Al-Mawarid Bank ups security of data center network

Emirates Business

VMware, Inc., a global leader in cloud infrastructure and business mobility, announced that Al-Mawarid Bank is deploying VMware NSX network virtualization to improve security and application continuity, accelerate product innovation through IT automation, and meet stringent regulatory compliance requirements.
Al-Mawarid Bank is a fast-growing, Lebanese bank that invests in the latest technologies to stay ahead of the competition – for example, it was the first to introduce mobile banking to Lebanon. The bank adopted virtualization more than five years ago — and with the exception of its mainframe-based core banking system – the bank said all of its systems run on VMware, including VMware Horizon virtual desktops across its network of branches.
Al-Mawarid Bank has chosen the VMware NSX network virtualization platform for its unique micro-segmentation capabilities, providing advanced security inside its data center network. Distributed firewalling and automated security policies will boost data protection and support compliance with the rigorous regulatory framework of the Lebanese banking sector as well as international laws such as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). With VMware NSX, the bank will deploy security controls across its network for a fraction of the cost that would have been required using a hardware-centric approach.
VMware NSX will improve the bank’s application continuity capabilities as the virtualized data center network will span to the bank’s active-passive disaster recovery site, and provide the bank with the freedom to securely move data and applications across its private cloud. With the delicate political and social conditions in the region, disaster recovery plans are of critical importance. Using VMware Site Recovery Manager™, the bank will run non-disruptive testing to help enable IT disaster recovery predictability and compliance. The bank also anticipates the accelerated provisioning of IT services as a result of the advanced IT automation capabilities of NSX. This will enable the bank to bring product and service innovations to market faster.
Ghassan Jumblat, IT Head at Al-Mawarid Bank said: “The introduction of micro-segmentation with VMware NSX to our bank is transformative. It’s transforming our approach to security as well as how we meet regulatory and compliance requirements. Our investment in NSX will help us sustain our growth momentum by capitalising on our strategy to use technology to stay ahead of the competition.”
The bank is also deploying VMware vSphere with Operations Management to improve performance and availability. VMware vSphere with Operations Management will provide Al-Mawarid Bank with a single unified management view that will enable faster problem resolution to reduce IT downtime. By implementing VMware vSphere with Operations Management, Al-Mawarid Bank can achieve dramatic improvements into utilization rates, identifying underutilized resources and reclaiming them as needed. With VMware vSphere with Operations Management, IT will gain clear visibility into capacity along with the ability to forecast the need for additional IT resources over time.
Jumblat added: “VMware vSphere with Operations Management is the must have tool for the next era in cloud design. It makes capacity planning, optimization, monitoring and analytics easy and automated. Plus there are fewer margins for error and less time spent on complex tasks.”