Interview with the head of directorate of IT of Raiffeisenbank Andrey Popov

Head of directorate of IT of Raiffeisenbank Andrey Popov

TAdviser: Whether there is at Raiffeisenbank an IT strategy? If yes, that what term it is expected and what its key points?

Andrey Popov: Yes, we have an IT strategy, it was updated last year and covers the period till 2016. Such period is caused, mainly, by the fact that IT strategy cannot be constructed without coordination with the strategy of business, and business perspectives at us were defined until 2015-2016 too. More long-term forecasts, it seems to me, in the current realities - both economic, and technology - to do it is useless.

Sergey Shcherbinin: I would add that strategy as we saw it - it is not so much a set of slogans, how many clear tangible set of these or those elements which, finally, should at us in bank appear. In planning horizon in three years it was still possible to speak about something that we obviously imagine and as it should work. In planning horizon in five years it would be already intangible.

Andrey Popov: Any strategy should be reviewed and synchronized with some frequency with realities. Therefore, it seems to me, such three-year look is normal if its each 6-18 months to subject to a certain review, to check as far as it is true. Twelve-eighteen months, everything that further - in many cases it is already hypotheses and the assumptions are really perceived.

TAdviser: What key directions of technology development of your bank?

Andrey Popov: It is possible to carry to like those mobility, alternative channels of self-service of clients, their maximum efficiency and fullness in order that the client could in the principle execute any transactions in those channels in which they are reasonable and implementable. Ensuring mobility concerns also the staff of Raiffeisenbank: that we could not only provide services to end consumers, but also that our employees were most mobile and effective.

Everything that is connected with the correct understanding of creation and use of analytical potential which contains in information collected by bank about the client on his behavior to use it for the most optimal creation of the offer to these or those clients also belongs to the key directions. It is that usually we call Big Data.

I will note that we want to construct providing all these services and all these products to clients on the most effective basis, in terms of operational efficiency, technical efficiency, service cost, but at the same time without sacrificing quality at all.

Sergey Shcherbinin: Speaking about a technology section, it should be added one more area of our interests -CRM. We anyway speak about the client as about the center of our Universe, and, proceeding from this paradigm, we strenuously look towards CRM technologies and we invest in them now.

TAdviser: How IT infrastructure of Raiffeisenbank is arranged? Whether the bank has own DPC? What main solutions you are used?

Andrey Popov: Yes, we have own DPC and also there is a leased platform. We balance between one and another. All systems of bank are completely reserved on both platforms. We carry out switching tests from one platform on another in the context of these or those scenarios on the continuity of functioning of business.

In terms of fullness, we have a big list of technologies and platforms: it and infrastructure based on Windows OS and Intel. At one of conferences in the nearest future my colleagues will tell about how we virtualized a server part and desktops in this system. Here, I consider, we are one of leaders in many respects both in the region, and in the country, in terms of as far as all this is qualitatively constructed.

We have also a line of UNIX-SYSTEMS, at them, our business and critical applications generally are based. The most critical –the automated banking system – are tied to the System i platform from IBM. At small degree we also have systems of Oracle.

Similarly on a line of databases – we have both a SQL server, and Oracle DBMS, and IBM DB2 which we very actively use. I will note that platform standards at us are very accurately recorded: for different types of applications, for levels of criticality there is accurately developed matrix.

TAdviser: What solution do you use on Big Data processing, on a business intelligence?

Andrey Popov: Our storage is constructed based on the solution of Oracle, and for the analysis we use tool kit: so, there is very big niche in which software of SAS is engaged. But in addition, it is more for the reporting plan, we use IBM Cognos. More live analytics, now after all gravitates more to SAS, generally because of flexibility of creation of analytical cubes, show-windows and reports. Besides we actively use the industrial standardized solutions. We implement them the last 1.5-2 years just, on the one hand, to depart from "the customized kodopisatelstvo" in SAS, and on the other hand - to have big base which we can and use in the Raiffeisenbank group for compatibility, commensurability of the received indicators.

TAdviser: How centralized IT infrastructure of Raiffeisenbank is?

Andrey Popov: Our bank contains about 200 branches through the whole country – from the Commander Islands to Kaliningrad. We try to make so that all of them could use applications from the central DPCs located in Moscow. Centralization is our general strategy when licenses "are scattered" over the country - it is not our option.

In some regions, however, there are some difficulties with the organization of necessary communication channels. Far East - Petropavlovsk, Magadan, Yakutsk - unfortunately, have no still land channels, and we are forced to work via the satellite.

TAdviser: List, please, the key IT projects implemented in Raiffeisenbank in 2013?

Andrey Popov: From the most visible, probably is an updating of mobile bank for retail clients. It is possible to tell that Raiffeisenbank late enough came to this Niva, but, it seems to me, it not bad proved to be in 2013. Also we updated our external website, and "refreshed" Internet bank in terms of external perception.

From big, very significant in terms of effect on bank of projects, it is possible to select updating of our main banking system of Midas for the latest release from manufacturing company. This project was executed less than in a year almost in full without exceeding of the budget. He mentioned all spheres of activity of bank and at the same time did not lead to any serious negative effects after the implementation. It is very significant for the project of similar scale.

In addition, in Raiffeisenbank a number of more modest, but too significant projects took place. For example, step-by-step transfer of all our corporate clients on the new system of electronic banking which successfully continues also this year. Here it is possible to carry and our project on virtualization of jobs – are already transferred to them about 30-40%% our users. All Moscow departments work since the end of November, 2013 only on virtual workstations that allowed us to become very flexible and mobile in terms of where we and as we open.

Sergey Shcherbinin: And from what not large, but is in a trend more likely it is start of our internal bring your own device (BYOD) of the program: when we began to provide our employees with opportunities of remote work with our internal services from mobile devices - from tablets, from phones.

TAdviser: In the long term you are going to virtualize all jobs?

Andrey Popov: All we will not be because there are tasks which after all not really well lay down on a virtual desktop. There is a number of tasks in which physical "iron" is necessary - it is either active graphics, or the tasks requiring big calculations. The second - is a big number of users who need mobility, and are necessary out of office, i.e. are those which should work well fully on mobile devices, be it the notebook or the tablet. The purpose - to virtualize not less than 80% of jobs, and I think that we will come nearer even somewhere by 85-87%% users who will work on virtual workstations.

I concentrated more on an IT component of this project, but, for example, last year the bank very successfully rapidly - in 5-6 months from the moment of the beginning of work until opening - started the center of operational service maintenance in Yaroslavl. Employees are gradually transferred to it since July of last year, now in this center more than 400 people work, and by the end of this year there will be about 700 people. There the big operational center, both information center of retail bank, and a part of operational divisions, credit analytics is located.

This platform could not be lifted in so record terms if we started it with physical workstations. Moreover, for it the continuity is impossible if it was started on a physical desktop. If suddenly, God forbid, something happened to Yaroslavl, to transfer employees to the platforms located in Moscow or the next Moscow area in order that they began to work, on technology of a thick desktop we would not manage. We could make the C use of infrastructure based on software of Citrix which we constructed it.

TAdviser: It would be desirable to learn in more detail and about the BYOD project. What was made also what solutions in it were used?

Sergey Shcherbinin: We understood that without access to resources out of office we lose a part of efficiency of employees, and use of mobile devices in the working purposes could solve this problem. However in terms of security at us as the bank, has many restrictions. Therefore we looked for long certain protected solution, and we found it.The Good Technology company could provide such solution, the product is called Good for Enterprise. It works on the smartphone or the tablet by the principle of the protected circuit, allows to load or unload nothing outside in itself(himself) in this device. Within this container you have an opportunity to browse mail and to come on internal resources of the company, the intranet of the company, in principle, anything at great desire can be available - address directories, calendars, tasks, etc. It is software is established on smartphones and tablets of employees.

Andrey Popov: Software also gives an opportunity of creation, editing and viewing office documents. Of course, you will not make the 200-page report or the big presentation on such device, it is simply inconvenient, but if it is necessary to modify something, to comment, make some corrections, to look at some digits - all this can be made, it is very convenient.

Sergey Shcherbinin: We began with iOS, and long enough we were limited only to this platform. From last year the solution became available to employees and under Android OS. Until the end of 2014 we want to investigate an opportunity for work of our employees with personal notebooks. There too is a number of solutions, too there are many restrictions in terms of security, but at great desire it will be possible to make something.

TAdviser: Sergey, you mentioned about the CRM system. It is the project of the current year?

Sergey Shcherbinin: Both last, and future, and current year. A story with CRM began at us two years ago when we based on Siebel began to implement the solution which gave us functionality of corporate CRM. A system is already brought into operation, we continue to develop it. Also there is a project which we started this year, it is in an analysis stage now - it is operational CRM for retail. And is what will be our focus this and next year - to output this solution which should become for us very big driver.

TAdviser: What else projects are planned for 2014?

Andrey Popov: We, perhaps, have three main business and connected things which are in considerable focus. Two of them are strongly tied on technology changes which we want to make. It is CRM as a certain conglomerate - both operational, and analytical. Operational at the same time lies in the field of business efficiency and technology efficiency, analytical more - in the field of analytics, Big Data, and to that similar. The second big subject is BPM and is close with it the connected question of service-oriented architecture. And the third is a continuation of everything that is connected with channels. Here question not so much technology reorganizations, how many further development.

In addition, we have a lot of work in IT service because one of tasks which we set for ourselves is to become the best team in the market. I think that we have for this purpose all premises and all opportunities.

TAdviser: How many now in staff in the IT direction and how its number changed lately?

Andrey Popov: I can tell what one of pillars of our IT strategy is, including, and resource strategy, and it undergoes considerable reconsideration now. The landscape, structure, approaches to formation of labor power in IT service of Raiffeisenbank in the last one and a half-two years undergo significant changes. And it will proceed.

TAdviser: And how technical support of internal users is arranged?

Sergey Shcherbinin: Our internal users, as it was already told, are located from the Commander Islands to Kaliningrad, respectively, we should provide them the support carried on time to satisfy all. In terms of support we tell about classical model service-deska with a command set, focused on user support, applications and infrastructure. For the organization of work of a support service we use BMC Remedy. Quite recently we completed migration on the 8th version of this solution.