Not without challenges Migrating the data ing power and the requisite cooling demands. The Croydon site will feature high-quality cooling systems and sig- nificantly greater amounts of computer power per square metre, providing the necessary excess capacity. This will allow Rl to pursue its global banking activities and service customers without having to worry about whether the necessary backend infrastructure is available. The search for an appropriate location, however, was not a straightforward task. Dodds and his team investigated numerous sites, both in and outside of London. The Docklands and West London have readily available space but were discarded as being too high risk. Sites found north and southwest of London turned out not to be viable for a number of other reasons. Of course, for each site that was considered seriously, due diligence had to be carried out on many aspects, covering everything from security, to environmental issues, to planning laws. As Dodds reveals, 'There were a few hundred key points to be considered, and getting the right combination of requirements together - the location, the price, the Utilities - was no easy task.' For instance, while the site's distance from the city centre was important, accessibility for staff was also an issue. Dodds likens the process to house hunting (but with many more stakeholders) and points out that 'it's very difficult to find all the attributes in one house.' Often Dodds and his team would think that they had found an appropriate location, only to encounter problems. At one point, they had decided on a location, only to have the entire site bought out by another financial institu- tion. Dodds admits that the process was not always easy and says, 'One of the hardest things has been to keep going; it has required a fair amount of tenacity from all members of the team!' Fortunately, the team found the Croydon site and was able to check off its extensive list of requirements. Although there is still plenty of work to be done, the end is now in sight. While the basic structure for the data centre already existed, the interior has to be made appropriate for data centre purposes. Construction began last November and is currently on schedule to be completed by the end of May 2007. In fact, Dodds and his crew will probably be on site and customising by mid-April. From July 1, the site should be fully operational and the task of relocating the thousand or so servers from the Thames Court location will then begin. Once the United Kingdom data centre is fïrmly established in Croydon, it does not mean that the IT Infrastructure team's work is done. After the migration to Croydon is fully realised, the Netherlands migration will begin. Currently, RI's primary data centre in Europe is located at the Rabobank Group site in Zeist in the Netherlands; Rabobank Group ICT will in time be relocating this site to Best, 20 The Word Issue 13 February 2007

Rabobank Bronnenarchief

blad 'RI The Word / The Word' (EN) | 2007 | | pagina 20