New Solutions will increase customer satisfaction, provide real time availability and reduce cost

Muscat, Oman, October 20, 2009- BankMuscat, the leading financial services provider in Oman, has selected HP and Avaya to meet its growth objectives by consolidating its existing disparate technology infrastructure into an integrated and unified business system.

BankMuscat is the largest bank in the country with over 40 per cent market share and 121 branches. The implementation coincides with the bank's decision to move to its new headquarters and includes HP's portfolio of energy-efficient data centers, blade servers, Superdome and HP ProCurve networking solutions as well as Avaya's IP telephony for 1600 user endpoints and a complete unified communications suite.

In order to meet its business objectives and deliver efficient customer services across the bank's branches in Oman, BankMuscat wanted to reduce the complexity of its legacy systems and move its diverse banking functionality to a flexible and scalable infrastructure.

Furthermore, real-time system availability, total cost of ownership, simplified and streamlined resource sharing based on an open architecture and industry standards were areas that the bank needed support on.

"We wanted an integrated technology solution that could support our growing business in the region.  We are confident of the support and system overhaul that HP and Avaya are carrying out. Our goal is to lower our costs, automate paper-based systems, enhance security across the enterprise, increase employee productivity and collaboration and reduce communications costs through this implementation," said John A. Cooper, Chief Information Officer, DGM Technology and Operations, BankMuscat.

"BankMuscat is among the leading banks in the region that rely on Avaya for communications efficiency and expertise. Avaya together with our partner HP Pro Curve were able to offer BankMuscat an open standard architecture that allows for integration with the bank's existing infrastructure," said Nidal Abou-ltaif, Vice President, Middle East, Africa, Greece and Turkey, Avaya.

"Regionally, we have worked with leading banks and financial institutions to help them optimise their business outcomes, increasing efficiency and mitigating risks. Our expertise in this domain has helped financial institutions effectively move from their legacy system and adapt to a highly scalable and flexible computing system. We have been working closely with the BankMuscat team and we hope our technology will contribute positively to the bank's long-term business objectives," said John Hoonhout, Managing Director HP Middle East

Five HP ProCurve 5400 chassis based switches were integrated into the bank's existing vendor environment after changing it to standard, open protocol.

The bank will implement Avaya's one-X portfolio of UC solutions, including one-X Portal, one-X Communicator, and one-X Mobile. Avaya one-X® is a family of communications applications and collaboration tools designed for end users. It supports Unified Communications across a wide range of platforms, including desktop and laptop computers, mobile devices, and dedicated IP deskphones. Using industry standards such as SIP or H.323, one-X Products offer simple, intuitive access to everyday communication and collaboration tools.

"The implementation will be carried out with the support of IMTAC, Avaya and HP's partner in Oman, and is projected to be fully rolled-out within the next few months." added Divesh Loomba, Country Manager for HP TSG Oman.

-Ends-

About BankMuscat (SAOG)
With assets worth over US $15 billion, BankMuscat (SAOG) is the largest bank in Oman today with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Investment Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management. The Bank has a network of 121 branches and over 300 ATMs in Oman, a branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and a representative office in Dubai (UAE). For more information, please visit: http://www.bankmuscat.com   

About Avaya
Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems.  The company provides unified communications, contact centres, and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world. Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service and competitiveness.   For more information please visit www.avaya.com.  

About HP Middle East
HP is the largest technology and solutions provider in the Middle East with 1310 employees and subsidiaries in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Cairo, Ramallah, Qatar, Oman and 3 service Joint Ventures in Kuwait, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi servicing the GCC, Egypt and the Levant. HP has been present in the Middle East since 1968 and opened its first regional office in 1994. HP Middle East is the market leader for enterprise, small and medium business and consumer technology products and offers a large portfolio of solutions and services in various business domains. More information about HP in the Middle East is available at www.hp.com/me

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© Press Release 2009