Implementation in a Multi-national Bank

Topics:  Client Server vs. MainframeWhy IBM?, Data CenterHardware, DatabasesImplementation

A number of industries utilize IBM servers when building networks. From retail to health care to transportation, companies the world over call on servers from IBM, chiefly the AS/400, S/390 and the RS/6000, to handle the number crunching that each day requires. Furthermore, the reasons they have for choosing these machines are as numerous as the businesses themselves. What follows is a look at one business in particular that uses IBM servers.
 
 

Though it is difficult to choose any one business and say that it typifies the use of mainframe servers, ABN AMRO Bank N.V. (N.V. is Dutch for Incorporated) is an organization that has implemented these machines in their network to great result. Working from a central location, these machines are responsible for tying together all of the processing that goes on among the various offices of the bank around the country.
 
 

Before we go too deep into the IT infrastructure it may serve us to get an understanding of ABN AMRO Bank Inc. (AAI). Formed in 1991 from the merger of Amalgamated Bank of the Netherlands and Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank, AAI has grown to be one of the largest banks in the world today. Since it's inception it has continued to grow through the acquisition of other businesses around the world. One such entity was the LaSalle National Bank who's IT infrastructure is the focus of this analysis. With the potential for growth always before AAI, IT managers find themselves facing not only the specter of maintenance but of expansion as well.
 
 

So now that you have a number of locations trying to access the same information, how do you do it? By utilizing individual frame relay networks a Wide Area Network (WAN) provides connectivity between buildings for server and mainframe-based applications, ATM services as well as intranet and internet services. Using TCP/IP, IPX, SNMP, NetBIOS and SNA protocols at a bandwidth of up to T-1 speeds everyone can share information regardless of the physical miles that separate the offices.
 
 




An additional feature being used for selected AAI locations in the Chicago metropolitan area is a SONET Ring for high-speed reliable connections.
 
 




Aside from the actual configuration of workstations in the offices, the final consideration for this type of environment is the support that will exist as a buffer between the users of the desktop and mobile PCs and the servers themselves. This responsibility falls on the shoulders of the Distributed System Management group. Along with providing centralized management support for over 4000 workstation users they provide for the more than 365 Netware and 30 UNIX Servers under its jurisdiction with services such as administration, maintenance and capacity planning.
 
 




Now that the system is in place, what can the users do with it? The answer to that question is virtually anything with the data that is stored. From Accounts Payable to General Accounting, Budgeting to Management Reporting, the users have the capability to extract information from the centralized servers to perform all of the functions of a bank. And with the acquisition a few years ago of The Chicago Corporation, a full service brokerage house, all of the functions required there too. The only real limitation is from the software that is used.
 
 

A good example of how this is done can be seen from some of the functions performed by the Accounts Payable department. Like most cost-centers, the Accounts Payable department often finds itself generating reports. With all of the information stored in one location and through the use of various tools the users can extract data from a number of databases and combine it into useful analyses. As seen from the graphic below, with the implementation of different applications and tools it is possible to create different types of reports that contain information that was culled together from different databases.
 
 




What you can learn from this example is the one truism concerning mainframe computers and their application in today's data intensive business. Mainframe computers are used when large amounts of data need to be stored in a location that allows easy retrieval.
 
 

 Centralization is the key to the IT infrastructure in this study and the client in this case, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., was fortunate in that the system in place after purchasing LaSalle National Bank was already just that. That is not always the case. In recent years managers have begun to move away from a distributed environment to one that is centrally located and they are having to face a number of decisions along the way. In writing for Federal Computer Week http://www.fcw.com/pubs/fcw/1999/0510/fcw-techbrief2-05-10-99.html , Gerald Lazar put together a good piece on the recent "IT version of urban renewal" involving the consolidation of systems, especially mainframes, into one central location. Probably the most daunting opposition to consolidation is bandwidth to support the new communication requirements of the shift from distributed to centralized computing. However, as noted in the article, there are many more problems to face than just that. But along with the price to be paid for the change are the benefits to be gained from this move. For reasons like lowered personnel costs and easier maintenance of systems IT managers are seriously considering a departure from the trend of a few years ago of a fully distributed system where each application that was running had it's own set of servers.

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Author: Richard Dyman
Source: Todd Chusid, Senior Manager, KPMG - ABN AMRO Bank Current State Analysis