When a business is on the same wavelength with IT, successful cases are born. An example of this is the implementation of wireless infrastructure in RAIFFEISEN BANK AVAL.
The management of Raiffeisen Bank Aval is constantly working on the introduction of modern technologies, so in response to the trends of our time, the bank faced the task of digitalization.
The first steps were identified as following: to create so-called digital offices with mobile seats for service specialists and increasing the number of users of the Raiffeisen Online mobile application. The basis for these transformations is a high-quality Wi-fi coverage in the branches and offices of the financial institution. Among other things, the bank needed a secure connection depending on the mobile device and user – whether a bank employee or a visitor who needs guest access, that means that appropriate policies should be provided.
At the start of the project, the bank considered proposals from various manufacturers, which presented competitive solutions to solve the problem. Cisco’s offer proved to be the absolute leader in terms of stability and functionality. By the way, the final decision on the supplier and integrator was made by the bank only after a pilot project, which proved the effectiveness of the selected action plan.
The primary task for IT-integrator engineers, that preceded the design of the system, was to conduct a radio survey and radio planning. With the specialized Wi-fi analyzer of the Ekahau network, monitoring was carried out in all regional offices and in the premises of the central office of Raiffeisen Bank Aval.
In total, the project indended a wireless network deployment in 500 branches of the bank and the company’s offices and currently has 1,500 access points. According to the investigation results, the Cisco Aironet 2802 access points, which support all Wi-fi standards, including the latest 802.11ac, became the best solution, allowing a connection speed of about 1.7 Gbps. Performance is also ensured by the built-in radio module, which reaches 23 dBm, and the device itself operates simultaneously in two bands. The customer opted for the Cisco 5520 Wireless Controller when it came to the access controllers. These controllers reduce overall running costs by simplifying network deployment, operation, and management. So far, the entire wireless network of RAIF is managed by only one engineer.
Centralized resource allocation and management tools provide the flexibility to configure policies, management and security settings, which is essential for an open access network for branch office customers. Cisco ISE (Identity Services Engine) access control system is used to ensure information security and separate authorization policies for different devices and different users).
The customer’s requirement to develop a self-service portal for the bank’s visitors, that has been successfully implemented in cooperation with the vendor’s developers, has become traditional for such projects. Cisco Prime software is used for network management and communication quality control. And to provide analytical functions and to track user actions, the Cisco CMX (Connected Mobile Experience) system was installed, which collects data from the entire network of branches and offices of the bank for further processing in a single database. The information that accumulates in this system can be analyzed by various departments of the financial institution and help in making important management decisions in terms of marketing, sales, digital strategy, loyalty programs, etc.
Wi-fi no longer seemed to impress anyone, but it can’t be ignored that the vast majority of guest Wi-Fi has either unstable connection quality or one that threatens the security of our devices. Raif has chosen the theoretically and practically the right way of digital transformation, becoming one step closer to its customers and at the same time more modern and easier for users.
