Peer-to-Peer

Banking on a WAN

Mahesh Sahakari Bank deployed a WAN solution from IBM Netsol, and is in the testing phase. By Renuka Vembu

Mahesh Sahakari Bank, an urban cooperative bank, established in 1972, was witnessing robust growth. The bank conducted its operations from nine branches in Pune and one in Mumbai. To withstand the increase in its growth, it was in need of a network infrastructure that was available, scalable and reliable. To ensure smooth business functioning and effective service delivery, it also required an architecture that would connect its distributed branches and support the central banking application. The basic objectives set forth for the exercise were:

• Implementation and execution of a WAN switching infrastructure for branches
• Availability to its end users
• Intelligent infrastructure that supported the existing applications
• Flexibility in the infrastructure to accommodate new services
• Initial challenges

The first challenge that the bank faced was to network its branches with a Wide Area Network (WAN) that allowed it to extend its reach. To address this concern, they had to have a network infrastructure that leveraged the technological advancements, supported the existing distributed banking applications and reduced operating costs.

The implementation process

The deployment of a WAN allowed the bank to move towards a centralized mode. Pramod Kulkarni, Managing Director, Mahesh Sahakari Bank, asserted, “The migration to a core banking system paved the way for a better Management Information System. This resulted in the streamlining of many processes for the bank. It guaranteed the dual benefits of centralized data and core banking.” Centralized data enabled the bank to gain easy access to information. Also, the end result was seamless connectivity between the bank’s head office, its branches and its users. It also presented the bank with the opportunity to offer new services namely mobile and Internet banking.

In addition to this, the bank also leveraged the audit services that resulted in a conclusive analysis, thereby helping the bank customize its offerings. An example of this would be the results of the analysis based on the transactions that facilitated the bank’s understanding of investment schemes favored by its customers. This initiative enabled the bank to customize and formulate a suitable investment scheme. The automated reports provided by the Management Information System ensured that the bank was in a position to generate error-free documents to be submitted to regulatory bodies.

The objective behind the implementation was to put in place an infrastructure that would support the bank’s existing application platforms and at the same time be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the roll out of new services. At this juncture, it identified Netsol, an IBM company, for its partner. IBM Netsol had already established itself as an expert in setting up networking infrastructure and it specialized in converged Wide Area Networking solutions. Netsol collaborated with the bank’s internal IT team to kick-start the project, starting off with a testing phase that ensured smooth connectivity between the bank’s head office, its branches and its users.

The implementation was still in the testing phase and the bank had not got around to calculating the return on investment from the project. However, it had already managed to save 50% on costs thanks to it.

Benefits derived

The implementation of a WAN assisted the bank in improving time-to-market. In addition to tapping different delivery channels, some of the other benefits derived, as stated by Kulkarni were:

The defined functionality of each layer enabled the bank to seamlessly add branches anywhere.

The defined hierarchical IP addressing made room for sufficient subnets that were reserved for future expansion.

Features like Remote Network Configuration enabled the network administrator to configure the network components from a central location.

Manageability of the network that included Link Management, Equipment Management, Fault Management, etc., had become easier.

The modular nature of the network ensured upgradation, re-configuration, and modifications, if any, in a phased manner.

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The WAN deployment ensured the availability of relevant information to the bank’s stakeholders. As part of this project leased lines, secondary ISDN connections, as well as dial up connections were established as part of the contingency plan. On top of all this, connectivity to the disaster recovery site housed at a different location was also laid down. IBM Netsol automated the migration path to redundant connections. Hence, in event of a failure in a leased line, connectivity would automatically be shunted to the secondary ISDN link and from there to the dialup link.

The bank took the proactive step of providing training to its staff on operating the network infrastructure allowing them to hone their IT skills in-house. Kulkarni opined, “Our insistence on availability resulted in primary and secondary media at the access level. This ensured availability of the network during failure of the primary link. The products have high Mean Time between Failure (MTBF) rates and low Mean Time to Repair (features that are critical for a bank’s operations). Furthermore, the two routers at the core have redundant power supplies that automatically took over in the event of the failure of a router’s primary power supply.”

renuka.vembu@expressindia.com