Wipro - FM Best Practices Showcase

IT Infrastructure Management and Support Services at SRF Limited.

Background

SRF Group is a market leader in industrial yarn & fabric as well as refrigerant gases in India. Since its inception in 1974, the SRF Group has emerged as an industrial major in its core business areas, with about 2100 employees operating out of 14 locations in India, UAE and USA.

The fully integrated production lines of tyrecord fabric are ranked 7th in the world, in terms of capacity and production. The fluorochemicals business has set new standards in providing world-class products to its customers in around 45 countries. The group also has a growing presence in the fields of engineering plastics and polyester films.

SRF have set a vision to build a world class Organization. The basis of which lie in principles and systems that are guided by Total Quality Management (TQM) as a way of life. Total Quality Management is a management approach that profoundly integrates principles, methods, systems and tools, and transforms the way SRF think and do things, as well as the way SRF manages its operations.

SRF is also striving for the coveted Demming Award and we at Wipro would like to bring our best in class process framework to help SRF realize this vision.In its efforts to meet its vision towards Quality, SRF has initiated a Total Quality Management initiative. In this regard, SRF wants to align all of its IT initiatives to deliver value to SRF’s business aiding them to reach the coveted Deming Award during the next 3 year timeframe.

The TQM Philosophy and goal for Demming Award makes it imperative for SRF’s IT Partners to align themselves to it and help SRF realize this vision.

The Challenge

1. To achieve high availability on IT infrastructure by having reliable processes and technological enablers to the level of 99.999% availability of services.

2. Provide quality of service to end IT user at all sites covering stationary and moving users defined as:

Speed of accessPerformanceUptime

3. Prevent data loss and ensure recovery with minimal loss to business.

4. Strengthening its IT Processes by leveraging on its competencies specific to outsourced IT Processes under Manage-IT.

The Solution

Wipro considered the SRF IT department as a Service Provider to the users in SRF, where Messaging, Office Automation & Business Application are the 3 core service offerings. The IS Processes & IT Infrastructure play a key role in delivering these services.

Wipro identified these services areas of as a key differentiators for our Service Delivery:

Addition to the above activity the entire services were to be governed by Infrastructure Management Service( FM services).

In 2001 SRF had 679 desktops through out. Since SRF did not have a common approach for PC procurement, they had a large number of different brands. Apart from this SRF also had a large population of assembled PCs. The configurations of these, vary widely. Processors range from 486 to P-IV, RAM ranges from 16 MB to 128 MB and Hard disks from 1.2 GB to 20 GB. Based on the analysis following were the summary of problems faced:

1. PCs hang frequently2. Frequent “illegal Operation” "memory overflow" and "out of resources "

errors cause loss of efforts and valuable man-hours3. System slowness4. Inability to work with two or more different software simultaneously,

especially while working on Oracle Apps and large Excel files

From the point of view of IT manageability, following are the challenges faced:

1. No uniformity in configurations & different brands like IBM, Compaq, HP, Wipro, and assembled.

2. Machines were purchased from multiple vendors, thereby making it difficult to coordinate with them.

IT Infrastructure Optimization & Consolidation Service, which includes

1. Desktop Optimization2. Network Optimization3. Server & Storage Consolidation4. Security revamp

The significant benefits the IT Optimization exercise brought to organizations are 1. Reduced Costs, 2. Better Management & Effective Utilization

of IT resources3. Improved Service Levels4. Ease in IT Planning

Desktop Optimization: -

3. System configurations in some machines are obsolete, therefore, it is difficult to find replacements of parts.

4. In some cases, upgradation is not possible due to hardware constraints.5. Components are from different manufacturers6. Different vendors for AMCs leading to coordination and handoff issues.7. AMC dates fall on different dates

Benefits after Optimization:

Applications handled by PC’s.

2001 2003

IN 2001 2003Desktop 638 Desktops 862

54% of M/c less than 400 MHz 85% Pentium processorHard disk < 4 GB Hard disk 20 GBMemory <64 MB Memory >128 MB

Does not support Win 2000 & new application. Met EOL cycle of next 4 years.Large variety of configuration, brands and families of processors like 486, Celeron, Pentium I, II & III

Uniformity in configurations - better manageability from IT perspective.

Large No. of vendors to deal with leading to handoff issues

Only 2 vendors for procurement and AMC. Higher vendor commitments.

Downtimes due to unavailability of spare parts for old PCs

Spare parts guaranteed by the manufacturer with 3 years warranty.

.net IntranetCRM, 11i ERPNet Integrated officeE-mailOffice AutomationMulti taskingOracle 11INext generation OS like XP

E-mailOffice AutomationMulti taskingOracle 8i Virus Scan

BackupCompressionSystem ManagementSynchronizationAuthenticationDirectory ServicesJava Applets

Virus ScanBackupCompressionSystem Management

Foreground

Background

Commitment on problem resolution time.

Frequent hanging problems and windows fatal errors leading to loss of efforts and man hours

Stable platform. Reduced errors and hanging problems

User complaints of slow speed of PCs Improved performance of the PCsCases of user data losses due to hard disk crash on aging hard disks

Reduced possibility of data loss

There are currently 14 locations of SRF connected to each other over the wide Area Network. There are three kinds of technologies being used to connect various locations. These are summarized below as of 2001:1. VSAT: It uses the satellite communication links to connect two sites point-to-

point. Some of the distinguishing point worth mentioning are given below:2. Virtual Private Network (VPN) : This is a Leased line / ISDN based

technology, where a Wide Area Network of a service provider is used by multiple clients, thus reducing the overall inter-city bandwidth costs. SRF currently have these services taken from Wipro Net Limited.

3. Point-to-point Leased Lines: These are leased circuits over the Telephony infrastructure that connects two sites.


IN 2001 2003

Some of the critical sites do not have permanent WAN connectivity like leased line or VSAT

All the sites are having permanent connectivity

Frequent disconnection lead to stopped business, effort and time loss especially for Oracle Applications users

Reduced disconnection with the use of permanent connectivity at various places and router reconfigured for auto switch over during link failure for all the places.

There have been large downtimes on the leased lines mainly due to liaison issues with DOT and MTNL

Out-source the liaison of these vendors to the service provider with uptime commitments

Limited spares availability in case of failures. With new high end routers at HO and Manali,

Results after Optimization:

98% desktop uptime availability for each user.

Note: Desktop uptime is percentage of desktop available to user without affecting their productivity.

Network Optimization: -

Replacement of WAN components take average of 1-2 months.

the existing routers were used as spare for the rest of the sites. They will be made available within a maximum of 2 Hrs. after problem reporting

Gateway routers not able to take the additional load of network security processes

Routers at the gateway to be of higher configuration to support security processes now being implemented

No network management tool to monitor link uptimes, utilization etc.

Network monitoring system to monitor all links in real time

Maximum issues related to Wide Area Network arise during the month ends when bandwidth utilization is highest

Bandwidth re-sizing and optimization at various units to cater to increased month end pressures

Bandwidth cost very high Renegotiated with service provider and reduced the overall cost of links.

Most of the locations were connected through VSAT. Where latency was high.

All locations are connected through leased line or VPN with higher bandwidth.


0

20

40

60

80

100

A-03 M-03 J -03 J L-03 A-03 S-03 O-03 N-03 D-03 J -04 F-04 M-04

WAN Uptime % WAN Switchover


99% WAN uptime available for each site.

Note: Wan Switch over time is the total no of time the primary link fails and back up is fired.

SRF in 2001 was using Windows NT 4.0. This operating system is already obsolete and not a very stable product. There have been many instances of server crashes in SRF at HO, Malanpur and Qutab. The model of Windows NT is a completely distributed model i.e. each location has its own set of domain resources which are completely independent of the other site. This model offers does not require much of the WAN resources as no replication across WAN links take place. However, in case of a hardware failure, this model does not offer option for quick recovery. The following diagram shows the current Windows Domain Architecture:

MS Exchange Server Optimization: -


We propose to have a hub & spoke model for the domain using Windows 2000 platform. In this model a root controller will centrally manage the resources at all the locations. HO and Manali would act as completely redundant controllers. The master information database for all the system resources and users in SRF, will lie in the HO. This will be replicated to Manali at specified intervals.All the sites with more than 30 users, will have an additional domain controller. In case of a failure the backup server will take over the operation automatically. In case of a major server crash, when even the backup server is not able to function there will be temporary disruption in the network services. However, this model offers reduced recovery as a complete replica of the database will be available from other sites.This model will offer a single logon from anywhere in SRF i.e. if a user from one site wants to connect to the network at other location, he will not require any configuration changes. This further facilitates remote usage of messaging without any configuration changes.

IN 2001 2003MS ExchangeIncidences of server crashes and long time for recovery

Reduced possibilities of crashes. Quicker recovery in case of a failure.

Overloaded servers - No possibility of additional load

Enhanced server resources with future scalability built-in.

No access to SRF mails while traveling Ability to read and respond to SRF mails using Internet through web mail.

Manual data backups with no facility to verify that the data is recoverable

Specialized application to automate the data backup, verification and restoration processes

Data losses during the server crashes Reduced risk of data losses due to hard disk or other component failures.

Slow response on mailing at Manali and TFL Adequate server and LAN resources to improve speed of messaging response

No control over scheduling of mail based on the mail size

Scheduling of mails so that large mails do not obstruct WAN bandwidth

Internet Mailing High cost of adding Internet mail Ids due to additional bandwidth requirement

Unlimited ID's.

Excess Internet Bandwidth usage due to inadequate design

Optimized bandwidth usage for Mailing

Internet access speed slow Adequate speed

Low reliability, due to multiple points of failure Reduced points of failure. Redundancy for each failure point

Large variation in mail delivery time Faster mail deliveries No content filtering - No control over company sensitive data sent out through mails

Content filters to monitor and control (if required) data going out and coming in

Manageability is difficult Easy Manageability



99% messaging service uptime available for each user.

Note: messaging service is calculated user wise.

Security: -

In 2001 SRF did not have any specialized security tools deployed. There was no way to protect company's confidential data from getting out of SRF in unauthorized manner. Similarly, there are limited options for blocking unwanted or objectionable data from entering into the system.The security is limited to the operating system level authentication and the application level security. For both the OS and application level security basic set of policies are documented but not followed strictly everywhere.

In order to manage the security of all data systems, the sources of threats have been classified into two categories:External Threats: These sources enter the corporate network through the gateways open to the external world. There are three such gateways in our network, of which two have identified to be vulnerable. These are VSAT (very secure), VPN (medium vulnerability) and Internet (High vulnerability). The measures were taken to secure these gateways as shown in detailed diagram.

Internal Threats: These are the threats posed directly on all our data systems from our internal users. Most of the systems can be made immune to these threats using the native operating system level security, application level security and the network security. Substantiating these with strictly followed policies further enhances the overall security of the system


IN 2001 2003Multiple unsecured Internet Gateways Consolidated & secured gatewaysNo gateway Firewall or virus wall Enterprise Firewall & virus wallAnti virus only at Server OS & users desktops; no protection at Exchange

Anti virus protection at gateway, Server OS, Exchange server & clients

Limited router level security for VPN Router security to isolate SRF network completely over the VPN

Access to routers possible from outside Router access to be limited to HONo content filtering capabilities Content filters at gateway levelNo data access / password policy Security policy covering data access, authentication,

anti virus etc.

Information Security & IT Policies and Procedures

In our existing IT setup, SRF do not have well laid out processes for most of the operational area. This has resulted in a variety of procedures being followed for the same processes at various business units. This has further created wide gaps in not only on the infrastructure front but also on the Applications front. This is quite a challenging situation for moving on to an integrated structure.

2003As a part of the IT infrastructure revamp exercise, we carry out a comprehensive exercise to audit and document the IT policies and procedures.

Tangible and Measurable Benefits:

The Benefits of this initiatives have been significant and has spread across the entire business units of SRF. User productivity has improved significantly. Security, has been prime for Industry, data loss & integrity was protected. The improvements can be translated into some key highlights as mentioned below.

IT infastructure avilablity user wise has reached 98.73%.

WAN uptime has reached over 99% due to auto switch over configratd & fine-tuning of the network.

Fire wall instalation and IDS configred with 0 intrudition.

98% desktop uptime when compared to 85% previous year.

Nill Virus outbreak reported.

Messaging service avilablity is almost 100%.

Consolidation of routes helped in reducing the no of routes from 70 to 15.

LAN uptime has been 100%.

IT policy and procedured defined and roled out sucessfully across all location. technology implementation, Storage implementation, Internet security implemented.

Installed MRTG to graphically monitor the LAN interface utilization.

Customer Speaks:

Anand,Results of our infrastructure project. The results speak for themselves. Just one word to define it - Extraordinary! Thanks are in order to you, Thandava, MVS, Anurag, Doc, Subhash for your time, resources and patience with my 'unrealistic' goals !

Warm regards,Sudhendu Bali

Customer Contact DetailsName & Designation Phone Number E:mail IDSudhendu Bali +91-2371234 [email protected]

Wipro Infotech# 37, Castle street, Samridhibhavan,

Bangalore – 560 027Tel: 5576120 -129

Fax: 5576128

Technology

Wipro - FM Best Practices Showcase