Nuts and Bolts: Gauging NPV of POCs at ICICI Prudential

MUMBAI, INDIA: Ask Murli Mohan, General Manager, Dell Software of what he makes of the new toddlers like flash, compression and other data-optimisation technologies, and he explains how Dell's development efforts have focused on industry-challenges, taking note of volume of data being an issue and hence, not only replication or integration of data but it's real-time factor is a big factor these days. These factors, he recommends, are important to gauge relevance of any technology or solution today.

Lalit Popli, Head - Information Technology, ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited, can be seen nodding here as he cites how with data replication, his team and business has been able to optimize the usage of business intelligence applications, and turn business decision-making more strategic than before.

Both of them sit on two different sides of the table in the industry and yet both are sketching almost-similar contours when you chat with them about what's changing and what is missing from the ever-changing portfolio of technology choices.

There is a lot to be excited about and lot to reap ahead, and after a high-key data replication initiative with Dell, Popli sums it up the here-after wistfully and economically well (like a true-blue investment guy), in just a few words - "We have got the highway well-tarred and now it's just about what carts and wagons to drive."

Let's expand those few words and see what he meant there:

First, tell us about the investment you have just undertaken with Dell. Why data replication and why Dell there?

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Ltd (IPAMC) is one of the largest asset management companies in the country. So far, the ambit of transactions was divided between physical branch ones and customer-end ones, and thus there used to be a lag till all transactions were inserted, validated, processed at the back-office and blended in the central repertoire. We wanted all the data, specially the one outside our initial radar, to be available to us on real-time basis, in a speedier way - in short - the moment it is captured. IPAMC's mission-critical and secure data is hosted by an outsourced data center provider, CAMS (Computers Age Management Services), using its home grown application on an Oracle database, hosted centrally at CAMS data center. We needed a zero impact way to replicate this data, in order to enhance customer service, and effectively run data analytics/business intelligence applications and to help fund managers make faster, better decisions. We started looking for options and found Dell's solution better when it came to usability and seamless capability.

You went for it with a POC (Proof-of-Concept) approach? Why?

Yes, we preferred a pilot methodology that Dell had, specially the kind of support and eagerness as well as response-time that they made possible in two days. Between Chennai and Mumbai data transfer, gap was a major factor to consider so the response time and hands-on technical expertise of team was vital. It took us less than two days to test and set up everything and we could check for all errors and factors while getting reports with deep insights as we wanted. We could also prioritise data and bandwidth utilization was marginal. We went ahead with go-live in a matter of a week. Surprisingly we did not need to customize too much, and we did not face any sudden surprises even in cases of extreme delays that we tested. Tests were 100 per cent favourable.

Has it gone well?

Yes, we have successfully deployed SharePlex, which is a high-performance data replication solution, and it has brought in near real-time data integration, ease of use and affordability, without compromising data integrity and accuracy. Now we have created an online, automated, easy-to-use, and near real-time way of data replication from CAMS to ICICI Prudential. This deployment further helped ICICI in setting-up multiple downstream applications, to offer improved services to their customers and run data analytics and business intelligence smoothly on the replicated data.

No integration or latency issues? Has it added any edge yet?

No, and while we did anticipate them, except for a few data issues there have been no problems whatsoever. SharePlex supports mixed environments with differing source and target operating systems, database editions, and database versions, including Oracle 10g, 11g, and 12c, clustered environments, and ASM, RAC, and Exadata X2, X3. Everything was smooth to install, configure and replicate, giving us access to everything that we need for data replication, without any add-ons or management packs. It's been eight to ten weeks since deployment now and we have not faced any major issues. It has helped us get all data in time, MIS has improved, customer service has improved and with a host of business benefits, our overall competitive advantage has gone up strongly.

Does it sync well with all that Big Data noise around and those compliance pressures?

Big data may be seen as hype but we are trying to see the ‘useful' part of it and its relevance to someone like us. At our enterprise, the big data journey is at a starting point and we are excited to discover it properly ahead. It's on our plate for sure. The solution has been good when it comes to compliance needs.

What next from here? Some Analytics layer?

We are gearing for that and we would also be looking at mobility in a big way for wider reach and deeper inclusion. With this specifically, we are looking at production and DR data also as we see replication as an important tool for overall data environment.