From: patricia.chen@globalfinance.com
To: executive-team@globalfinance.com
Subject: URGENT: Critical Infrastructure Migration - Immediate Decision Required
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2026 08:15:00 +0000

Dear Executive Team,

I am writing to bring to your immediate attention a critical situation regarding our core banking infrastructure that requires urgent decision-making from the leadership team. After extensive analysis over the past six weeks, our technology division has concluded that our current mainframe systems are approaching end-of-life much sooner than originally projected.

CURRENT SITUATION:
Our primary data center in Newark has been experiencing increasing hardware failures over the past quarter. In February alone, we had 14 unplanned downtime incidents, compared to just 3 in the same period last year. The vendor, Meridian Systems, has informed us that they will discontinue support for our current hardware generation effective September 30, 2026. This gives us approximately six months to complete a full migration, which is significantly less time than the 18 months we had originally planned for.

The root cause analysis of the recent failures points to aging storage controllers and network switching fabric that are beyond their rated operational lifespan. Our disaster recovery site in Chicago is running on slightly newer hardware but shares the same architecture and will face similar issues within 12 months.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Each hour of unplanned downtime costs the organization approximately $2.3 million in lost transactions, customer impact, and regulatory penalties. The February incidents alone resulted in cumulative losses exceeding $18 million. If we continue on the current trajectory without intervention, our models project potential losses of $50-75 million over the next six months due to increasing failure frequency.

The migration itself carries a significant price tag. We have received proposals from three vendors:

1. CloudFirst Solutions - Full cloud migration: $45 million over 24 months
2. Nexus Infrastructure - Hybrid approach: $38 million over 18 months
3. Meridian Systems (incumbent) - Hardware refresh: $28 million over 12 months

While the Meridian refresh is the least expensive option, it merely delays the inevitable cloud migration and does not address our long-term scalability requirements. Our technology team strongly recommends the Nexus hybrid approach as it balances cost, risk, and future flexibility.

REGULATORY CONSIDERATIONS:
Our regulators at the Federal Banking Commission have been notified of the situation as required under our operational resilience framework. They have requested a detailed migration plan by March 20, 2026. Failure to submit this plan on time could result in enhanced supervisory measures, including potential restrictions on new product launches.

Additionally, our annual stress test results are due in April, and the infrastructure instability could negatively impact our technology risk assessment scores. The compliance team has flagged this as a material risk that must be disclosed in our next quarterly filing if not addressed.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
I am requesting the following immediate decisions from the executive team:

1. Approval of the Nexus Infrastructure hybrid migration proposal ($38 million budget)
2. Authorization to begin Phase 1 migration activities immediately, starting with non-critical systems
3. Allocation of 40 additional technology staff to the migration team (20 internal transfers and 20 contractors)
4. Approval to engage external auditors from Deloitte to provide independent oversight of the migration
5. Sign-off on the regulatory communication plan to be submitted to the Federal Banking Commission

TIME SENSITIVITY:
Given the March 20 regulatory deadline and the accelerating hardware failures, I am requesting that we hold an emergency board meeting no later than March 13, 2026 to make these decisions. Every week of delay increases our risk exposure by approximately $8-12 million based on current failure trends.

I have attached the detailed technical assessment, vendor proposals, and regulatory correspondence for your review. My team and I are available around the clock to answer any questions or provide additional briefings.

This is the most critical technology decision we have faced in the past decade, and I believe decisive action now will save us hundreds of millions in potential losses and regulatory penalties.

Respectfully,

Patricia Chen
Chief Technology Officer
Global Finance Corporation
Direct: +1-212-555-0147
