“Because our core banking system rests on the Microsoft platform, it is very straightforward to set up and manage failover and disaster-recovery plans.”

Giorgi Beridze, Head of IT Operations, TBC Bank

TBC Bank was refreshing its core banking system’s hardware and sought assistance from Microsoft Services Premier Support. The Microsoft Technical Account Manager helped with problems and fine-tuned the mission-critical Microsoft SQL Server deployment that the system rests on. SQL Server provides the bank with strong security and availability tools. As a result of the engagement, the bank considers Microsoft to be a trusted adviser and strategic partner.

Business NeedsHeadquartered in Tbilisi, TBC Bank offers services to retailers, corporations, and small and medium enterprises in Georgia. The bank, which grew by 27 percent in 2010 and achieved 32 percent of market share, serves about 500,000 customers at its 50 branches. Through subsidiaries, it also offers credit, investment, and leasing services. Another subsidiary provides banking services in Azerbaijan.

Since 2000, TBC Bank has run its core banking system on top of a system of relational databases based on Microsoft SQL Server data management software. This line-of-business application ran on three IBM x3850 server computers.In 2010, as the existing servers neared the end of their life, TBC Bank decided to migrate the solution to HP Integrity Superdome servers with Intel Itanium microprocessors. “The existing server infrastructure was very old and no longer offered the reliability we needed,” says Giorgi Beridze, Head of IT Operations for TBC Bank.

Given the mission-critical nature of the application that would be migrated to the new servers, the company wanted to consult outside resources for assistance in supporting the migration and in evaluating and fine-tuning its SQL Server data management solution.

SolutionTBC Bank engaged with Microsoft Services Premier Support, a part of Microsoft Enterprise Services, to assist with the server migration and assess its SQL Server solution. After analyzing the project’s business and technical requirements, the Premier Support Technical Account Manager (TAM) consulted a Microsoft Global Technical Support Center engineering team to obtain supportability and best-practices guidance for deploying SQL Server on the new hardware. Next, the TAM engaged a SQL Server Premier Field Engineer (PFE) from Microsoft Services to mitigate risk for TBC Bank during and after the migration process.

During the migration, the PFE helped TBC Bank fix performance bottlenecks and other problems. Then, the PFE configured the bank’s SQL Server deployment for optimal availability, stability, and performance on the new hardware. The PFE also reviewed the operational environment, conducted hands-on knowledge transfer to TBC Bank IT personnel, and presented a report that included key findings about the health of the data-management solution, the levels of various categories of failure risks, and how best to improve the solution.

By using SQL Server as the foundation of its core banking system, TBC Bank has

Customer: TBC BankWebsite: www.tbcbank.ge/en Customer Size: 2,500 employeesCountry or Region: GeorgiaIndustry: Financial services—Banking

Customer ProfileTBC Bank offers credit, investment, and leasing services in addition to banking services for individuals and businesses. Founded in 1992, the bank is based in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Software and Services Microsoft Server Product Portfolio− Microsoft SQL Server

Services− Microsoft Services Premier Support

Hardware HP Integrity Superdome server

computers Symantec Veritas Cluster Servers

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Microsoft Server Product PortfolioCustomer Solution Case Study

Bank Gains Strong Tools for Availability and Security with Microsoft Platform and Support

access to strong security tools that help it protect its 2 terabytes of data. The bank can grant database-role or schema-level access, which is simpler than managing permissions for multiple individual users. To achieve high availability, the solution uses Symantec Veritas Cluster Servers to support fast failovers in the event of a failure at the database or server level. TBC Bank also replicates its data in two different locations to speed recovery from a failure at the data-center level.

As a result of the success of the project, TBC Bank is consulting with Microsoft Enterprise Services as it considers deploying Microsoft BizTalk Server 2010.

BenefitsWith the help of Microsoft Services Premier Support and Microsoft Services, TBC Bank achieved a powerful and stable SQL Server deployment on its new hardware. Because its core banking system sits on top of SQL Server, TBC Bank has access to robust security tools and can efficiently recover from failures at the database, server, or data-center levels. TBC Bank also benefits from a strategic business relationship with Microsoft Enterprise Services that makes it easier for the IT department to support the business’s long-term goals.

Strong Security ToolsBy using Microsoft technology for its core banking system, TBC Bank has access to security tools that help it protect user data and comply with regulations and industry best practices. “Our shareholders require that we be audited by an outside company each year, with one area of focus being database security,” says Beridze. “In the five years that we have been using this version of SQL Server, our audits have found no problems.”

Even so, TBC Bank is constantly exploring ways to further strengthen the security of its data and is glad that it can partner with Microsoft to achieve this. “We are currently undergoing an internal security assessment,” says Beridze. “I rest easier knowing that, no matter what security improvements the report suggests, we can turn to Microsoft for the applications, technologies, and expertise that will help us comply.”

High Availability and Reliable RecoveryThe SQL Server solution provides TBC Bank with the availability and recovery capabilities that are vital for its mission-critical core banking system. “In 2010, our goal was to have fewer than two and a half hours of downtime for the year, and we found that goal very easy to accomplish with SQL Server,” says Beridze. He is also confident about the IT department’s ability to recover from a failure at the server or data-center level. “Because our core banking system rests on the Microsoft platform, it is straightforward to set up and manage failover and disaster-recovery plans.”

Strategic Partnership with MicrosoftAs a result of Beridze’s positive experience with the Microsoft Enterprise Services consultants during the server migration, he considers them to be trusted advisers, not just support resources. “We now see that Microsoft Enterprise Services can help us be more proactive, instead of just helping us after we encounter a problem,” says Beridze, who sees additional business value in the Microsoft technology road maps. “Because Microsoft shares the direction that it is planning to take with its technologies, it is easier for my staff to think strategically about how to support the company’s business goals. We really feel like we have a partnership with Microsoft, not just a vendor-customer relationship.”

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Document published August 2011