The lab will be directed towards the development and testing of digital solutions for VTB Bank based on Huawei products by specialists from T1 Group. Specialist teams will be engaged in testing new joint developments for compatibility with other technologies and systems, and test their prospects for introduction to the Russian market.

In future, the partnered companies are looking at expanding the laboratory to create a joint venture focussing on the production of localised solutions, and the development of specialised banking products and services for the entire financial sector.

Nikolay Shutkin, Deputy Head of the Infrastructure Development Department, said:

“VTB Bank is actively integrating modern technologies into the infrastructure of its financial IT systems. For our technology team, this is an opportunity to gain practical experience in the operation of Huawei solutions, and the ability to test the performance of hypotheses that standard test environments are not enough to study. I believe that each participant in this project has occupied their own niche and can use their expertise to the benefit of the common cause. T1 Group, which has thorough technical knowledge and significant experience implementing complex infrastructure projects, provided expertise on the project. Huawei has assumed responsibility for providing the project with innovative solutions, while VTB Bank, as a leader in the Russian banking market, has ensured the formation of relevant and promising requirements from a business point of view.”

Based on technology laboratory, engineers from T1 Group are engaged in testing the following areas:

• Software-defined infrastructure, including software-defined storage and networks.
• Hardware compatibility with OpenStack solutions and Cloud-ready applications.
• Compatibility of OpenSource applications and applications with reduced sanction-related risks.
• New digital solutions, such as RDMA, NoF+, RoCEv2, AI-Fabric, and others.

Sergey Solovyov, CEO of T1 Group, said:

"Ensuring the compatibility of various digital solutions is one of the most important tasks that an IT company faces, since in fact we are talking about the uninterrupted and reliable functioning of the entire customer infrastructure. T1 Group companies have serious expertise and experience in the design and implementation of multi-vendor IT systems. The main value of the T1.LAB lies in the broad range of possibilities for checking the compatibility of various digital solutions. This will allow our customers to reduce the time of launching new services to the market, developing solutions to increase the continuity of business processes and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements, and generally accelerate the process of digital transformation. Collaboration with companies with significant practical experience in the field of large IT projects makes this project special for us and obliges us to strive for the highest possible results.”

Xiao Haijun, CEO of Huawei Enterprise in the Eurasia region, said:

“I am proud that we have the opportunity to share knowledge and experience with our partners, not only in terms of building high performance infrastructure, but also in terms of developing integrated solutions and creating test laboratories. The cooperation of market leaders in their fields gives a powerful synergistic effect and provides an opportunity to implement truly unique projects. T1's vast experience in the field of development and implementation for government agencies and major companies in leading sectors of the economy, alongside VTB's digital progressiveness gives every reason to believe that very soon innovative products and services of joint development will be presented to the market: convenient, fast and completely independent."