business from Russia, the equipment of most Western brands with special functions became unavailable to us. In many areas of high-quality analogues, alternative manufacturers cannot yet offer. Therefore, some of the principles on which our IT infrastructure previously developed had to be revised. We analyzed the functionality of domestic equipment and developed a systematic approach to the implementation of the functionality we need using solutions available on the market. At the same time, it turned out that only part of the capabilities can be reproduced or compensated directly, due to alternative equipment and system software. We decided to compensate for another part of the functionality inaccessible in the new conditions by changing approaches to the development and development of applied information systems. New requirements for their architecture also form part of the concept, - said Andrei Zalmanov.

The NextGen concept, which was used by Otkritie Bank in 2022, according to Andrei Zalmanov, has become a new comprehensive approach to solving the problems of import substitution of computing infrastructure.

For example, the lack of production of equipment for high-performance FibreChannel networks in Russia makes it difficult to implement high-quality synchronous data replication between geographically distributed data centers. Therefore, to ensure high availability data , Otkritie Bank experts intend to use separate cluster configurations databases in each of the data centers - the main and backup.

The unavailability of hi-end servers in accordance with the NextGen concept is supposed to be compensated for by a change in the architecture of applied information systems: moving away from large centralized solutions to distributed architectures that provide only horizontal scaling.

The unavailability of hardware balancers is compensated by software solutions. It is proposed to compensate for the unavailability of hardware storage systems (DSS) using software DSS of systems (SDS) based on high-performance Ethernet networks 25G and 100G for which equipment is more accessible. Similar approaches and solutions have been proposed for all key areas of information infrastructure development.

The implementation of the NextGen concept, according to Andrei Zalmanov, may require adaptation of technological processes and become an incentive to optimize technological processes. At the same time, building an information infrastructure in accordance with the requirements of the NextGen concept guarantees the uninterrupted operation of the bank.

Becoming an IT Company

Otkritie Bank on August 1, 2022 announced that it had received accreditation from the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation as an IT company. This will allow its employees with a technical education to receive a deferral from the army and other state benefits.

Over the past two years, we have focused on the development of internal development. For front-end IT systems, the share of inhouse development as of August 2022 is 70%, and for the rest of the systems - up to 60%. The IT unit employs more than 2,000 IT specialists - engineers, analysts, testers, system administrators, architects, as well as specialists in graphics, product, UI/UX and web design, project and product managers and business analysts. The status of an IT company will allow the bank to increase the attractiveness of the work of IT specialists by providing employees with additional comfort and government benefits, "said Sergey Rusanov, member of the board, head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank.

Building an IT Company

On June 28, 2022, Otkritie Bank announced the creation of a new company, within which it is planned to develop IT projects for the needs of the financial group. We are talking about Discovery Labs LLC, which will develop in the group as a software development center. Read more here

Agreement with Rosreestr for the development of digital services

Otkritie Bank and Rosreestr entered into an agreement on bilateral cooperation. The document will contribute to the development of digital services and services, including electronic mortgages in the interests of citizens and professional market participants. The bank announced this on January 14, 2022.

The agreement was signed by the President-Chairman of the Board of Otkritie Bank Mikhail Zadornov and the head of Rosreestr Oleg Skufinsky.

The document provides for the integration IT bank's systems with Rosreestr services. This will speed up information exchange between the credit organization and Rosreestr, reduce registration times and make electronic mortgages even more accessible to citizens.

{{quote 'With the support of Rosreestr, Otkritie Bank has already introduced a service for issuing electronic mortgages for the purchase of finished real estate. This allows we offer customers digital mortgage transactions without visiting the offices of the registration authority and the MPSC. We are confident that the partnership with Rosreestr will be mutually beneficial and fruitful for both the bank and the Federal Service, - said Mikhail Zadornov.}}

The agreement with Otkritie Bank is part of the system work of the Rosreestr team with credit institutions to transfer services to electronic form. The result of our interaction was a 6-fold increase in the share of electronic mortgages compared to 2020. At the same time, we do not stop only at the mortgage segment: in December 2021, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the state program "National System of Spatial Data." During its implementation, together with the professional and business community, we plan to develop a digital platform for creating new services taking into account client life situations, "said Oleg Skufinsky.

In addition, within the framework of the agreement, it is planned to hold joint training events aimed at considering topical issues of financial and banking activities.

2021

Launch of virtual internship "Prepactum" in 73 regions

On September 9, 2021, Otkritie Bank announced that it was launching a virtual Preaktum internship in 73 regions of its presence to help potential candidates acquire basic knowledge in retail sales before the final interview and going to work. Now, together with an invitation to an interview, the candidate receives a link to complete a digital internship. The service was developed by the company "Preaktum."

Virtual internship is an online system in which the candidate lives a virtual day in the company: he meets employees, business device, solves typical problems. automated system bank In Otkritie, a potential employee will study the theory and try to complete the first tasks in the field of sales and client service.

Virtual internship is another important step in the digitalization of our personnel services. Through such an internship, we will be able to optimize recruiting processes and save hiring managers from the need to conduct numerous offline interviews - those candidates who have already completed a virtual internship and completed a number of tasks will priority them, - said Marina Aleynikova, head of the recruitment service of the regional network of Otkritie Bank.

The internship provides important knowledge in retail sales and will be useful for candidates even if they do not qualify for the next stage of selection. The training material of the internship consists of two thematic modules: "Sales" and "Client Service." According to Elizaveta Isaeva, director of the retail sales development department of Otkritie Bank, the competencies in these areas are the most popular in the work of retail business managers.

In the Sales module, the candidate will receive the knowledge that is most important for working on the front line: he will learn how to identify the true needs of the client and get acquainted with the technique of seven sales steps. In the Client Service module, a potential employee will learn about the basic principles of client service, as well as get acquainted with the tools for resolving conflict situations.

A virtual internship will take the candidate no more than 5 hours, while transferring the same amount of information offline could take several days. With the help of such an internship, the hiring manager will be able to determine the most motivated and appropriate candidate for the position of retail business manager.

Otkritie Bank became the first bank in Russia to digitize internships for potential candidates. During the preparation of the scenario and tasks for virtual internships, we noticed how bank employees take care of customers, how much attention they pay to training in the field of client service and sales: 20 test and 6 tasks, 6 tasks are devoted to these topics, where it is necessary to answer questions in detail, - said Sergey Hakobyan, Product Director of Preaktum.

Plans to invest 17.6 billion rubles in IT

Otkritie Bank will significantly accelerate the release of products for customers and increase the staff of IT developers. The bank announced this on February 26, 2021, from the words of Mikhail Zadornov, President-Chairman of the Board of Otkritie Bank, at the final press conference. The volume of investments in technology development in 2021 will be a record for the bank.

According to Mikhail Zadornov, for 2018-2020. Otkritie Bank carried out a major transformation of the IT landscape, which consisted of 546 systems of 14 combined Russian banks. The Bank decommissioned non-targeted systems, thereby reducing the cost of their support, created basic technologies for all client segments and products, debugged all the necessary credit pipelines, analytical support systems for working with clients, and sales management systems. The bank's investments in the development of technologies over the past three years amounted to 43 billion rubles.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the digitalization of Otkritie Bank's business. In 2021, the bank will increase the staff of IT developers by 1000 people and move in technology to a microservice model of business support with the aim of increasing the speed of production of products and services for customers. The bank plans for 2021 to develop a front-line solution, Smart IVR system and chat bots, products and credit pipelines in small and corporate businesses, Digital channels and many other projects.

The bank has already begun to form an additional staff of cross-functional teams that will work in tributes and have individual KPIs and urgent goals for additional net operating income.

The Bank plans to develop its own digital talents and attract experts and gifted youth from the market. To do this, the Otkritie group created its own department at the Faculty of Computer Science of the Higher School of Economics.

Based on innovations and market needs, the bank will continue to solve classic IT problems that remain in the future strategy. Everything should work smoothly, quickly, efficiently.

The final transformation chord in 2021 will be the centralization of data centers at two target sites (previously there were 30 sites). In the 2nd quarter of 2021, the Otkritie Bank data center on Okskaya 13 will begin to operate, which will combine all server and telecommunications equipment. Thus, the reliability, availability and ease of use of IT systems will be improved, the occupied area will be optimized.

Another popular and important area of ​ ​ optimization of business problems in the bank will be robotization. In 2020, bank employees launched about 100 robots of various levels of complexity, optimizing routine processes in the operations department. Robots have reduced the time for various routine operations by 60-100%. In 2021, robots are planned to be used by all divisions of the bank.

2020

Plan to transfer 2,600 employees to permanent remote work

In 2021, 2,600 employees of Otkritie Bank will switch to permanent remote work. The bank announced this on December 14, 2020.

An official status of an employee "in slippers" will receive a third of employees of headquarters and line divisions of the bank.

Remote mode will receive those categories of employees whose functions do not involve interaction with customers in offices bank and work in. The payment systems Bank of Russia transfer process will go on in stages throughout the year.

{{quote 'For employees, the advantages of remote work are obvious - the ability to flexibly build your work schedule, save time on the road, reduce transport costs, - said Elena Salikhova, senior vice president, head of the Otkritie Bank HR unit. - The benefits for the bank are also significant - employee loyalty, a significant reduction in the cost of maintaining office space: it will be possible to refuse part of the sites. }}

The effectiveness of transferring some of the employees to remote work was proved during a pilot project that Otkritie Bank conducted in the third quarter of 2020. In preparation for the project and scaling, the bank used the expertise of PJSC VimpelCom, which provided a set of technological, communication, legal, administrative and HR solutions.

During the pilot project VDI , the work of 500 employees of Otkritie Bank was tested on the target configuration. An approach was systematized in terms of organizing remote work to manage operational processes, legal documents algorithms and work were developed within the framework of the current labor code, materials on onboarding were formed, a plan for promoting remote work and communication formats for employees was developed.

We have been using remote work services since 2016 and offer our solutions and accumulated experience to interested partners. To do this, it was necessary to add two more components to the technical components - specialized consulting and expert desk service, - said German Borodov, director of key clients at Beeline Business.

Plans to increase IT development staff by 1,000 people

Otkritie Bank on October 28, 2020 announced plans to increase the staff of IT developers by 1000 people.

The share of internal development in Otkritie Bank for front-end IT systems will grow by the end of 2021 to 70%, for other systems - up to 60% in 2022-2023. This was stated by Sergey Rusanov, member of the board, head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank.

Otkritie Bank plans to actively develop client-friendly digital financial services in 2021, which will increase business profitability. The bank is preparing to radically change the approach to IT development in order to increase its flexibility and productivity, for this, work is already underway to create a high-speed dynamic model of operation and scale it to all the change functions of the bank by 2023.

The continuous delivery of the functionality of digital banking products and services to their distribution channels will require mainly its own development resources, the development of competencies, the restructuring of business blocks into trips, and changes in the motivation system of IT personnel. We plan to attract about 1,000 IT professionals to the company in the next two years and develop our own digital talents. At the same time, the share of internal development will double, - said Sergey Rusanov.

To develop cross-functional projects, the bank has already begun to search for digital talents: IT specialists (engineers, analysts, testers, system administrators and architects), specialists in graphics, product, UI/UX and web design, project and product managers, as well as business analysts are in demand.

The advantage of own design over custom design is primarily in cost and flexibility. And, of course, the internal teams have significantly higher involvement in the process of creating an internal product, - notes Sergey Rusanov. - Nevertheless, the bank does not intend to completely abandon the experience of vendor partners who have been building processes for years, who have tested many different development methods and ensure the quick and high-quality supply of changes to industrial use. The introduction of boxed and specialized solutions - about 30% of the total will remain - will continue to be carried out by external teams.

Sergei Rusanov noted that the pandemic forced banks to more aggressively enter remote channels and restructure their internal and external business processes to contactless interaction. The main step is to move away from the physical signature on the documents.

Also, the trend towards the development of remote service technologies revealed an urgent need to remove various kinds of legislative restrictions for their full use.

According to the head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank, the ongoing digital migration and digitalization of client and service operations will be accompanied by a revision of the role of office space and user equipment. The trend towards increased competition and the ongoing process of market consolidation, the creation of multifunctional platforms, marketplaces and ecosystems is also obvious.

From the technologies in the foreground, further personalization and advanced analytics based on internal and external data, the use of artificial intelligence, the development of technologies aimed at digital and cybersecurity, robotization to improve operational efficiency. Light-scale hybrid cloud infrastructures, services and technologies for their provision will develop.

Launch of a factory of innovative projects and technologies

Otkritie Bank on June 25, 2020 announced the launch of a factory of innovative projects and technologies.

The pilot factory, a cross-functional team of Otkritie Bank, will be engaged in the search and assessment of technological innovative projects in the Russian and foreign markets, their testing, implementation and subsequent scaling in order to develop business line technologies and increase the attractiveness of the bank's products and services.

Otkritie Bank has launched a service for finding innovative solutions for the development of financial services of Otkritie Group companies. For several months, working remotely, the experts of the pilot factory together with the business determined the model of functioning of the factory, conducted the first studies and determined the key needs of the bank's business lines in technological development. Priority areas for the Otkritie business for piloting are text extraction information or smart text recognition at the level of meaning and content using (artificial intelligence examples include recognizing customer balance sheets to automatically recalculate the risk level, recognizing customer payment documents to automatically generate payments in a Internet bank, etc.), robotization business processes remote for identification the provision of services in a pandemic and personalization of the bank's offers in digital channels, taking into account the interests of customers (for example, based on the history of finding a client in or Yandex the bank Google will be able to determine his interests or desires and offer not just credit cash, but a loan for repairs, or if he was looking for flights - a loan for travel).

The pilot factory will allow us to test startup solutions in the bank. In each of the directions, there is a search for IT solutions, the choice of vendor companies, several pilot projects have already started, - said Sergey Rusanov, member of the board, head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank.

Of the projects that have come close to the stage of pilot implementation, we can distinguish the "Recruiter Assistant," which will allow you to quickly close line positions; "Voice Assistant," which will inform about the current exchange rate and calculate the conversion amount; an automated system for monitoring customer satisfaction with service in the department, as well as a system that adapts the pages of the bank's website for visitors taking into account information about their interests received from external sources (in the future, the same technology is planned for implementation in a mobile bank).

Sergey Rusanov, Otkritie Bank: The transition to remote control is "not military operations, but close to a combat situation"

In May 2020, Sergey Rusanov, a member of the board, head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank, in an online interview with TAdviser answered questions about the transfer of 14 thousand employees to remote work. Read more here.

Availability of third-party bank card replenishment service

On May 12, 2020, Otkritie Bank announced the offer at its ATMs of the possibility of replenishing cards of any banks located in the Russian Federation. The option is available on all cash-in "Discovery" devices, of which there are more than 3,500 nationwide as of May 12, 2020. The service can be used by holders of debit cards of payment systems Visa, MasterCard and MIR issued by any Russian bank.

The fee for using the cash-in functionality will be 1% of the amount credited (at least 100 rubles) for Visa and MasterCard holders. Holders of MIR cards, as well as any cards issued by Otkritie partner banks, the service is provided free of charge. Among the partner credit institutions with an affordable service for free replenishment of cards are Alfa-Bank, Raiffeisen Bank, Tinkoff Bank, Rosgosstrakh Bank, Bank Zenit, Promsvyazbank, Sovcombank, Modulbank, BCS Bank, Vesta Bank, TalkBank and SKB-Bank.

We are glad to become our bank for so many people, because now they can use our ATMs in the same way as they use the devices of banks that issued their cards. This is especially important during self-isolation, when it is not always possible to reach the nearest ATM of the usual bank. We are actively developing remote service channels, including adding new functionality and expanding our partner ATM network in order to provide high-quality banking service to both our customers and customers of partner banks, "said Alexander Dynin, Director of the Acquiring Department of Otkritie Bank

The bank recalled that since 2019, Otkritie Bank has launched a partner program with a free cash withdrawal service throughout the combined ATM network, which as of May 12, 2020 has about 36,500 devices throughout the country.

Launch of online lending in conjunction with Wildberries

On March 31, 2020, Wildberries announced that an online lending service had been launched on the supplier portal. The service was launched jointly with Otkritie Bank. Read more here.

TAdviser interview with the head of the IT block Sergey Rusanov

In January 2020, in an interview with TAdviser, Sergey Rusanov, a member of the board, head of the IT block of Otkritie Bank, spoke about the way the company is going in the field of digitalization and how this affects its business. Read more here.

2019: Plan to build its own data center and consolidate IT infrastructure based on it

On October 30, 2019, it became known that by the end of 2020 , Otkritie Bank plans to build its own data center and begin consolidating the main part of the IT infrastructure based on it. The bank expects that when implementing the target data center project, an economically justified effect will be achieved in three years. Read more here.

2017

Opening launched money transfers by photo

Main article: Project:Bank Otkritie (VisionLabs Luna)

Development of blockchain projects

Main article: Blockchain at Otkritie Bank

Integration of systems in Otkritie Group banks

• Integration into Khanty-Mansiysk banks and Municipal Khanty-Mansiysk systems and migration to its current platform, From ABS CFT-Bank^[1]
• Integration into Otkritie FC with Petrokommerts branch systems and migration to its current platform, ABS CFT-Bank.
• Cross-servicing of banking group clients in all offices of Otkritie Group banks

Eight IT landscapes:

• Khanty-Mansiysk Bank Otkritie (ex-Otkritie, ex-KhMB, ex-NMB, ex-Bank24 (Point), ex-Rocket Bank)
• Bank Otkritie Financial Corporation (Otkritie FC, ex-Regio, ex-Petrocommerce)

Project Scale:

• More than 15,000 people work for a combined bank
• 470 points of sale in 55 regions of Russia
• Loan portfolio - 2,410,4 billion rubles
• Bank assets 3, 09 trillion. Rubles
• 14 CBS and processing centers, more than 400 information systems

The IT landscape of the combined bank:

• 14 Core Banking Systems and Processing Centers
• More than 400 information systems

Unified IT Service

• IT Support Team
• SLA standards
• System for IT operation
• Communication channels with the Client
• Customer Entry Point

Comfort for customers and the bank:

• Minimum impact on development plans against the background of mobilization of all bank resources
• Maintaining the availability of services for customers during technical procedures for bank consolidation

Normalization of the IT landscape ex-CMM

Project scale

• Increase the load on the main banking systems by 40 - 80% without changing the equipment configuration
• More than 1,500 users switched to new systems
• 120 points of sale in Western Siberia simultaneously began to work with customers using Opening technologies
• ~ 0.5 million individual contracts
• ~ 100 thousand contracts of legal entities
• ~ 7,000 Payroll Credit Agreements

Project streams

• Product and Process Gap
• Digital
• Migration technology
• Load Testing and Optimization
• Salary and Other Registries
• Payment business
• Training and User Experience

Otkritie Bank's IT Transformation Goals

2016: CIO of Otkritie Bank spoke about IT strategy at TAdviser SummIT

Kirill Menshov, Vice President, Information Technology Director of Otkritie Bank, speaking at TAdviser SummIT on May 31, 2016, spoke about the bank's IT strategy and key development vectors for the coming year.

One of the key aspects, according to Menshov, is the implementation of the IT for People policy at the bank, aimed at increasing the satisfaction and loyalty of internal IT users, of which there are several thousand. According to the latest internal survey, more than 80% of Otkritie Bank employees praised the quality of IT service - by 4 and 5 on a five-point scale. Kirill Menshov said that within the framework of the existing budget, the limit for the perfection of classical processes has already been reached.

Kirill Menshov on TAdviser SummIT

Few banks have an indicator of satisfaction with the quality of IT service exceeding 80%, but Otkritie Bank will continue to increase it, said Kirill Menshov. It is planned to take a number of measures to create an "emotional connection between IT and bank employees and ensure that they feel that IT takes care of them." This will be achieved, for example, through agreements with large partners of the bank on any discounts for employees, training parents of employees in the basics of IT literacy, assistance in repairing home appliances and much more.

The second key aspect is integration and consolidation with a pool of banks that are part of Otkritie to build one large universal bank. Now this process is in the middle of the road.

Slide from the presentation of Kirill Menshov

The third direction is digitalization, which includes the development of services provided through digital channels. Kirill Menshov noted that there are still quite a few clients who prefer to resolve issues with the bank through personal presence, but the number of clients using the latest technologies to receive services is constantly growing. The position of the bank in the digital space against the background of other financial institutions will largely determine its position in the market, said Otkritie Bank Information Technology Director.

Otkritie means its digital strategy as a hybrid, when, on the one hand, there is one large universal bank that provides many services through digital channels, and on the other hand, it has integrated fintech startups in its circuit, each of which develops in its own direction using the infrastructure of the main bank.

This happens against the background of the development of the IT organizational structure, which is the fourth key aspect of the strategy. Otkritie Bank's Information Technology Director noted that taking into account the processes taking place in the bank, in the future IT will not be able to exist as a hierarchical organization, as before. In this regard, a flat IT organizational structure is formed, completely independent, making decisions.

Slide from the presentation of Kirill Menshov

As of May, there are 24 discipline managers in this structure, each of whom works in a single IT release concept. This model provides the release of major releases on systems every two months, and minor releases every two weeks.

All this is possible thanks to a well-thought-out approach to organizing an HR cycle, notes Kirill Menshov. The bank, for example, provides for such measures as "revision" of employees every six months, when there is an equalization of understanding of the situation of employees and the prospects for their career growth, the collection of employee assessments about managers and vice versa, and many other events.

Another key aspect of Kirill Menshov outlined an increase in the bank's information security in all directions. This topic becomes especially relevant against the backdrop of an increase in the volume of services provided through digital channels - along with it, the number of cyber crimes is increasing.

О TAdviser SummIT

TAdviser SummIT, held on May 31, 2016, was visited by more than 240 people - managers and experts of commercial and government organizations. More than 30 reports were submitted within the framework of the event. Among the speakers are representatives of the Ministry of Communications, Sberbank, the Pension Fund, the Federal Treasury, Russian Helicopters, etc. An exhibition of IT companies was held in the foyer of the summit. At the end of the event, a drawing of the Tonino Lamborghini 88 Tauri smartphone worth about 200 thousand rubles took place .

TAdviser SummIT in total visited more than 240 people

2015: PostgreSQL Migration Plans

Otkritie Bank plans to abandon the use of Oracle DBMS to the maximum extent possible and switch to PostgreSQL, said the bank's technical director David Martirosov at the TAdviser Banks IT Day conference in October 2015. According to him, we are talking about transferring uncritical IT systems to this DBMS. More information about these plans is available at the link.

2011: Key IT Projects and Approach to IT Service Organization

Sergey Bush, vice president of the corporate block of the bank, spoke about what IT projects were conducted at Otkritie Bank in 2011, about his vision of the structure of the IT service and its interaction with business at the CNews round table.

IT projects

Otkritie FC Bank

{{# ITProj: Bank Otkritie}}

Opening holding

{{# ITProj: Otkritie Holding (formerly Otkritie FC)}}

Brokerage House Otkritie (Otkritie Group of Companies)

{{# ITProj: Brokerage House Otkritie (GC Otkritie)}}

Notes