HP further solidifies its relationship with Arab National Bank with an IT deal

This IT initiative between HP and Arab National Bank (ANB) solidifies a 10-year technology partnership where the bank's management has seen the clear value of advanced technology and the benefits it has provided the bank, their customers and their employees.

This agreement with ANB highlights HP's strength in high-end UNIX computing solutions for customers across key vertical markets and further boosts HP's momentum as the No. 1 server vendor in the Middle East. For ANB, they will be the first bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to implement a duel HP Superdome installation, allowing the bank to reduce their number of servers and at the same time increase their compute power and capacity, all at a significant lower cost.

The migration process will be rolled-out in two phases over the next year and will initially incorporate the combination of 20 Unix servers into the two HP Superdomes. The initial implementation will take place over the next 6 months, after which HP will undertake a significant and comprehensive BETA test period followed by all-inclusive training for all ANB IT employees to ensure the team understands the complexities and versatility of HP Superdome servers.

Commenting at that event, Joseph Hanania, Regional General Manager, HP Middle East said, 'Having worked very closely with the ANB for the last 10 years and through our channel partner Ibtikar, we have a fundamental understanding of their technology needs and are able to respond quickly to these requirements. ANB cited their need for a combination of power, capacity and the ability to scale up to 64-bit processors which is why we knew that our Superdome servers were the perfect answer for their IT consolidation.'

In second phase of the project, HP will provide mission critical services, that include full 24/7 technical support with a 4 hours call to restore commitment for the two Superdome servers and the 20 UNIX servers. The HP technical team of 7 will be based in Riyadh as a dedicated Superdome support team for this special mission. HPS Saudi Arabia represented by the Customer Support organisation will provide a complete suit of Mission Critical Support Services to ANB, including the resident team. This service level agreement with ANB will provide improved performance as the bank will be able to focus on their core competency and customer care in the secure knowledge that the HP team will be watching the IT infrastructure.

'Our goal in consolidating our IT infrastructures is to increase performance by as much as 30%, thereby increasing our competitive edge. With this initiative we will optimised our assets for today and tomorrow and we are confident that HP's technology will continue to provide secured operations with reduced complexity and enhanced manageability,' said Ahmad Ashgan, General Manager, Operations Group at Arab National Bank.
HP is the first to market with industry standard server technologies that optimises the IT infrastructure and evolves and adapts to the ever-changing business needs of their clients.
'We have known that business critical computing customers such as ANB are always looking for business agility and an infrastructure that will make their business more efficient and keep them running and ahead of the competition. This initiative will provide them with the ability to reduce operational costs and to be better prepared for the future as they continue to grow,' said Abdullah Al-Mohaisen, General Manager, HP Saudi Arabia.