India Post Data Centre; Needs and Benefits

In order to provide 24X7 reliable IT infrastructures for IT Modernisation project, a Data Centre Facility has been setup in Mumbai. Another facility called a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) will be setup in Mysore to avoid any disruptions in the departmental operations.

A Data Centre is the centralized location from where all the applications to be implemented in the IT Modernisation Project (CBS, PLI, Mail Ops and RICT) will function.

Need for a Data Centre

•        Complex and Fragmented Infrastructure

Currently, the servers and storage is fragmented and spread across post offices. This creates a lot of overheads on the post offices to run and maintain the servers.

•        Limited scalability to support future growth

Currently all applications are working in silos and all offices are not connected to a common network. Any new product launch or policy change needs patch update across all offices leading to operational inefficiencies and delays.

•        Lack of a single view of operations

Since the current data centre setup is fragmented, there is no single view of the operations in the department.

•        No Disaster Recovery Strategy

Lack of a Disaster Recovery strategy can lead to longer downtime in case of major outage/ disaster at primary data centres.

Benefits of setting up Data Centre Facility are:

•        Centralized server maintenance removes the need of local server maintenance at every location.

•        Efficient utilization of network and IT infrastructure.

•        Continuity of operations will ensure that Customers needs are met at all times.

•        Easier deployment of new product and services.

•        The new data centre will ensure that the department’s data is fully redundant, totally secured, predictable and service ready.