Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 85 | Page 52

CASE STUDY volumes and the integration of new services . This rigidity hindered the bank ’ s agility .
“ Our previous setup was akin to navigating a rapidly flowing river in an oil tanker . It lacked the nimbleness required to adapt quickly to market changes or scale up as per our growing needs ,” adds Momoh .
Another significant challenge was the ineffectiveness of disaster recovery and business continuity . The bank ’ s disaster recovery exercises revealed a stark disparity in recovery times between applications on different infrastructures . This discrepancy highlighted a critical vulnerability in its ability to maintain continuous operations during unforeseen disruptions .
The initial phase kicked off in 2019 and centred on moving non-core production systems to Nutanix , laying the groundwork for a more expansive implementation .
In 2021 , the bank initiated the second phase of its Nutanix integration , which involved scaling up and incorporating their core banking databases into the Nutanix infrastructure . This phase was critical , addressing the bank ’ s need for enhanced scalability and agility .
The final phase , set for completion in 2024 , involves significantly scaling up the bank ’ s core banking infrastructure on Nutanix , enhancing production and disaster recovery capabilities .
Moreover , the existing IT setup impeded the bank ’ s strategy to introduce new services and enhance customer experience . The time and resources required to brainstorm , set up , and deploy new services were significant , limiting the bank ’ s ability to innovate and respond swiftly to market opportunities .
Technology improvements
To address these challenges , Coronation Merchant Bank embarked on a transformative journey with Nutanix , establishing a solution that was as innovative as it was robust . The solution architecture was meticulously planned and executed in three phases , aligning with the bank ’ s strategic objectives and operational requirements .
A pivotal moment in its migration was successfully implementing a disaster recovery strategy . The bank ’ s ability to failover non-core applications within Nutanix in less than 30 minutes during testing was a testament to the robustness of the solution .
“ This rapid failover capability underscored the resilience and reliability of our new infrastructure , a crucial factor in maintaining uninterrupted services to our clients ,” notes Momoh .
As part of the solution , the bank also used Nutanix ’ s Inside Technical Account Management Service , which provided enhanced support capabilities and streamlined resource management .
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