Barclays takes on more GreenLake

Barclays has extended a private cloud contract with HPE to use GreenLake Cloud as a core pillar of its hybrid cloud strategy.

Barclays signed a strategic contract with HPE in 2021 to deliver a global private cloud platform, hosting more than 100,000 workloads across the bank’s strategic hubs in the UK, the US and Asia. It used the GreenLake cloud to host virtual desktop infrastructure, SQL databases, Windows servers and Linux workloads.

At the time, Barclays said the edge-to-cloud platform provided through GreenLake was integral to its hybrid multicloud strategy and digital transformation across its global businesses. Its goal was to make use of HPE’s automated and open cloud platform to host thousands of workloads and support the delivery of an enhanced personalised banking experience for customers.

Since then, Barclays has used HPE to support the migration and deployment of more than 50,000 workloads to its private cloud estate. The number of workloads is set to double over the next three years. Barclays plans to migrate to GreenLake as a way to transition and decommission legacy systems, which offers a way for the bank to free up rack space in its datacentres and save several megawatts of power. 

Along with the benefit of reducing technical debt, the new IT infrastructure offers Barclays a way to increase workload density, which along with modernisation of these workloads, offers a way to reduce power and cooling consumption.
 
“With a private cloud through HPE GreenLake Cloud, we saw significant acceleration of our hybrid multicloud journey, driving key elements and innovations of our digital experience,” said Stephen Flaherty, chief technology officer and head of group technology infrastructure services at Barclays. “The increased agility and operational performance enable our technology colleagues to deliver consistently excellent outcomes for our clients and customers.”

In this next phase of the collaboration, HPE will be working with Barclays to look at opportunities for innovation and enhancing efficiencies within the private cloud environment, such as making use of data and exploring the potential of emerging technologies. HPE and Barclays are also aiming to improve the developer experience by providing seamless integration and user-friendly interfaces.
 
“In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, a data-first approach that spans hybrid cloud is crucial to accelerate enterprises’ digital transformation and unlock long-term growth opportunities through AI,” said Matt Harris, senior vice-president and managing director for the UK, Ireland, Middle East and Africa at HPE.