A path through the cloud: Saving PrivatBank's IT operations during the war in Ukraine (Portuguese version)
In response to the imminent threat posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, PrivatBank executed an emergency migration of its IT infrastructure to Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, relocating critical systems out of Ukraine to ensure continuity of operations. Russian forces had just started bombarding the area near the bank's main data center. This rapid migration, completed in just 43 days, involved moving 3500 servers and establishing cloud operations capable of handling 25 million transactions per hour. Despite the achievement, the migration resulted in significant costs, amounting to nearly $4 million monthly. PrivatBank faced a strategic decision: continue optimizing the cloud setup to reduce costs and leverage cloud benefits, or revert some operations to its modernized, but underutilized, on-premise data centers as the conflict stabilized and the Russian army retreated from the areas near its data centers in Dnipro and Kyiv. The case underscores the resilience and innovation of PrivatBank's IT team amid a national crisis, highlighting the complexities of balancing operational continuity, cost management, and future strategic direction in a volatile environment.
What material is included in this case:
Description
In response to the imminent threat posed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, PrivatBank executed an emergency migration of its IT infrastructure to Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud, relocating critical systems out of Ukraine to ensure continuity of operations. Russian forces had just started bombarding the area near the bank's main data center. This rapid migration, completed in just 43 days, involved moving 3500 servers and establishing cloud operations capable of handling 25 million transactions per hour. Despite the achievement, the migration resulted in significant costs, amounting to nearly $4 million monthly. PrivatBank faced a strategic decision: continue optimizing the cloud setup to reduce costs and leverage cloud benefits, or revert some operations to its modernized, but underutilized, on-premise data centers as the conflict stabilized and the Russian army retreated from the areas near its data centers in Dnipro and Kyiv. The case underscores the resilience and innovation of PrivatBank's IT team amid a national crisis, highlighting the complexities of balancing operational continuity, cost management, and future strategic direction in a volatile environment.
Read more
Geographic Setting: Ukraine
Industry Setting: Financial
Learning Objective
The case analyses a company that has had to accelerate a migration to the cloud because of unforeseen circumstances. The story of Privatbank can be used to debate several subjects like:
- Decision making under stress.
- Operational resilience and business continuity in a crisis.
- Pros and cons of using the cloud, and alternatives.
- Role of the CTO in a cloud-based enterprise.
- Requirements for designing a resilient data backbone.
- Total cost of ownership and total economic impact.
- Building new capabilities to sustain digital transformation.
- Decision making under stress.
- Operational resilience and business continuity in a crisis.
- Pros and cons of using the cloud, and alternatives.
- Role of the CTO in a cloud-based enterprise.
- Requirements for designing a resilient data backbone.
- Total cost of ownership and total economic impact.
- Building new capabilities to sustain digital transformation.
Leave your rating
"A path through the cloud: Saving PrivatBank's IT operations during the war in Ukraine (Portuguese version)"
Register for free with IESE Publishing and enjoy all the advantages
What type of account do you want to create?
Choose account type
Professors
Academic Institutions
Individuals