Indosat Ooredoo: modernising legacy infrastructure IN ASSOCIATION WITH
Indosat Ooredoo
DIGITAL REPORT 2020
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Indosat Ooredoo: modernising legacy infrastructure WRITTEN BY
SEAN GALEA-PACE PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
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I N D O S AT O O R E D O O
Farizul Ahsan, Vice President, Network Programs and Solutions, VP (A) Network CME Infrastructure for Access and Data Centres, discusses his organisation’s challenges in the industry
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ndosat Ooredoo (IO) is a leading telecommunications company in Indonesia with around 60 million subscribers. IO
is the largest operation of Ooredoo Group and 04
operates in 10 countries. With a focus on human growth, IO strives to improve the quality of life through the digital world. Helping to achieve that is Farizul Ahsan, Vice President, Network Programs & Solutions as well as Acting Vice President of Network CME (Civil, Mechanical & Electrical) Infrastructure for Access Sites and Data Centres. Upon arriving full-time at the organisation in 2016, Farizul helped oversee the deployment of Indonesia’s first state-of-the-art high density (13 kW per rack) data centre and Ooredoo Group’s first data centre using DRUPS (Digital Rotary Uninterrupted Power System) technology. IO subsequently built two more new data centres, all of which successfully passed the Uptime Tier III Design and Built certifications.
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I N D O S AT O O R E D O O
“ There is a real focus on uplifting and modernising many dozens of our legacy data centres that can support the new generation high density equipment” 06
— Farizul Ahsan, Vice President, Network Programs and Solutions, VP (A) Network CME Infrastructure for Access and Data Centres, Indosat Ooredoo
IO not only possesses modern data centres but also has legacy data centres across many regions of Indonesia. “The company was established in 1967 and has subsequently owned the current infrastructure for a considerable length of time,” Farizul says. He has an ambitious drive to modernise IO’s legacy data centres infrastructures but understands the challenges of doing this while still operating legacy systems and processes. “Currently, there is a real focus on uplifting and modernising dozens of our legacy data centres that can also support the new generation high density ICT equipment,” he adds.
Compro INDOSAT OOREDOO SUB ENGLISH 1 CLICK TO WATCH
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2:07
07 Farizul understands the importance of treating each location separately and catering to individual
and -48VDC power and distribution infrastructure.” In the past, most telecommuni-
requirements. He points to several
cation equipment were based on
key challenges that IO faces. “We
-48VDC equipment, however IO has
assess our needs and validate which
now ensured that all telco nodes
data centre location can support and
are transitioning to a cloud-based
which can’t. It’s about re-engineering
infrastructure and use 380/230
available capacity while coping with
VAC equipment generally. “We have
network growth. Generally, we are
decided to phase out the -48VDC
agile enough to upgrade. However,
power and distribution infrastructure
it’s not always possible if the utility
which will contribute to dramatic cost
company has limitations in some
reduction as well,” explains Farizul.
areas. There are also challenges
“Cable infrastructure is another chal-
to maintain both 380/230 VAC
lenge that we face. To combat this, w w w i ndo sa to o re d oo. com
I N D O S AT O O R E D O O
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“ If we’re building a new data centre or upgrading existing ones, we take input from our subsidiaries and we all have our own part to manage” — Farizul Ahsan, Vice President, Network Programs and Solutions, VP (A) Network CME Infrastructure for Access and Data Centres, Indosat Ooredoo
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we’ve introduced a backstop which
to have a strong foothold in a host-
will allow us to expand in steps. We
ing/colocation business utilising
also now design the upstream and
existing data centers. Lintasarta has
downstream at optimum capacity
been receiving international awards
and therefore no longer need to
and accolades such as “best data
change the cables every time we
centre provider” due to its vast certi-
need to upgrade.”
fied personnel, who are adhering to
IO is not only one of the largest telecommunication providers but also a provider of a full range of digital
the highest level of operation and maintenance standards. One of IO’s modern data centres is
services including satellite commu-
located right at the heart of Jakarta’s
nication along with its subsidiaries,
commercial and financial business
Indosat Mega Media (IM2) and
district, attracting banks and other
Lintasarta, which have enabled IO
large entities. “We have strong
Farizul Ahsan
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Farizul has been working in Telecommunication industry for over 15 years in various technical and management roles. He is a subject matter expert for Cellular site and Data Center infrastructure solutions. He is one of the key members among all the Ooredoo Group Operations to transform to high density mission critical facility infrastructure strategy. He is very passionate in finding ways to introduce innovative solutions to drive down the total cost ownership while improving resiliency. Farizul holds Electrical Engineering and Computer Science degree from Texas Tech University, USA. He received various professional certifications for Data Center facility infrastructures from UK as well. Prior to Telco industry, Farizul acquired experiences in custom circuit design for automotive, avionics and communication technology. w w w i ndo sa to o re d oo. com
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I N D O S AT O O R E D O O
1967
Year founded
29.8tr+
Rp 
Revenue in rupiah
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synergy despite working in different areas within the business,” explains Farizul. “For example, if we’re building a new data centre or upgrading existing ones, we take input from our subsidiaries and we all have our own part to manage. Collaborations such as this are very important.” IO spends millions of dollars every month on its energy bill due to its vast number of cellular sites and data centers. “There is a strong drive to reduce energy spending, not only for cellular sites but also for data centres without compromising resiliency and agility to grow quickly to meet the business needs. We are laser focused now to improve PUE (Power
“ There is a strong drive to reduce energy spending, not only for cellular sites but also for data centres without compromising resiliency and agility” — Farizul Ahsan, Vice President, Network Programs and Solutions, VP (A) Network CME Infrastructure for Access and Data Centres, Indosat Ooredoo w w w i ndo sa to o re d oo. com
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15 Usage Effectiveness) for all legacy
partnered with these big players in
data centres,” says Farizul.
power and environmental infrastruc-
To build new and upgrade exist-
ture because they possess sound
ing cellular and data centre sites, IO
technical competencies with an ade-
entered into strategic partnerships
quate product portfolio and required
with Huawei, Delta/Eltek and Vertiv.
implementation capacity to support
Huawei has built our first 2 state-of-
group wide strategy with agility.”
the-art high density data centres in record time. Farizul believes a solid partnership is extremely essential to have a successful outcome. “That’s why these partners had undergone competitive assessments by Ooredoo Group and its operating companies,” explains Farizul. “We’ve w w w i ndo sa to o re d oo. com
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