Accelerating data-driven banking with a Hybrid Cloud Strategy for Shawbrook Bank
Shawbrook Bank, a specialist UK lender with more than 500,000 customers, set out on a major infrastructure modernisation programme to support its ambition for faster decision-making, improved customer service, and smarter use of data. To achieve this, the bank implemented a secure, high-performance hybrid cloud environment built on HPE GreenLake, HPE Alletra Storage MP, and HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 Servers. The transformation has dramatically improved service speed, reduced latency to under 5 milliseconds, strengthened data governance, and created the foundations for future AI-powered innovation.
The Challenge
As a lender built in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, Shawbrook established itself by serving customers whose financial needs were more complex than traditional banks could support.
‘We found a lot of the big banks were unable to serve more complex customers — that became our sweet spot.’ says Alan Harper, Director of Corporate Technology.
But growth created new challenges:
Rising data demands: To serve specialist markets, Shawbrook needed deeper insight into large and constantly shifting data sources, including fluctuating economic indicators and evolving customer behaviour.
Pressure for faster decision-making: Whether assessing mortgage applications, approving business finance, or managing savings products, the bank wanted to accelerate processing while maintaining accuracy and compliance.
Balancing cloud ambition with regulatory risk: Shawbrook had already invested heavily in on-premises infrastructure and needed to protect these assets. At the same time, regulations around sensitive financial data created constraints around public cloud adoption.
Improving experience for both customers and colleagues: The bank aimed to streamline the lengthy mortgage application journey using automation and AI — but required a high-performance, low-latency architecture to support it.
To move forward, Shawbrook needed a more modern, more flexible environment — one capable of combining cloud innovation with on-premises control.
The Solution
Shawbrook adopted a ‘cloud sensible’ strategy, choosing the best execution venue for each workload, rather than defaulting to cloud-first.
‘Cloud sensible gives us optionality. It means we take a pragmatic approach to where workloads should run.’ Harper explains.
With Ultima’s help, the bank deployed a Hybrid Cloud solution powered by HPE GreenLake for Block Storage, built on:
- HPE Alletra Storage MP
- HPE ProLiant DL360 Gen11 Servers
- Zerto for seamless disaster recovery and failover
This created an environment that offers:
- High performance and ultra-low latency
- Latency across the SQL estate now sits at under 5ms, exceeding industry best practice even during peak periods.
- Greater efficiency through deduplication
- Shawbrook achieved a 26:1 deduplication ratio, dramatically improving storage efficiency and lowering costs.
- Robust data governance and control
- Zerto enables continuous data protection and failover to secondary data centres, supporting stringent financial-sector compliance demands.
- A future-ready foundation for AI
The new infrastructure allows Shawbrook to safely model, analyse, and act on vast datasets, all prerequisites for AI-driven decision-making and automation.
‘AI will play a huge part in our future…we want to model data from many different sources and bring it to life to serve customers quicker.’ says Harper.
The Results
Our results have led to faster decisions, lower costs, and disruption-free operations.
A measurable performance uplift
- Latency reduced to <5ms
- Zero disruption across live services
- Faster, more precise customer service
Significant cost efficiency
Shawbrook is repatriating Desktop-as-a-Service to the new on-premises platform — a move expected to recoup the investment in three years.
Stronger governance and resilience
The hybrid model strengthens control over sensitive financial data while ensuring resilience through Zerto-enabled failover.
Improved experience for staff and customers
Teams can now access data and systems faster, enabling quicker lending decisions and more responsive interactions. Harper notes: ‘Our people can only be great if they have the best tech and data to provide our customers with the best experience.’
The launchpad for future innovation
With the hybrid cloud foundation in place, Shawbrook is now developing AI and automation tools to further streamline the mortgage process and accelerate customer onboarding.
The power of partnership
Ultima ensured the HPE solution was designed and configured around Shawbrook’s actual workloads, compliance requirements, and growth plans — turning a technology upgrade into a strategic fit for the bank.
Unlocking the full value of HPE
By working hand-in-hand with HPE, Ultima validated architectural decisions, optimised performance, and ensured the solution was deployed in a way that maximised the platform’s capabilities.
Smooth, low-risk delivery
Ultima’s structured methodology and deep knowledge of Shawbrook’s environment meant migration was predictable and controlled, with no disruption to critical banking services.
Built to scale with confidence
With Ultima continuing to support and evolve the environment, Shawbrook now has a platform that runs reliably today and provides a solid foundation for future growth and transformation.
In summary
Shawbrook’s hybrid cloud transformation has delivered a faster, more resilient, and more intelligent technology platform that enhances service quality and accelerates decision-making. By balancing cloud innovation with on-premises control, the bank has created the operational and data foundation needed to support its ambition: delivering specialist finance with speed, precision, and a premium customer experience.
Hybrid Cloud solutions from Ultima
This customer story demonstrates the value of a well-designed hybrid cloud strategy for banks and other high-risk organisations. It shows how the right architecture, delivered with precision, can strengthen resilience, improve performance, and reduce operational risk across critical workloads.
To explore our Hybrid Cloud solutions and expertise, read more here.
