Client:
State Bank of India
Industry:
financial services
Country:
India
State Bank of India
goes beyond
geography
The integrated IP network powers all the bank’s business
processes in some of the world’s most high-tech cities as
well as in India’s most remote rural areas.
State Bank of India (SBI) is India’s
largest and the world’s fifth largest
bank, with more than 90 million
customers, 15,000 branches and
7,000 ATMs in India and 40 other
countries. Executing an enterprise
wide IT strategy to integrate one’s
service channels is no mean feat
for any organisation. When your
operations are scattered across
myriad geographies and time
zones, it’s even more tricky. SBI
recognised that success required
enlisting the expertise of a partner
to design, build and manage a
converged network capable of
carrying all its present and future
traffic. The integrator would also
be responsible for bandwidth, all
networking equipment, software,
and management as well as a 24/7
helpdesk, service level agreements
(SLAs), and the management
of scheduled and unscheduled
network outages.
In total, Dimension Data
has over 700 engineers
across the region working
on behalf of SBI, covering
150 cities.
A future-ready network
Over a period of eight years, starting in 2002,
Dimension Data worked with the Cisco Internet
Business Solutions Unit to build and deploy an
integrated IP network that today powers all the
bank’s business processes in some of the world’s
most high-tech cities as well as in India’s most
remote rural areas. Applications powered by the
network range from core banking, treasury
operations and trade finance to inter-branch
voice communication and unified messaging.
The project, which has met all budget and
timeline requirements, was executed in five
phases. Phase I covered 1,400 branches in 49
cities. Phase II covered 3,400 branches in more
than 300 cities. Phase III involved networking the
remaining 6,100 branches. Phase IV covered an
additional 2,800 branches, and Phase V, which
touches 2,000 branches, is currently in progress.
The new network has been designed to give SBI
a seamless flow of transactions, streamline
data gathering and dissemination, and support an
integrated view of products across all channels.
Three-tiered approach
The system is based on a three-tier, self-healing
corporate WAN, which has a centralised data
centre in Mumbai and a backup in Chennai. The
three tiers comprise a core linking the country’s
four main cities, a distribution network linking
local head offices and zonal offices back to the
core metro cities, and an access network for the
end branches. SBI’s converged system is based
on IP telephony, with some 15,500 IP phones
being deployed and a closed user group voice
solution providing 24/7 availability for voice. This
has enabled standardisation of voice equipment
across the organisation and drastic cutting of the
costs of inter-branch voice communications.
The system allows advanced integrated
applications, such as billing and accounting,
XML-based services, voicemail, unified messaging,
conferencing and collaboration solutions, and
directory support, to be rolled out as services on
the network when the bank requires them.
Management of the bank’s IP telephony system is
monitored through our Global Service Centre
in Bangalore. Bank executives are provided with a
dashboard that enables them to see at any time
whether any part of the system is down and what
sort of fault is the cause.
Orchestration
Seamless connectivity is assured through the
use of leased lines and bandwidth is provided
by three telecommunications service providers,
orchestrated by Dimension Data. We also
provide unbroken service through our Uptime
Maintenance Service, which incorporates
detailed SLAs, including penalties for network
downtime. Service level management
responsibilities include partnering with the
telecommunications service providers, and
other third-party vendors to ensure that all SLA
requirements are fully aligned and delivered upon.
We also act as a single point of billing from the
telecommunications service providers, on the
bank’s behalf.
In addition, through our managed services,
we take ownership and accountability for all
processes and service outcomes.
In total, we have over 700 engineers across the region working on behalf of SBI, covering
150 cities.