Citigroups' Virtualisation Success Story

Ram Engira, GWM Head - DC Strategy and Sen. VP - Citi Global Wealth Management, speaks to Biztech2.com on the massive consolidation initiative at the Citi Group that saved the Group a whooping $ 200 mn. It all happened by reducing 55 data centres to a mere 13. To top it all, this happened when the Group was going through tough times in the wake of recession. The group also received a bailout package from the Federal Reserve.

How did IT come to the rescue in cost rationalisation during the economic crisis?

As IT Managers within the Citi Group, we were given the task to cut IT cost by 20% followed by 30% and up to 50% after a certain period, as the market went deep into crisis. This demanded out-of-the-box thinking and certain practices were reinvented. We partnered with vendors and came up with creative ideas to overcome the incumbent challenges.

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Citi Group started on the path of VCO - Virtualisation, Consolidation which further lead to Optimisation. This practice was kicked off with the discovery phase thereby doing the assessment of all our technology components in the data centre that included doing a thorough capacity analysis. Based on the capacity that we have purchased in our data centers we discovered that more than 50% - 60% was under utilised.

How did you zero in on the vendor partner?

We asked the vendors as to what products they can offer us to either virtualise or help us consolidate.

The consultations gave rise to multiple initiatives. One was that we will work with our software developers, as well as business partners in figuring out as to what can be consolidated. Then, we moved on to vendors such as VMware. The idea was to find out how they can help us with products that will help us meet our business requirements.

The consolidation plan was explained to the participating vendors. We wanted them to make it successful without compromising on security and deliver this properly as the infrastructure is transitioned from a physical to a virtual environment.

After doing all the groundwork, we launched this massive programme of consolidation. Approximately 55 data centres were consolidated to 13 data centres. That was a tremendous effort. The savings for the first year was about $200 mn. The board of directors were appreciative of this fact.

What are your lessons from recession?

The first lesson is- never take anything for granted. Recession is cyclical. It happens over a certain number of years. One of the key things is to be resilient and investing in your human resources. People with good education should be further trained and educated. Companies should invest in enhancing their skill sets and this can prove to be an efficient way to survive in a recession.