29 December 2003
MUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank and Gulf Business Machines (GBM) Oman have completed the implementation of a year-long turnkey e-business infrastructure and disaster recovery solution, which has future-proofed the IT environment of Oman Arab Bank (OAB). In addition to being able to deploy new e-business and Intranet applications, introduce new delivery channels, provide swifter customer services and ensure business continuity, the unique and customised solution also offers the bank a host of operational efficiencies and sizeable cost savings.
The implementation of GBM's unique and customised LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) solutions, which include Cisco routers, switches, network management and security, included the provision of network planning, design, implementation, support and management services. In addition, both networks were seamlessly integrated with OAB's highly acclaimed High Availability solution for the IBM iSeries & xSeries servers - which host the core banking applications of OAB - affording disaster recovery protection like no other bank in the Sultanate. OAB and GBM also conducted two live disaster recovery executions successfully - these included all OAB branches as well as head office users.
More than 500 employees who use the solution have enhanced their internal and external customer response times and OAB's management has seen greater operational efficiency, improved productivity and higher levels of services for OAB's clients.
The infrastructure also facilitates business development by enabling the creation of new applications to allow new products and services to
be introduced. These currently include corporate banking and smart card systems, swift and trade finance, among others. OAB's core applications now run on IBM eServer iSeries servers; swift, smart card applications, trade finance and others run on IBM eServer xSeries servers; and collaboration and workflow activities are conducted using Lotus notes.
"OAB is the first bank in the Sultanate to implement an online disaster recovery site with full integration between the networks and systems. Previously our infrastructure could not support automatic switching of the branches to the disaster recovery site because they were not integrated with the MIMIX Disaster Recovery solution. Now we are able to ensure the continuous availability of services and minimised down time for our customers," said Abdul Qader Asqalan, OAB's Chief Executive Officer.
"The solution was implemented in phases, beginning with the installation of the intelligent LAN at OAB's head office, followed by the WAN which connects all branches. The network was then seamlessly integrated with the disaster recovery site," said Andre Podgaietsky, General Manager, GBM Oman. "The migration process was executed with meticulous planning by GBM and OAB's IT teams and included installations at all branches in record time and in a first in the Sultanate, the conducting of a live disaster recovery scenario for OAB's core banking applications."
"Linking the IBM iSeries/MIMIX solution to the disaster recovery site provides a perfect platform to offer Retail and Corporate customers a wide range of new services such as Internet, extranet and intranet based services, where the need to access up-to-date information is of paramount importance. Routine maintenance and software upgrades can also be conducted without disrupting on-going operations, and this type of high availability enhances both the bank's technology and customer service portfolio, and it further protects our IT investment into the future," said Hassan Abdel-Ali, AGM IT and CEO's IT Consultant.
OAB's decision making approach was thoroughly structured and RFP's were issued to six companies following the definition of its business objectives and general technical specifications. The bank's Technical Evaluation Committee first analysed submitted bids before shortlisting contenders and the final stage in vendor selection included commercial negotiations.
"GBM's credentials for this impressive and challenging project include its association with OAB which dates back more than a decade through various phases in the evolution of the IT industry in the Sultanate; its ability to offer a customised solution compared with 'off-the-shelf' competitor offerings; as well as its ability to not only enhance and 'future proof' the new infrastructure but to also achieve improved network running costs," said Abdel-Ali.
"Additional considerations reinforcing our selection of GBM include the facts that it is a Global Cisco partner which has been proved by its nomination as 'Cisco Partner of the Year, Gulf Countries' at the Cisco Channel Partner Summit 2002, and that most recently it has been awarded Gold certification by Cisco Systems. This recognises GBM's commitment to attaining the highest level of industry expertise in
order to help customers maximise their productivity by employing the most effective technology," he added.
MUSCAT: Oman Arab Bank and Gulf Business Machines (GBM) Oman have completed the implementation of a year-long turnkey e-business infrastructure and disaster recovery solution, which has future-proofed the IT environment of Oman Arab Bank (OAB). In addition to being able to deploy new e-business and Intranet applications, introduce new delivery channels, provide swifter customer services and ensure business continuity, the unique and customised solution also offers the bank a host of operational efficiencies and sizeable cost savings.
The implementation of GBM's unique and customised LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area Network) solutions, which include Cisco routers, switches, network management and security, included the provision of network planning, design, implementation, support and management services. In addition, both networks were seamlessly integrated with OAB's highly acclaimed High Availability solution for the IBM iSeries & xSeries servers - which host the core banking applications of OAB - affording disaster recovery protection like no other bank in the Sultanate. OAB and GBM also conducted two live disaster recovery executions successfully - these included all OAB branches as well as head office users.
More than 500 employees who use the solution have enhanced their internal and external customer response times and OAB's management has seen greater operational efficiency, improved productivity and higher levels of services for OAB's clients.
The infrastructure also facilitates business development by enabling the creation of new applications to allow new products and services to
be introduced. These currently include corporate banking and smart card systems, swift and trade finance, among others. OAB's core applications now run on IBM eServer iSeries servers; swift, smart card applications, trade finance and others run on IBM eServer xSeries servers; and collaboration and workflow activities are conducted using Lotus notes.
"OAB is the first bank in the Sultanate to implement an online disaster recovery site with full integration between the networks and systems. Previously our infrastructure could not support automatic switching of the branches to the disaster recovery site because they were not integrated with the MIMIX Disaster Recovery solution. Now we are able to ensure the continuous availability of services and minimised down time for our customers," said Abdul Qader Asqalan, OAB's Chief Executive Officer.
"The solution was implemented in phases, beginning with the installation of the intelligent LAN at OAB's head office, followed by the WAN which connects all branches. The network was then seamlessly integrated with the disaster recovery site," said Andre Podgaietsky, General Manager, GBM Oman. "The migration process was executed with meticulous planning by GBM and OAB's IT teams and included installations at all branches in record time and in a first in the Sultanate, the conducting of a live disaster recovery scenario for OAB's core banking applications."
"Linking the IBM iSeries/MIMIX solution to the disaster recovery site provides a perfect platform to offer Retail and Corporate customers a wide range of new services such as Internet, extranet and intranet based services, where the need to access up-to-date information is of paramount importance. Routine maintenance and software upgrades can also be conducted without disrupting on-going operations, and this type of high availability enhances both the bank's technology and customer service portfolio, and it further protects our IT investment into the future," said Hassan Abdel-Ali, AGM IT and CEO's IT Consultant.
OAB's decision making approach was thoroughly structured and RFP's were issued to six companies following the definition of its business objectives and general technical specifications. The bank's Technical Evaluation Committee first analysed submitted bids before shortlisting contenders and the final stage in vendor selection included commercial negotiations.
"GBM's credentials for this impressive and challenging project include its association with OAB which dates back more than a decade through various phases in the evolution of the IT industry in the Sultanate; its ability to offer a customised solution compared with 'off-the-shelf' competitor offerings; as well as its ability to not only enhance and 'future proof' the new infrastructure but to also achieve improved network running costs," said Abdel-Ali.
"Additional considerations reinforcing our selection of GBM include the facts that it is a Global Cisco partner which has been proved by its nomination as 'Cisco Partner of the Year, Gulf Countries' at the Cisco Channel Partner Summit 2002, and that most recently it has been awarded Gold certification by Cisco Systems. This recognises GBM's commitment to attaining the highest level of industry expertise in
order to help customers maximise their productivity by employing the most effective technology," he added.
© Kuwait Times 2003
