IBM announced new solutions to allow financial services and banking customers to centralize operations and reduce overhead costs. The new IBM Systems Solutions for Branch Banking leverages IBM's growing ecosystem of partners, and also adds another option to the IBM Virtualized Hosted Client Infrastructure solution portfolio.

Systems Solutions for Branch Banking is designed to serve as a secure and stable platform for branch growth, as banks continue to evolve and redevelop their traditional network of branch sites, seeking to transform them into outlets for personalized selling and highly-focused service.

"IBM brings significant value to the table -- expertise from other engagements and a deep understanding for our support needs," said Luis Francisco Rivas Dueñas, CIO of Banco de la República, the Central Bank of Columbia. "We can capitalize on IBM's expertise to further collapse multiple tiers of our computing operations into a more efficient, less complex infrastructure. This solution includes tailored features such extra security and networking applications that meet our specific needs as a financial institution."

Designed specifically for the banking industry, the new Systems Solutions for Branch Banking offers banking customers a pre-configured, pre-tested, scalable and easy to maintain platform that can be used to consolidate branch infrastructure. The new banking solutions -- built on powerful Intel Xeon-based IBM BladeCenter and xSeries platforms -- include software, networking and security features so that administrators can monitor operations and centrally deploy software to branch locations.

Systems Solutions for Branch Banking provides functions and services that can be used with in-branch applications, such as wireless networking, local storage backup and restore, and management of automated teller machines (ATMs).

"The trend in the financial services and banking markets is towards flexible and resilient infrastructures to ease the manageability of a company's overall operations and free more IT dollars for use developing client-facing products and services," said Mark Greene, general manager, IBM Global Banking Industry. "With today's announcement of IBM's Systems Solutions for Branch Banking, IBM is providing financial customers with solutions to realize a competitive advantage in this fast-paced market."

Systems Solutions for Branch Banking will help retail banks ensure the branch channel remains a key contributor of business growth in the future even with the proliferation of remote channels such as internet and telephone banking. The new banking solutions will allow retail banking networks to expand while maintaining a high quality of service for their customers. Retail banks will be able to quickly access, maintain, and analyze customer data in branch offices without having to retrieve data across the network. The offering also includes IBM Director software for central office management of the infrastructure and software deployment.

Systems Solutions for Branch Banking includes a wide variety of solution options:

• Using VMware virtual infrastructure, the computing platform can support several base operating systems, including versions of Windows and Linux, on a single blade server.

• Provisioning systems such as Altiris Deployment Solution.

• Datacom Systems has recently made available an IBM BladeCenter version of their video surveillance system.