BN Bank decided to base their new storage system on equipment from NetApp. With the help of Proact, they phased in a new storage solution which will save time and reduce costs, and is well equipped to meet future needs.
The amount of information that has to be processed, stored and archived is growing faster than most companies are able to handle. This is particularly true in the finance industry, which frequently faces new rules and guidelines which must be followed. BN Bank aims to be a straightforward, direct bank where customers are dealt with by telephone and online. Hence good, secure IT solutions are crucial so that the 108 employees can serve customers easily, inexpensively and efficiently.
Efficient, secure IT solutions are among the reasons why this Sparebank 1-owned bank is one of the best when it comes to favourable conditions. “We aim to be outstanding when it comes to serving our customers, and we want to provide services which allow customers to assist themselves as far as possible. Our ambition is to be at the forefront of this development,” says Vegar Kruke, Head of IT. The IT department, which is made up of just three people, makes sure that the infrastructure, security and operations work they way they should. According to Kruke, this is a support department which makes sure that the various lines are able to meet their targets.
Much of the banking software infrastructure (such as the online banking) has been outsourced to EDB ErgoGroup. A big, heavy environment The tools needed by the staff to do their jobs are run in-house, for the most part. The server room is home to blade servers and X86 machines virtualised with VMware. These include data warehouses, e-mail systems, economics, finance and accounting programs, office support applications, PC platform administration, support for staff working from home and telephony support. These services are provided by a separate data centre and EDB ErgoGroup.
“The most critical services are directly linked to the storage infrastructure. They must always work and be available. Performance and capacity are important too, particularly as regards the data warehouse. We cannot have any major downtime.”
An institution like BN Bank faces many demands when it comes to data storage; what data is to be stored, where it is to be stored and how long it is to be retained. This is also dependent on efficient systems for data deletion, based on personal security legislation. Accounting data is stored in a separate building, while the transactions are handled by EDB ErgoGroup.
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