For the Cooperative Bank of Oromia (COOP), a leading player in Ethiopia's banking industry, the journey toward digital transformation was driven by a commitment to innovation and customer service excellence. Originally specialising in agricultural financing and grassroots support, COOP recognised the evolving needs of its customer base and the growing demand for digital banking services. This realisation prompted an exploration for a technology partner capable of supporting a significant overhaul of its IT infrastructure.
“Over the past 18 years, we've been pivotal in Ethiopia's banking sector, especially in supporting players in the agriculture sector. As digital demands grew, it became clear that our legacy systems were no longer sufficient to support growth and innovation," said Teferi Assefa Demissie, Director of Information Systems Infrastructure and Data Center.
| Significant Cost Reduction | Improved Scalability and Agility | Enhanced Disaster Recovery and Operational Efficiency |
|---|---|---|
| Remarkable reduction of over 40% in IT-related expenses, resulting in substantial cost savings. | Rapid deployment of services, enhancing business adaptability to meet evolving customer needs. | Robust disaster recovery measures, enabling application failover for non-core applications. |
Over the past 18 years, we've been pivotal in Ethiopia's banking sector, especially in supporting players in the agriculture sector. As digital demands grew, it became clear that our legacy systems were no longer sufficient to support growth and innovation
COOP faced the challenge of modernising its IT infrastructure to support an exponential increase in digital transactions, eliminating the sprawling silos that were becoming commonplace, and adapting to customer preferences, shifting from traditional in-person branch visits to digital platforms. Legacy systems struggled with scalability and efficiency, making it challenging to meet the evolving demands of digital banking and offer an effective disaster recovery solution.
The quest for a new IT infrastructure led COOP to investigate various hyper-converged (HCI) technologies that could deliver on its need for a scalable, reliable, and efficient system. It also wanted a partner who could offer comprehensive support and help the bank innovate. After careful consideration, Nutanix emerged as the ideal choice due to its flexibility, scalability, and reputation for transforming IT landscapes.
"In our assessment, Nutanix emerged as the clear leader, distinguished by its robust, adaptable HCI technology. They met our requirement for a partner whose technologies could seamlessly meld with our existing infrastructure while supporting our future (digital) objectives, " says Shimelis Legesse Wossenie, Vice President of Information Systems and CIO at COOP.
The transition COOP was after had to be more than just a technological upgrade - but also a strategic shift towards enhancing operational efficiency and service delivery in a rapidly changing banking industry.
Following a yearlong investigation, the implementation of Nutanix at COOP commenced in March 2022, starting with deploying 14 nodes across two sites. This included setting up its primary data centre with two clusters, each consisting of five nodes and an additional four dedicated to disaster recovery. The process from initiation to deployment was carefully planned to ensure a smooth transition and integration with the bank's existing systems, supporting core banking functions and digital banking services.
The bank required the Nutanix HCI solution to enhance operational efficiency, streamline data centre management, and facilitate the rollout of digital offerings. This encompassed establishing the infrastructure for the successful launch and seamless integration of Michu, Ethiopia’s first digital lending platform. Additionally, it paved the way for expanding and scaling up the bank’s suite of digital banking services, including Coopay-Ebirr.
To date, COOP's environment consists of approximately 31 Nutanix nodes, and Nutanix constitutes about 40 to 45% of the bank's infrastructure. IBM Power systems account for around 30 to 35%, while the remaining portion consists of various Intel-based virtualized systems.
“The bank's IT environment is strategically segregated. While the core banking system runs on IBM, other digital products, particularly web-based and mobile-based services, operate from the Nutanix environment. The decision to onboard additional Nutanix nodes has been driven by the need for scalability to accommodate end users' growing demands and ensure smooth service delivery amidst our ongoing growth," Teferi Assefa Demissie explained.
"The transition to Nutanix has significantly lightened the load on our IT team, enabling us to streamline our operations and focus on enhancing our skills. The move has reduced the operational stress and fostered an environment of learning and innovation within the team. It's empowering to see how adopting Nutanix has allowed us to transform our approach to IT management, making our daily tasks more manageable and enhancing our capability to support the bank's digital transformation goals," reflected Talile Miresa, Manager, Computing and Storage Infrastructure Team at COOP.
According to Shimelis Legesse Wossenie, the move to a more fluid virtualisation environment has significantly amplified the bank's digital transaction capabilities, addressing the surging demand for digital banking services with unprecedented scalability and efficiency. Concurrently, the efficiency gains realised from deploying Nutanix's technology have led to substantial reductions in operational costs, enabling the allocation of more resources towards innovative, customer-focused solutions.
Significantly, Nutanix has bolstered COOP's disaster recovery strategies, enhancing data protection and system availability to ensure continuous service delivery. Since the implementation, the bank has experienced a remarkable surge in digital transactions. This serves as a strong validation of the efficacy of its digital banking services and their seamless integration into the business. It has also significantly contributed to the success of evolving newly launched digital services like Michu and COOPay-Ebirr, services that are currently hosted within the Nutanix environment.
Additionally, the operational agility afforded by Nutanix allows COOP to adapt to market changes and customer demands swiftly, further boosting customer satisfaction and solidifying the bank's reputation for excellence in digital banking services while positioning it as a leader in digital banking within Ethiopia.
"The shift from predominantly in-branch transactions to a digital majority was monumental. Nutanix helped us navigate this transition, ensuring we meet customer needs efficiently. Further, the transformation brought by Nutanix has not only streamlined our IT operations but fundamentally shifted the executive management's perspective on the strategic role of IT within the bank. As a CIO, Nutanix has empowered me to drive our digital strategy more effectively, aligning IT with our business objectives and demonstrating the tangible value of IT as a cornerstone for innovation and growth,” adds Shimelis Legesse Wossenie.
As COOP looks towards the future, its roadmap involves a deeper integration of Nutanix technologies, reflecting a commitment to maintain and enhance its competitive edge in digital banking. The bank's strategy includes leveraging Nutanix's scalable and agile infrastructure to support a broader spectrum of digital services, anticipating the needs of its growing customer base.
Furthermore, COOP aims to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and hybrid cloud services, recognising these technologies as key drivers for the next wave of banking innovations. The exploration of AI, in particular, is expected to unlock new capabilities in personalised banking experiences and operational efficiencies, while cloud services promise greater flexibility and scalability in IT operations.
The entrenched relationship between COOP and Nutanix goes beyond a vendor-client dynamic, evolving into a strategic partnership integral to the bank's operational and strategic initiatives. "Our partnership with Nutanix is just beginning. We're excited about the possibilities this collaboration opens up for us, particularly in AI and cloud services," says Shimelis Legesse Wossenie.