Deutsche Bank calls in AWS, Microsoft and Google to tout for cloud biz: Come in to tender, deal value unknown
Deutsche Bank has reportedly invited bids from Microsoft, Google, and Amazon to pitch for cloud services and other project work as part of a major tech investment scheduled over the next two years.
The request for proposal and contract award is being managed by Bernd Leukert, Deutsche's head of technology, data and innovation, a former SAP board member that was most recently in charge of SAP's Digital Business Services unit. He joined the bank in September.
"Deutsche Bank is committed to taking greater advantage of the opportunities offered by the cloud," a Deutsche spokesperson told us.
"To help us evaluate our options, we have started a tender process with several cloud providers. As is customary in such processes, we will not comment on the details – but we expect to be able to complete the process in the coming months."
The wider tech overhaul is seeking to reverse years of falling revenue and mounting losses, marked by regulatory problems and a collapsing share price. Deutsche Bank's revenues have fallen from €33.5bn in its fiscal 2015 (PDF) to €23.165bn (PDF) in 2019 and it has lost €14.5bn in those five years. The organisation has faced $18.3bn in regulatory fines since 2008.
Deutsche Bank, according to Reuters – which initially revealed the talks with the three cloud vendors – is struggling with a sprawling, outdated tech infrastructure, not helped by the buys of Morgan Grenfell and Bankers' Trust in 1990 and 1999 respectively. Some of the company's basic processes are still thought to be analogue.
Microsoft, AWS and Google are understood to have been on site at Deutsche Bank's HQ in Frankfurt as of last week to generate proposals designed to fix its tech estate and will include a series of projects. The tender is expected to take three months.
Deutsche Bank has not confirmed that it is buying a public cloud service from Microsoft, AWS or Google, and all three offer both public, private and on-premise services.
The looming agreement with one of the major cloud providers comes half a decade after Deutsche Bank signed a 10-year outsourcing agreement with HP's Enterprise Services wing to modernise its systems. The bank planned to keep IT architecture, app development and infosec in-house. The initial idea was to deploy HP's Helion private cloud to procure data centre services on demand, including storage, platform and hosting. However, HP took Helion out back in January 2016 and it hasn't been seen again.
HP split into HP Inc and HPE in 2015, with the latter housing Enterprise Services, which was then spun off and merged with CSC in 2016 to form DXC Technologies. DXC declined to comment when The Register asked whether the new deal would impact the old one, a 10-year private cloud deal that still has five years left to run.
TechMarketView analyst Jon C Davies said of the move: "Several major SITS (software, IT service) providers, including TCS, HCL, DXC and HPE, are actively involved at Deutsche Bank and are likely to play a role in any future cloud orchestration."
He added: "In 2018, Deutsche Bank suggested that around two-thirds of its applications could be migrated to the cloud to drive improved efficiency, security, resilience and reporting. It's no surprise therefore that the 'three wise men' of public cloud have been flown in to accelerate the transformation. Perhaps it is a surprise that they have not been more heavily involved in the project already. However, in light of the sheer scale and complexity of the German bank's IT estate and the many business challenges it faces, perhaps it had other fires to fight first."
If the CIA can do it...
Sid Nag, Gartner veep of the Technology and Service Provider Group, said that Deutsche's decision to go cloudy is unsurprising in light of similar moves by other banks in recent times. Last year, Santander teamed up with IBM to move some of its systems onto the cloud, as did TSB parent Sabadell.
"There was a time when banks worried about going onto public cloud, but most of the issues around security, governance, and compliance have been dealt with now," he said.
"The CIA is running their operations on the cloud. If the CIA can do it, I'm sure a bank can do it."
Gartner's Nag told us that most big data leaks are not the fault of the public cloud providers, but the customer which is using them for certain workloads or applications.
However, the project at Santander hasn't gone as smoothly as initially expected. A report by Forrester found that a lack of understanding of tech at higher echelons, coupled with simple inertia, had led to half of its "digital transformation" efforts either stalling or failing outright.
source theregister
Industry: Cloud Computing
Latest Jobs
-
- Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK
- England
- N/A
-
Public Sector Cyber Security Sales | UK UK | Remote / Hybrid A cyber security provider is seeking a Public Sector Sales professional to drive growth across UK government and public sector organisations. Must have current Cyber Security sales experience. Responsibilities Generate new business selling cyber security solutions into UK public sector Build relationships with CIO, CISO and senior technology stakeholders Manage the full sales cycle from opportunity to contract close Develop pipeline across central government, local government and public sector bodies Support bids, tenders and framework opportunities Experience Proven cyber security sales experience in the UK Track record selling into public sector organisations Familiarity with CCS, G Cloud or other government frameworks Strong stakeholder engagement and deal management skills Location UK based Security Requirements Eligible to obtain UK Security Clearance
-
- Security Architect | MoD - Security Cleared. OUTSIDE IR35 | Hampshire
- N/A
- Outside IR35
-
Security Architect | MOD | Security Cleared | Outside IR35 | Hampshire Commutable The successful candidate must be willing to undergo DV Clearance, ideally already holding active clearance. You will produce high and low level security architecture documentation, guiding and validating designs for systems deployed within sensitive environments. The role requires providing specialist security input into solution design, service transition and change initiatives, working closely with engineering, operations, client and third party stakeholders. You must have current hands on architectural experience, including VMware secure platform design and virtualisation architecture, alongside AWS expertise. This is an outside IR35 contract- 6 month rolling. Part of a longer term MoD project
-
- Active Directory | RBA engineer | UK Remote | SC Clearable
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Technical Active Directory (AD) and RBA specialist needed to play a key part in complex, enterprise scale Active Directory and access transformation programmes. You will work alongside senior team, helping reshape access models, modernise legacy directory structures and strengthen security posture across secure environments. This is hands on delivery within high impact projects where your work directly improves access control, compliance and operational resilience. Active UK Security Clearance required. This is a remote role with client travel. Implementation of Role Based Access Control across large AD estates Restructuring complex permission models, security groups and delegated access Supporting domain controller upgrades and core directory improvements Applying security hardening standards and remediating audit findings Enhancing authentication, policy and access governance frameworks Troubleshooting and resolving technical AD challenges within live environments Producing robust technical documentation and identifying project risks You must have the following technical experience Enterprise Active Directory administration Role Based Access and permission remediation OU design and governance Group Policy management Security group delegation models DNS and DHCP services Kerberos authentication / NTLM PowerShell scripting and automation Azure AD | Entra ID Hybrid identity environments Identity Governance PAM
-
- Identity and Access Management Consultant (Saviynt & Microsoft Entra) | UK
- United Kingdom
- N/A
-
Role summary Technical IAM consultant delivering identity governance and cloud identity solutions to enterprise clients. What you will do Implement / Configure / Deploy Saviynt IGA / Microsoft Entra solutions: Lead technical workshops, gather requirements and translate into solution designs. Troubleshoot complex issues, support testing and deployments. Produce technical artefacts and configuration guides. Key skills Hands-on Saviynt IGA experience (workflow, connectors, access governance). Strong practical knowledge of Microsoft Entra ID / Azure AD identity and access controls. Understanding of identity protocols (SAML, OAuth, OpenID Connect) and hybrid identity. Experience with APIs / REST for integrations and automation. What we are looking for Proven delivery experience in IAM / IGA projects, preferably in consulting. Confident communicator with client-facing delivery exposure.