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