Rural bank improves performance with IBM solutions

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — IBM and Enterprise Bank Inc., a community-based rural bank that provides a variety of financial services in Mindanao, have announced that the bank has achieved better overall business performance, including enhanced communication and collaboration within the company’s network, and increased data security with the help of IBM solutions.

Enterprise Bank EBI embarked on this enterprise collaboration project early this year to better cater to the increasing demands of small and medium-size businesses (SMBs), entrepreneurs, and members of low-income groups in Mindanao.

IBM has a business expansion program in place to support and tap into the growth in this region. It is committed to assist local businesses and organizations in smaller provinces outside the capital such as Mindanao, to develop skills and advance new and more efficient processes with the use of information technology. 

Geographic expansion is one of IBM’s core growth strategies and the Philippines is one of IBM’s focus countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Enterprise Bank worked with IBM and IBM Business Partner AMTI to implement the project anchored on IBM BladeCentre technology and IBM Lotus software.

Using IBM-proven hardware technology and collaboration software, Enterprise Bank was able to offer better customer service by increasing collaboration and help ensure data security via private, internal-communications platform in over 20 branches across Mindanao.

Today, Enterprise Bank has a flexible and highly secure internal communications platform that enables seamless collaboration capabilities across disparate branches and bank departments.

The collaboration project enhanced communication and collaboration within the company’s network, increased employee productivity and improved customer service enterprise-wide, resulting in a better overall business performance.

“In the past, we lacked the ability to communicate efficiently with our more than 20 branches. We also faced many challenges when it came to data security. Enterprise Bank needed a solution that could provide a private, internal communications platform to increase collaboration and help ensure data security, hence we decided to partner with IBM,” said lawyer Ronald Alvizo, Enterprise Bank president and chief executive officer.

The IBM Lotus collaboration software lets organizations get in touch with people and information in real time conveniently — whether they are using e-mail, instant messaging, social networking, document sharing, Web conference, telephone or video conference.

IBM BladeCentre technology and offerings provide clients with an alternative to their headache of having to handle sprawling racks and overheated rooms. 

With their modular design, IBM Blade Centre servers can reduce cost with a more efficient use of valuable floor space, and its simplified management can help speed up such tasks as deploying, re-provisioning, updating, and troubleshooting hundreds of blade servers.

In addition, IBM BladeCentre servers provide improved performance by doubling current rack density and by integrating resources and sharing key components, helping to reduce costs and increasing availability, without sacrificing performance.

“IBM is committed to providing solutions that contribute to our client’s bottom line. We are pleased that the IBM Lotus collaboration software anchored on IBM’s innovative BladeCentre hardware immediately resulted in better business for Enterprise Bank,” said James Velasquez, country general manager of IBM Philippines.

“IBM Lotus software helps organizations around the world work smarter every day. This success story with Enterprise Bank is also indicative that businesses outside capital cities are slowly realizing the great value in information technology adoption as a way to increase competitiveness and as a key enabler for growth,” Velasquez added.