| Belgacom BiLAN™ guarantees KBC a unique "five nines" SLA |
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Crescendo Issue 24 february 2001 |
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The merger of the Kredietbank and CERA in 1998 involved not only the fusion of two large banking institutions and cultures, but also that of two separate branch networks and of their respective IT networks. The integration process is ongoing with completion slated for the end of 2003. In the meantime, the second round of restructuring of the branch offices in the field is underway, with an intended reduction of this double infrastructure from some 1,800 branch offices currently down to roughly 1,000. This logistical merger must also be completed by the end of 2003, at the same time as the new applications and platforms, in order to ensure KBC’s clients of a full service offering for all products featuring the most up-to-date IT possibilities. The deadlines have now been set and the countdown has begun. The following article provides a close-up view on the requirements of the merger and the new developments underway, with a special look at a couple of firsts, especially in the IT area, at the invitation of Jan Nys, Director of infrastructure & technological support, Ludo Van Cauwenbergh, telecommunication systems Expert at the KBC Computer Center in Mechelen. |
| Clear agreements make for successful mergers |
| It
was in1998 that the decision was taken to merge the Kredietbank and CERA
to form the KBC banking and insurance group and immediately commence rationalizing
the existing IT systems. The choice of an infrastructure also had to be
made, both for the national network as well as the international. The international
network remains based on KB applications. For the national network, an IBM
mainframe platform was selected along with CERA’s more recent ICT applications
featuring the OS/2 system in each branch. It was a fundamental and drastic decision that condemned the Tandem platform, which used a Unix system in the KB branches, but it was necessary in order to avoid future problems later on. KBC can thus devote itself in the preliminary stages to adding and adapting the specific functions of the former KB to the existing CERA applications. These adaptations are still underway. The migration of the full product range will be ready by the end of 2001, and that of customer files by 2003. |
| Ensuring current transactions during the merger process |
| Aside from all that,
there remain all of the logistical and building aspects stemming from the
merger of two geographically wide-spread branch networks into a single efficient
network, composed of fewer highly efficient branches located in strategic
locations. This means also that the current combined total of 1,800 branches will be reduced to roughly 1,000 branch offices over time. This integration is being accomplished at the local level by moving smaller branches into larger ones whenever these can be expanded, and sometimes by purchasing, building and equipping new premises. This process is already well under way and will be completed by the end of 2003. In the meantime, the OS/2 system must run the branch offices. |
| Tackling the future today with the help of Applications Systems Architecture |
| Jan Nys: "The
truth is, we were well aware of the fact that the OS/2 system was not the
platform that our future applications would run on. We therefore immediately
started studying the next generation of infrastructure and applications
to be prepared, even as we started to integrate the two branch networks
on OS/2. We christened it "Project ASA" for Applications Systems
Architecture. Thus we sent an RFI to the principal market suppliers in order to have their proposals on how to develop our applicative architecture for 10 years down the line. Out of that came what we call our Network Computing Model for browser-based applications. An NC architecture requires that you have significant bandwidth and we need a new network for that. We’re now working simultaneously on all fronts with a variety of different projects that together constitute a full program." |
| Several programs with different but parallel projects |
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Ludo Van Cauwenbergh:
"As many things are in the process of changing, several programs
have been started, each with a series of projects with points in common
that we are monitoring closely. First of all, there is the current integration
process of the bank branches which will continue through the end of 2003.
Next will come the gradual replacement of the OS/2, starting in the second
quarter of 2002 and wherever possible by NT, all of which must be completely
finished by 2004. |
| The search for a solution leads to outsourcing within a consortium |
| Jan Nys: "We initiated a preliminary investigation at the beginning of last year in order to determine how we should develop our applicative architecture in order to best support our banking services over the course of the next five to 10 years. We came up with the ASA program for Network Computing on a new NT platform. At the same time, we wanted to discontinue internal management of the technical side of the underlying networks. That’s why we sent out an RFI to the larger operators in the market asking them to come up with a solution. On the basis of specifications that followed and that we sent to the participants selected, including Belgacom and Telindus, we selected our partners. We didn’t opt for the simplest solution. We were swayed by Belgacom’s BiLAN™ network while selecting Telindus as our system integrator. Their proposals had to be submitted by August 16, 2000, and they didn’t arrive until the very last moment." |
| A consortium based on a rather unique partnership |
| Bart Cartuyvels:
"I remember it as if it were yesterday. Together with the project team,
I had worked before the summer on drafting Belgacom’s responses to
the specifications. Just back from vacation, I was right away dispatched
here, to the KBC Computer Center in Mechelen, to get together with my counterparts
from Telindus and KBC and come up with a complete solution. It was really right down to the wire, given the very limited time that remained to work it all out. But in the end, we did come to an agreement in principle within the allotted time. I think we can say that this collaboration within a three-party consortium is totally unprecedented and a true first in its genre!" |
| Shared responsibility for a "five nines" SLA |
| Alexis Malchair:
"There are other unique aspects to this collaboration within a
consortium, such as the fact that Belgacom and Telindus are jointly responsible
for an impeccable operation without problems for the services supplied.
In other words, each partner is not only responsible for their contribution
to the complete solution, but also equally responsible for the whole, including
the contribution of the other partner. They are both guarantors of the end-to-end
management. And the Service Level Agreements are of the highest level: the
famous ‘five nines’ that are unique in our country. And believe
me, the penalty clauses are on the same order! Both Belgacom and Telindus
each have a permanent supervisor in the KBC Information Center at Malines
who monitors the network via an integrated management platform." Ludo Van Cauwenbergh: "Such high parameters in an end-to-end Service Level Agreement are certainly exceptional, but if we take into account the importance of this service for the bank, it is after all only normal. The quality of service and availability must now be irreproachable, both at the branches and for the complete range of services that we are providing. Our Selfbanking system must be available 24 hours a day for our customers, and without incident." Jan Nys: "There is so much at stake for us. We simply do not have the right to make any mistakes. The objectives have been set, as have the deadlines. The investment in this type of solution, as you can imagine, is significant. Just think of the bandwidth, 2 Mbit/s to each of our 1,000 branches. With this 2 Mbit/s bandwidth, the BiLAN™ solution will be ready to migrate toward an IP VPN. In fact, we shouldn’t even have to worry about that. It’s the business of Belgacom and the consortium to make that possible. We only pay for the solution that they provide, but we still keep a critical eye on things. Our trust in Belgacom and the consortium is great, but not blind. Our network analysts remain fully informed about the design and the operations. We, too, are made fully aware of what is going on. And this reciprocal trust between us as a client and Belgacom as a partner within the consortium bears witness not only to the high level of technical competence that Belgacom and Telindus enjoy, but also to a spirit of openness and an innovative approach of which I can only approve!" |