NAB private Cloud builds new paradigm: Part 3
- 15 April, 2011 17:33
- Comments
Unchartered waters a challenge for core banking platform
The development of a greenfield private Cloud is facilitating NAB’s IT revolution, but compared with more traditional banking platforms the new technologies may not be without challenges.
Delays in transaction processing has left workers across Australia without pay after a the fault crashed its payments system. The bank issued a media statement on Friday April 15 saying it was working to rectify the matter.
The meltdown is the second in less than six months; in November last year the bank was struck with technical problems resulting in delayed transaction processing. A few weeks later CEO, Cameron Clyne, said the problem was related to batch processing systems and a combination of factors, including a software change dating back to 2001.
Clyne said the problems validated the decision to move to a new core banking platform, but NAB may not escape technical challenges so easily. Sources familiar with NAB’s operations told CIO Oracle’s new banking Cloud is essentially an “untested platform”.
There have been several issues with UBank to the extent of having to reboot the platforms to keep them running. That said, apparently the problems exist across NAB’s mainframe and Oracle environments, as evidenced by the recent outages.
With NAB’s outsourcing and offshoring activities, the problems may be more closely related to skills dilution than the technology itself, according to the source.
The are concerns offshoring to India and the recent IBM outsourcing deal have watered down in-house skills at the bank. It means problems that would have been caught are slipping through — including standard tasks relating to database administration and systems management.
In another sign support is overwhelmed, lower-order issues are being escalated “in order to get something done about them”.
Another source close to the bank told CIO Oracle Enterprise Linux is now more prevalent at the NAB than Red Hat Enterprise Linux, but no decision has been made on whether to use Oracle or Red Hat as the standard server platform.
[ Read Part I of NAB's private Cloud journey at CIO ]
[ Read Part II of NAB's private Cloud journey at CIO ]
Recommended
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email CIO
- Follow CIO on twitter
- ASIC Optimises and Promotes Network Automation Using HP Software
- Endpoint Protection Overview
- Expanding Web Single Sign-On to Cloud and Mobile Environments
- How to Protect Your Business from the Coming Malware Storm
- Webroot slashes Royal Flying Doctor Service anti-virus scan time from 2 hours to 2 minutes
-
Why change management doesn’t work
-
Larry Page wants to see your medical records
-
Dual-Persona Smartphones Not a BYOD Panacea
-
After two-year hiatus, EFF accepts bitcoin donations again
-
CIOs struggle to deliver timely mobile business apps: survey
-
Choice and Control – Considerations for Developing Enterprise Cloud Strategies
Enterprise-wide cloud implementation can be a challenging process, requiring a thoughtful, strategic approach. In this whitepaper, IBM® shares considerations for developing enterprise cloud strategies. It looks into how the rapid-scale enterprise-class environment can help enable the type of agile infrastructure that aids organisations in quickly meeting the demands of an ever-evolving marketplace, thereby providing true business value. Read now. -
Customer Success - Slater & Gordon Lawyers
Lawyers work hard, and they work fast. Any activity that takes their focus away from the task at hand represents lost productivity and lost revenue. Slater & Gordon Lawyers needed to filter spam and email-borne malware and provide high availability for email. Results from the business solution they chose include 250 hours of IT staff time reclaimed annually for other tasks, long delays in email delivery alleviated, reduced email-related storage costs, and email failover to the cloud in minutes, avoiding hours-long outages. Find out how they got these results. -
HP Helps NEC Reduce Network Management Costs and Gain Efficiencies
NEC wanted to reduce network management costs, while increasing network visibility, decreasing mean-time-to-repair, improving stability and mitigating the risk of downtime. Download today to hear from Cameron Craig, Senior department manager of NEC on what approach they took and why.
Get exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis. 
