The Summary
We was engaged to assess the consolidation of AIA’s 48 Data Centres across APAC. Through the process of assessing the services and Data Centre locations, we identified that further savings could be made through the consolidation of IT Infrastructure services and utilising a utility-based platform that would save in excess of USD100 million over a 7-year period.
Introduction
We was engaged to assist this leading Financial Institution to review its Data Centre estate across APAC countries. We undertook an onsite review of the Data Centres and undertook interviews with each country’s CIO and senior technology team leaders to understand the current challenges and opportunities to reduce costs whilst maintaining services.
We collated the information and undertook focused Workshops with a carefully selected group of suppliers to identify how they may assist in the delivery of a solution.
The outcome enabled us to develop a Data Centre Transformation Strategy and detailed Business Case that outlined the delivery of resilient Data Centres located in Hong Kong and Singapore, a new Regional wide scalable network built as a Software Defined Network (SDN) and a utility-based Compute platform which was supplied and managed by the selected Service Provider but was located in the Financial Institutions Data Centre.
The Strategy and Business Case was presented to the Senior Board for approval with the result of full support to execute the Strategy and implement across Asia.
The Challenge
The PTS Client underwent an internal assessment of its Data Centre infrastructure to find that significant improvements could be made to mitigate risks to the organisation. The lack of standardised procedures resulted in continually increasing costs. Consequently, the organisation decided to improve the state of its Data Centre environment with the objectives of having a consolidated Data Centre portfolio tailored to suit the organisation’s growing business requirements. A three-year programme was developed to deliver the objectives of the strategy.
We assisted with the planning and strategy phase with an ultimate goal to build a Strategy and Business Case with financial analysis in support of the initiative covering 48 Data Centres across 17 countries across the Asia Pacific.
The Solution
The Strategy and Business Case reports were developed based on EIGHT work streams (projects) specialising in the technical and business aspects with the objective of presenting the validated current state and presenting the proposed future state which aligned to the objectives of the business (to double its revue in 4 years) which was supported by our extensive market knowledge and technical and business process expertise.
We conducted an audit of the client’s 48 Data Centres with a risk assessment undertaken to identify the risks associated with the current IT implementations. We also conducted the RFI / RFP process for the Data Centre, on-premises Cloud services, and Telecommunications services market within Asia Pacific to provide the client a thorough assessment of the current market trend, practices and services within the local markets compared with local regulations.
With close collaboration with the client supported by our Project Management framework, a single and comprehensive view of the Data Assets was created to provide the client a holistic view of all of the APAC infrastructure.
To implement the standardisation across all 17 locations, some forms of changes were perceived necessary. We provided a Change Management Strategy Roadmap augmented by a set of standards, policies, and procedures to ensure consistent and uniform management.
The Benefits
Our recommendations enabled greater agility and flexibility which significantly reduced the ongoing running costs, resulting in substantial savings for the organisation. The new optimised running costs would provide the client with savings of over £100 million over a seven-year period, and the client would benefit from an environment that no longer puts at risk the long-term business objectives of the organisation.
The Business Case submitted by us was approved by the Board, allowing the client to continue on the road towards a modernised, cost-effective Data Centre environment, allowing the business to be more agile and flexible. Overall, we was able to provide the client with a solution that would support the business, allow for growth and increase revenue.
