network design and delivery at aib

AIB

Case Study Network Design and Delivery

2 Case Study - AIB Case Study - AIB 3

eircom helps AIB meet the customer service challenge As Ireland’s largest bank, AIB is constantly under pressure to service the needs of its 300-plus branches and their customers. Supporting branch staff with the right technologies is vital to the bank’s ongoing transformation programme, a long-term initiative to deliver more effective customer service. AIB has partnered with eircom to meet the challenges of this project, starting with an urgent network upgrade completed in record time, thanks to an unprecedented level of collaboration between the two partners.

“Once you understand each other, you get into that ‘virtuous circle’ where the business enables technology, and then technology can challenge and enable the business in return.”

John Rice, Head of Network Strategy & Implementation, AIB

With 305 branches across three territories, the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain, AIB’s network delivers more than 8 million transactions a week, more than 500 GB of data, and almost 1 million minutes of outbound calls. With most branches running old-style 256k internet connections, it was clear that a major network upgrade would be needed to meet the demands of modern banking, and to support the bank’s wider IT investment programme.

A 12-month time-frame for this strategic overhaul was planned, with a view to getting all branches onto a 20Mbps network. However, with branch managers encountering problems with the existing network on a daily basis, AIB decided to speed up the process with an urgent interim network upgrade to be completed in just six weeks.

“We made a decision in October 2011 that by Christmas we would massively increase the bandwidth by running a new 8Mbps connection to every AIB branch,” said Marcel McCann, Director of Operations and Technology, AIB. eircom worked closely with AIB to develop innovative delivery methods that were based on close collaboration, and that delivered a rapid-paced rollout that upgraded up to 80 branches a week. The benefits were felt immediately by the branches, which reported faster response times and more efficient customer service.

Another key benefit is the closer relationship that developed between the business and technology sides of AIB as the next phase of the IT investment programme begins. The two

teams from the bank, along with the eircom team, worked as a seamless unit that forged a strong foundation for future collaboration.

“It gives us huge confidence to continue that engagement and to continue that level of collaboration between the business and the technology side,” said John Rice, Head of Network Strategy & Implementation, AIB. “Once you understand each other, you get into that ‘virtuous circle’ where the business enables technology, and then technology can challenge and enable the business in return.”

In conversation withMarcel McCann, Director of Operations and Technology, and Andy Johnston, Head of Telecoms, AIB


it and have good partners. We had to deliver quickly, and we worked with eircom, who got together with us and actually bypassed some of their processes. Our people and theirs operated as a seamless team.

What benefits are you seeing from the new network?

Marcel: The reaction from the branches was immediate. Suddenly we had dozens of branches moving up to 8Mbps simultaneously. My phone was ringing, people were noticing the difference. The feedback has been extremely positive.

Andy: The whole thing has really put us on a good footing for the next huge phase of our transformation, which is going to involve all branches going up to 20 Mbps speeds or more. This network was an important first step because we’ve upped the speeds to 8Mbps. That means that now, if there are performance issues at a branch, the ‘fog’ has been cleared

away because bandwidth isn’t a problem anymore. If it’s something like an old email program that needs to be upgraded, it’s much easier to see, because bandwidth problems have been taken out of the equation.

Why did you choose eircom to work on this project?

Andy: We’ve worked a lot with eircom. We knew there was nobody else in Ireland who had the technology, the people or the experience of working to tight deadlines within an AIB environment, so we told them what we were thinking. eircom were absolutely willing to help and do whatever was required to give us the best chance of meeting our deadline.

Marcel: There’s not a lot of difference technology-wise between companies. What we want to know is, who can deliver? When we say we will deliver something to our internal customers, who can help us keep that promise? eircom has proven that it can.

What was the biggest challenge in rolling out this project?

Marcel: We were talking about upgrading 305 branches across three geographies, in six weeks, coming up to Christmas 2011. That timeline sounded mad. But I set them a challenge to go off and speak with our providers and see what was possible.

Andy: And this wasn’t residential-type broadband we were requesting. It was a private new high-speed network that doesn’t mix with general internet traffic. Then it quickly became clear that this wasn’t just a technology challenge but a massive logistical exercise. We had never upgraded more than 10 branches a week before; now we were talking about doing 80 a week.

Nearly every branch was upgraded by Christmas 2011. What do you attribute this success to?

Andy: It was all hands to the pump. What eircom did with us was they examined and quickly optimised the upgrade process so that we could really ramp up the speed. During the design and rollout, the AIB and eircom people worked together like one team. There was no “I don’t touch that equipment, that’s your job.” It was teamwork, really good teamwork. Between AIB and eircom we developed a lot of new ideas around fast install deployment that couldn’t have worked without a joint approach.We shared and executed each others’ activities at times - this was of real value.

Marcel: As big organisations, sometimes we wrap ourselves up in process. This project shows what can be done when you put your mind to

Marcel McCann Andy Johnston


Solutions at a glance

Challenge: Upgrade 305 bank branches across three geographies from 256k to a new 8Mbps network within 6 weeks, supporting the bank’s strategic transformation plan and wider IT investment programme.

eircom response:

• Accelerateddeliveryofvitalsuppliesfromeircompartners,includingCisco

• Achievedaccelerated6weekdeadlinetocriticalmassof90%ofallsites

• Atprojectpeak,upto80branchesaweekupgradedto8Mbpsacross3geographies

Formula for success:

eircom’s project management model

• Programmeplanning&control

• Dedicatedeircomprogrammanager

• Collaborativeplanningtocommittoanachievableresult

• Proactiveprojectmanagementandcontroltoensureresultsare met

• Riskandissuemanagement

Project governance

• eircomexecutivesponsorshipprioritisedtheprojectacrossbusinessareas

• AIBensuredexecutivesponsorshipandinvolvement

• FullsupportfromeircomNorthernIrelandandeircomUK

• FormationofjointAIB-eircomteamforseamlesscollaboration

• Definedauniquecollaborativerolloutprocesstomeetthechallenge

“When we say we will deliver something to our internal customers, who can help us keep that promise? eircom has proven that it can”

Marcel McCann

Director of Operations and Technology, AIB

Get in touchTo find out how eircom Network Design and Delivery can benefit your business, please contact your eircom account manager.

www.eircomforbusiness.ie