IBM established the server and storage system infrastructure needed to centralize the Union Bank of India’s (UBI’s) branch network across India including those in rural areas.
The scalable and resilient hardware platform brought Union Bank’s 2,274 branches and 135 extension counters under a common IT framework while simultaneously enabling a higher number of transactions, thereby reducing costs and allowing Union Bank to respond better and faster to customer demand.
The bank will leverage this capability and bring all of its branches under the core banking system (CBS) network offering anytime, anywhere banking. Currently 1,211 of the bank’s branches and extension counters are a part of the CBS network. IBM Global Technology Services will also provide UBI with disaster recovery and business continuity capabilities.
M Nair, chairman and managing director of Union Bank of India, said: To meet our growth objectives we needed to move to a centralized environment where economies of scale, consistency and firm-wide synchronization of data will bring significant benefits. Centralizing our extensive branch network under a common IT platform is a complex undertaking, requiring significant infrastructure management expertise and experience. I’m happy to state that IBM was best equipped to develop and execute a strategy that is focused on eliminating the risk associated with change, reducing investment cost and providing an appropriate return on investment over the entire lifecycle of the project.
