Performance Practice:
Major Global Bank
Challenge
In 2005, our client, a major global bank, was operating more than 40 data centers as a result of a prolific growth period that involved the acquisition of more than 55 financial institutions. Burdened by the capacity shortfalls, cost overruns, and significant capital investments required to maintain that portfolio, the company engaged CS Technology to define a strategy for addressing its long-term data center requirements.
Solution
Working in collaboration with the client’s senior managers, CST conducted a rigorous quantitative review of the portfolio that addressed a broad range of cost, risk, and technical factors. Consultants from CST’s Performance Practice developed a management model that provided a framework for evaluating the long-term viability of each data center in light of those factors.
Equipped with this consolidated view, CS Technology began to craft a 15-year strategy for the redevelopment of the data center portfolio. A key requirement of that effort involved situating the plan within a business-as-usual profit and loss model – a goal that was accomplished through an innovative approach to managing factors related to energy use and labor requirements. The efforts of the Performance Practice team led the client’s senior management to establish a vision for its data centers that focused on migrating the bank’s critical technology workload to high-reliability, low-risk, low-cost data centers.
Result
Based on the quality of CST’s strategic plan, the client engaged the firm to assist with the overall planning and migration execution of the data center portfolio. The data center engagement has led to CST’s involvement with other high-profile projects, which include serving as the IT general contractor for the client’s corporate headquarters in New York City.