Centrica Energy

本公司

一家连接到未来的贸易公司

在可再生能源雄心和实时交易的交汇处，您会发现 Centrica Energy。作为欧洲最大的能源交易商和可再生资产管理公司之一，Centrica Energy 不仅仅是一家公司，它还是欧洲大陆的权力经纪人。从运输天然气到管理 16.5 GW，其中 80% 是可再生能源容量，Centrica Energy 将生产商与市场联系起来，并提高可负担性和可持续性。

简而言之，Centrica Energy 推动能源发展。其传统基础设施的现代化也将 Centrica 推向了更高的高度。

这就是 Patrick Babic 发挥作用的地方。作为高级交易基础设施变革负责人，他是 Centrica Energy 技术变革背后的架构师。作为战略家和管理者，Patrick 确保支持 Centrica Energy 全球贸易运营的平台不仅能正常运作，而且出类拔萃。

挑战

当您的存储空间让您夜不能寐时

Centrica Energy 的本地设置开始显示其老化迹象。系统在过时硬件的重压下不堪重负。该团队面临着许多企业 IT 领导者熟悉的问题：服务器太多，手动维护太多，以及缺乏敏捷性。

Centrica Energy 一直处于边缘，面对老化的硬件和迫在眉睫的中断威胁，同时也面临着交易和金融监管机构不断增长的合规要求。

让我们不要忘记庞大的数据量：每天 180 万个数据文件，包括应用程序生成的 CSV 和用户存储的 Excel 电子表格。当您为欧洲 1000 多万客户提供支持时，基础设施故障不仅会导致延迟，还会波及整个能源市场。

对于 Patrick 和他的小型精英团队来说，维持可靠的环境就像在停电期间重新布线电站一样。有些事情必须改变。

解决方案

从笨重到云原生

Centrica Energy 不需要另一个存储系统—它需要一个可以消失在后台并让业务大放异彩的基础设施。这正是它在 Amazon FSx for NetApp^® ONTAP^® 中发现的，这是一种完全托管的存储服务，将 ONTAP 软件存储智能的最佳功能与 AWS 云相结合。FSx for ONTAP 由 AWS 提供支持，建立在 NetApp 值得信赖的 ONTAP 平台之上，为 Centrica Energy 提供了云原生规模和熟悉控制之间的完美平衡。

作为20年的NetApp合作伙伴，Centrica已经意识到ONTAP可以提供可靠性和可扩展性。当FSx for ONTAP上市时，Patrick知道它是合适的。

管理硬件、为升级安排停机时间或在补丁周期中交叉手指的日子已经一去不复返了。FSx for ONTAP 通过跨 AWS 可用区的内置高可用性，提供无缝、自动修补、始终在线的体验。Centrica Energy 将法兰克福作为其指定的灾难恢复站点，具有一定的地理弹性，让合规团队安心无忧。

在能源交易中，每一毫秒都很重要。这就是为什么 Centrica Energy 还利用 NetApp^® FlexCache^® 使数据更接近行动 — 在伦敦和哥本哈根等战略位置缓存文件，以最大限度地减少延迟并最大限度地提高交易员绩效。

对于 Patrick 和他的团队来说，云迁移不仅仅是一次技术升级。这是一次运营上的释放。

Results

What a “quiet run” looks like in energy trading?

For Babic, the best infrastructure is the kind nobody has to think about. A “quiet run” means the environment performs reliably in the background, giving his team more time to improve what's next.

And “what’s next” is where things get interesting.

That capacity matters as Centrica explores how data and AI can improve the way it operates. Miles sees AI helping Centrica anticipate demand, optimize energy trading, and uncover new opportunities.

Babic's team is already putting that potential to work at the operational level. It has developed an agentic AI capability that pulls together operational information from AWS, monitoring tools, IT service management platforms, and its NetApp environment.

During a recent priority incident, Babic used the tool to quickly determine whether storage was contributing to an application problem. The answer came fast: storage wasn’t the source. The information helped narrow the investigation and kept the team focused.

The Outcome

How does Centrica Energy protect critical trading data?

Centrica Energy operates as part of the UK's critical national infrastructure, making security and resilience business priorities. As Miles puts it, they can never be an afterthought.

Performance only matters if the data is there when traders need it. So resilience gets built in before disruption arrives, not after.

Centrica Energy builds that resilience into the data layer. NetApp SnapMirror replication technology copies data between AWS locations in London and Frankfurt to support disaster recovery, while NetApp SnapLock compliance software and Autonomous Ransomware Protection help strengthen protection for critical trading data.

Babic's team also regularly reviews configurations and tests recovery to make sure its protection strategy remains fit for purpose. “Data is precious,” he says. “You don't want to lose it.”

For Centrica Energy, resilience protects what the business depends on today while creating confidence to keep innovating.

What’s Next

Where Centrica Energy and NetApp are headed next

The quiet run doesn't mean standing still.

Centrica Energy is working toward bringing its remaining Denmark storage environment into AWS, potentially using its existing platform there as a cache through NetApp FlexCache technology. The approach could further centralize data while keeping it closer to the locations that need it.

Automation is another priority as the team looks to reduce manual work and prepare for expansion into new regions.

“When the business needs us, we need to be ready,” Babic says.

Miles sees that readiness in a broader context. The NetApp partnership has helped Centrica simplify its technology environment, modernize data management, and build a reliable, secure foundation for what comes next.

“Decisions driven by data, guided by intelligence, and enabled by technology that's built to adapt,” Miles says. “That's what we're building, not just for where the industry is today, but for where it's heading tomorrow.”