OREANDA-NEWS. June 04, 2013. During the corporate workshop for IT specialists, Alexei Kukanov, Director of the Information Technology Department of OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel, announced that the Company will finish works on IT development concept in June.

The workshop was held between May 13 and May 17 in Moscow Region. Over one hundred employees of the companies of MMC Norilsk Nickel group participated in the event. The event was attended by over 40 specialists from Norilsk Industrial Region and over 15 specialists from Murmansk Region, the region of Kola MMC’s operations (second largest production unit of Norilsk Nickel, after the Polar Division).

Hosting such workshops became an annual tradition for MMC Norilsk Nickel; the 2013 workshop is the fourth event of this type. MMC Norilsk Nickel pays close attention to issues associated with development of automation and information technologies in its subsidiaries. Implementation of new IT and PCS solutions is a continuous process which can be effectively facilitated by holding such events.   

Alexei Kukanov stated during the workshop that corporate IT Development Concept will be approved shortly. As a document, the Concept will play a defining role in development of the key IT aspects, such as: IT infrastructure, functional and business applications, industrial automation and communication systems, asset management, application of sourcing models and development of IT human resources.  Alexei Kukanov outlined the most important area of Concept implementation as works on modernization of the architecture of the Company’s IT environment applying modern methodologies and practices for design and construction data and multi-level architecture models on the basis of standardization and unification of applied solutions. Additionally, development of other key regulatory documents, such as Unified Technical Policies for IT, communication, industrial automation and measurement equipment is also included in the scope of Concept implementation.

The results of corporate IT division’s operations for the last 4 years were also summarized during the course of the workshop. Igor Fedorenko, deputy Director of Information Technologies Department of MMC Norilsk Nickel noted that a lot has been done during the period: 9 major corporate projects were implemented, which were aimed to increase safety, accessibility and security of the information and improve efficiency of operational activities, additionally 5 projects were prepared for startup and industrial testing, design process was completed for another 4 projects.   

Senior managers from IT division of the Polar Division, Kola MMC and other subsidiaries attended the workshop. Both individual projects and general issues, such as technical standard and software licensing policies, were discussed among other topics. The event was attended not only by the employees of MMC Norilsk Nickel, but also by the representatives of the largest global IT and equipment manufacturer companies, such as: HP, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, SAP, 1C, Xerox. They introduced the Company’s specialist to new features, which appeared on the market during the year. The Company’s partner and co-organizer of the event was Ai-teko system integrator.

The results were summarized by Alexei Kukanov: “This event served as a universal platform for establishing the dialogue between the Company’s employees and representatives of the leading producers of computer equipment and software. The workshop also provided numerous opportunities to share the experience between the employees of various divisions within the Company and its subsidiaries”