Optimising ITOps while enhancing performance and security of digital banking services

Cairo Amman Bank (CAB) provides its customers with a wide range of assorted, innovative banking services that suit all customer categories and meet all their banking, financial and investment requirements. The Bank believes in leadership in the use of modern technology in the banking sector and was the first bank in the world to introduce the iris print as a means of identification, allowing customers to access their bank accounts while doing away with ATM cards and pin numbers.

"We used to finish a single transaction in 20 seconds. With our new SD-Branch environment, we're down to a maximum of three seconds."
Mr. Jihad Hamdan, Director of Infrastructure at Cairo Amman Bank

对服务和安全的影响

With two data centres serving a network of 97 branches and over 190 Automated Telling Machines (ATMs), secure high-speed connectivity is critical to the Bank’s operations as all digital services, whether internal or external, depend on the underlying network.

Citing an example of how the incumbent technology provider’s network performance gaps were directly impacting customers and the banks services, Mr. Hamdan said, “Every month, we process over 400,000 salary transfer transactions. With the old solution, the process of loading this information into customer accounts took upwards of eight hours, introducing delays in our ability to deliver a key service for our customers.”

This unacceptably long timeframe was also reflected in the backup of video data generated by the Bank’s CCTV systems. “The extended window increased the chances of backups failing and the loss of data. And because network performance was unreliable, we were often left with skips and jitter in the video feed which introduced a security risk,” said Mr. Hamdan.

Switching Over for Performance and Unification

在其技术合作伙伴的指导下，CAB用Aruba的统一切换体系结构取代了整个DC和校园网络的开关。这导致上行链路从1G到40G的速度立即急剧提高，从而使银行的数字服务全面增强，同时大大简化了运营。

400000多工资的处理转让交易nsactions, which previously took 8 hours, is now completed successfully in just 30 minutes. “And this is just one example. Because all digital systems and services are dependent on the underlying network, the performance of everything from our online and mobile banking, to the availability of our ATM services in remote locations has been dramatically improved by Aruba,” said Mr. Hamdan.

Data Centre Switching

该银行已经在两个数据中心中的每个中心都安装了Aruba 8400数据中心开关的脊柱叶片体系结构。这些是通过40G线链接的，并在VSX群集中配置。LEAF基础架构基于Aruba 8320数据中心开关，该开关为HPE Synergy超融合基础架构和HPE 3PAR存储提供了连接。

数据中心容纳了Aruba 7210头端网关和VPN浓度器（主和备份），用于SD -Branch域。Aruba Airwave可以轻松地监视和管理该数据中心网络，而Aruba网络分析引擎（NAE）在对IT团队进行故障排除援助方面提供了前所未有的效率，智能和支持数据的分析。

监视变得容易

Whereas the Bank previously faced network issues and downtime on a weekly basis, it hasn’t experienced a single instance of performance degradation with the Aruba platform since its implementation.

Moreover, the solution has given Mr. Hamdan and his team powerful monitoring capabilities which prove especially useful in identifying the root cause of performance issues. “Aruba enabled us to pinpoint, in just a few hours, the fact that that a decommissioned SIEM server was the cause of continuing broadcasts and multicasting which were saturating our network. Without their solution, such troubleshooting would have taken us days and possibly some service interruptions,” he said.

Software-defined Branch Architecture Unifies Services

Following the success of the data centre upgrade, CAB decided to address the challenges it was facing with its WAN. Legacy infrastructure had meant that the IT team had little visibility into the health of the WAN beyond simply knowing whether or not the connectivity links were up or not.

For redundancy, the Bank relies on links from two separate service providers. As a result of this, the lack of visibility also meant it was unable to identify if performance challenges were resultant of issues with these providers’ networks, or its own solution stack.

“We have one of the most expansive networks of physical locations in Jordan and in a bid to enhance connectivity to each of our 97 branches, we became the first bank in the country to implement SD-Branch,” said Mr. Hamdan.

Advanced branch infrastructure at an attractive TCO

CAB的SD-Branch网络由Aruba 7210 Headend Gateways和DC中的VPN浓度器组成。每个分支都容纳Aruba 7010分支网关和Aruba 2930f边缘开关。Aruba Central, a cloud native monitoring and orchestration platform, provides single pane of glass visibility on all aspects of the network’s operations while Aruba ClearPass Policy Manager enables the bank to define and enforce role-based security and network access policies unified throughout all branches, HQ and ATMs (in-branch or standalone).

This comprehensive architecture was conveniently bundled by a leading service provider and offered to the Bank as a 5-year managed connectivity service, resulting in an attractive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Hassle-free branch Wi-Fi

CAB在其分支机构的WLAN网络上也采用了类似的方法，为客人提供了领先的电信运营商提供托管Wi-Fi服务的方法。

This has allowed the Bank to simply install Aruba Access Points (APs) and Small Business Switches at its branches which are then centrally managed and monitored by Aruba controllers and Aruba ClearPass that are deployed within the service provider’s data centre.

全国范围内的ATM网络可靠连接

CAB has over 190 ATMs, 130 of which are standalone while the remainder are located within the Bank’s branches. While the latter are connected to the local branch LAN, each standalone ATM is connected via Aruba 9012 gateways to two independent MPLS links.

Together, the network infrastructure at the branches and these ATMs are managed, monitored, and secured through the same unified Aruba Central platform.

A Smooth Deployment with a Host of Benefits

“As an institution that provides vital services, we can’t afford a minute of downtime, so the implementation had to be done with no inconvenience to our customers,” explained Mr. Hamdan. “The centralised and ease of installation of Aruba’s Zero-Touch Provisioning capabilities, combined with the expertise and planning delivered by NeoGenesis ensured that we could achieve this objective.”

Security upgrade

最终的性能提高很明显，这一事实是，备份银行的CCTV数据所需的时间已被削减了75％以上，而与跳过和抖动有关的先前问题已被完全消除。

作为一家金融机构，安全对于CAB的运营至关重要。因此，银行利用内置的Aruba动态分割体系结构来启用分支机构内部用户和办公室之间的微分割，以增强网络访问控制过程。“We can now ensure only authenticated and authorised devices can connect to the network with layer 2 to Layer 7 visibility and control with Aruba Policy Enforcement Firewalling between the users so it’s no longer possible for rogue connections to be made and this secures our network from this threat,” said Mr. Hamdan.

PoE+ paves the way for innovation

Aruba-2930f校园边缘开关的实施使银行充分利用了他们对POE+的支持。如有必要，这已经转化为降低用于物理访问，闭路电视摄像机或未来公司WLAN等系统的电缆的成本和复杂性。

“PoE+ support also paved the way for the introduction of new conveniences such as an IP telephony system which can be rapidly installed at an employee’s desk without having to overcome cabling challenges and can be secured by applying the same policies,” explained Mr. Hamdan.

3X lower TCO and rapid ROI

“Not only have the benefits, brought about by the Aruba architecture, had quantifiable improvements to our services for customers and staff, as well as enhancements to our security posture, they have also proved more attractive from a financial standpoint as well,” said Mr. Hamdan.

Analysis of the capital and operational expenses for CAB’s network infrastructure has shown that over a five-year period, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for Aruba’s solution will prove three times less than what was previously deployed, with unprecedented benefits and outcomes.

“When we originally estimated the time required to achieve full ROI for this implementation, we believed it to be five years. But given the performance acceleration and the resultant elevation of our reputation, we now expect this to be accomplished in less than three years,” explained Mr. Hamdan.

Aruba solutions aide implementation and simplify management

Aruba的Airwave网络管理平台极大地帮助并简化了推广。Airwave启用了中央配置和管理以及更新的计划，以便在工作时间内进行这些更新。在采用了SD分支和支持云的体系结构后，该银行从Airwave迁移到中央。

Day to day management and troubleshooting has been greatly simplified by Aruba Central which enables the entire network to be overseen and managed from a single place. “We can set up policies and configurations in a consistent and automated manner to all locations. Similarly, any software or firmware upgrades can be centralised and automatically deployed without disruption or the need to send in our highly qualified engineers,” said Mr. Hamdan.

Banking on a Bright Future

Commenting on the performance enhancements his Bank has seen since the implementation of Aruba's solutions, Mr. Hamdan said, “We used to finish a single transaction in 20 seconds. With our new SD-Branch environment, we’re down to a maximum of three seconds."

As the Bank steadily expands its regional footprint, Mr. Hamdan and his team are keen to build on their success by replicating the Aruba network architecture in new branches and data centres that will be built across the region.

“Our Bank’s new corporate identity exemplifies modernity and values of openness and camaraderie in the interest of all customers and to achieve maximum benefits free of traditional restrictions. Aruba’s technologies are playing a key role in supporting this mission,” concluded Mr. Hamdan.