Banco ABC Brasil to launch new services with dynamic infrastructure

Banco ABC Brasil is a multiple-service bank specializing in corporate credit.

Challenge
As Banco ABC Brasil prepared for a new wave of growth, its IT staff knew that the bank’s aging IT environment could not deliver the scalability and performance needed. Additionally, the bank’s storage systems didn’t provide the data backup capabilities necessary to meet stringent regulatory compliance requirements in Brazil. “Our IT environment was not adequate to provide the quality of service we needed, not only for today, but for the next 10-20 years,” say Waldecir dos Santos Júnior, Head of IT, Banco ABC Brasil and Armando Lemos, formerly Infrastructure Manager for the bank. “We had many deficiencies. Instead of trying to fix each isolated problem, we looked at what we had to do to improve our whole infrastructure.”

Solution
Banco ABC Brasil engaged IBM® Global Technology Services to architect and implement a flexible, high-performance and redundant IT environment that supports business innovation and growth. The project, which was completed in just 10 months, included the building of two new data centers from scratch—installing and migrating new server, storage, backup and replication solutions; implementing monitoring software; and performing contingency planning and testing.

The new infrastructure is based on IBM BladeCenter® servers, IBM System Storage® technologies and IBM Tivoli® storage management software. During the process, IBM shared with the bank “green” practices that reduce energy costs, such as innovative cooling processes that direct cool air onto the systems instead of throughout the data center. An Integrated Service Management solution for the data center, based on IBM Tivoli Storage Manager and IBM Tivoli Continuous Data Protection for Files, helps the bank manage an increasing amount of data while improving service levels and mitigating risks. “One of the challenges that we usually face is how can we protect our customer data, not only at our primary site, but also at the secondary site,” say dos Santos and Lemos. “With IBM storage solutions we can provide RTOs [recovery time objectives] and RPOs [recovery point objectives] to meet business and regulatory requirements.”

Benefits
According to dos Santos and Lemos, the new data center has helped to improve performance, scalability and security, as well as storage of critical business data. Cost savings will be gained from space, cooling and energy reductions, and from faster service delivery. Improved data protection helps bank staff meet regulatory compliance requirements. And a more dynamic infrastructure enables the company to deploy new services. For example, a pilot project is now possible that gives sales and branch staff the ability to access corporate applications from their client’s offices, eliminating delays in responding to client inquiries. “There is a time-to-market advantage,” say dos Santos and Lemos. “We can now deliver more computing power to the business than before. And that has an implied cost benefit.”

For more information

To learn more about IBM storage solutions, please contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/tivoli