Siemon wins Saudi data centre project for Bank AlJazira

Bank AlJazira has chosen to specify a shielded cabling solution, which is a growing trend in the Middle Eastern market.

This, the bank says, was selected for its superior performance and security properties, affording the greatest technical lifespan and highest return on investment.

Utilising ultra-dense VersaPOD cabinets and plug and play fibre, the infrastructure has been designed for maximum space saving, greatest energy efficiency, highest future-proof performance, speed of installation and operational reliability.

Siemon was selected as the supplier of choice in a competitive tender with two other industry-leading manufacturers.

According to Ahmed Al Hassan, Head of IT at Bank AlJazira, "Siemon presented the most impressive data centre designs for our Jeddah and Riyadh sites and Siemon's proposed solution performed best against the high standard set by our specification."

The bank also recognised Siemon's strong local presence in the region and valued support given by Prem Rodrigues, Sales manager for Siemon in the Middle East.

Extending their global relationship with BT, Siemon suggested international systems integrator, BT Al Saudia and, following consideration, the bank duly appointed this company to deliver the project.

The installation for these new facilities focuses on Bank AlJazira's main data centre and disaster recovery data centre, comprising Siemon's high-density VersaPOD cabinets for the patching field, plus V600 racks to house the active equipment.

Cabling will include both MTP plug and play fibre, which supports 10, 40 and 100Gb/s applications, plus Z-MAX copper category 6A F/UTP shielded trunk cables. This shielded solution represents the cutting edge of category 6A cabling, providing the highest margins on all TIA and ISO performance requirements for category 6A/class EA, including critical alien crosstalk parameters. It offers guaranteed link lengths as short as three metres, which is of particular value in the data centre.

Commenting on this important project for award-winning Bank AlJazira, Prem Rodrigues said, "This is the culmination of many months of working together and we are delighted to be able to bring Siemon's global data centre expertise to the advantage of such a prestigious institution. The data centre design work we have done has been of particular significance to this project."

Commenting on the collaboration with Siemon, Dale Millar of BT Al Saudia, added, "With the combined expertise of Siemon and BT Al Saudia and the bank's preference for excellence, it is exciting to be installing a system of such high specification. We certainly look forward to celebrating the performance enhancement it brings to Bank AlJazira and its customers, across Saudi Arabia and beyond."