The State Bank of India (SBI) is one of the largest banks in the world, and it was able to consolidate its international data centers from twenty-five to three to one with a concomitant drop in costs.

In a new report, One for All and All for One: A Case Study of State Bank of India, International, Celent documents State Bank of India’s selection and implementation of Infosys Finacle running on HP-UX to run its international footprint, including 25 countries. The consolidation of platforms, data centers, and business processes has allowed the bank to reduce its IT headcount by an order of magnitude.

The first step was standardizing on the Finacle platform and migrating the bank’s global network to this platform. The second step was consolidating data centers from three, in the US, UK, and India, down to one in India while upgrading the entire system. But this drop in costs didn’t mean a drop in service. The bank was able to offer more products, get them out faster on the new platform, and roll them out globally if so desired.

“The State Bank of India won in many ways. They were able to drop costs, while gaining functionality and improving customer service,” says Bart Narter, Senior Vice President of Celent’s Banking Group and author of the report. “It’s a win-win-win for the bank, its product offerings, and its customers.”

This report examines the State Bank of India, the size of the organization, and the businesses it conducts in its domestic market. Celent reviews the decision process to migrate to a new core system on a new platform. The report then outlines the business benefits for State Bank of India as a result of the migration.