Most companies realise that they need a disaster recovery system,
but how can they actually implement such a strategy?
Half of the solution was already in place
Landesbank recognised that if it could implement an automated
imaging solution it would realise immediate savings in manpower,
document storage costs and resources. Selecting the right solution
presented a new kind of challenge. First, it had to provide massive
electronic storage capacity and media compatibility to handle the
vast amounts of new cheque imaging data. Second, it had to provide
a means of retrieving images quickly, whilst allowing allow data to
be migrated to the most cost-effective media for long-term
archiving.Meeting these requirements was easy. In fact, the bank
already had an automated storage strategy in place that could meet
these requirements perfectly: the AML/2 Automated Media Library
from ADIC/GRAU. It was successfully utilising its flexible power to
handle all of the bank's complex, diversified automated data
storage applications. AML/2 was the perfect centralised storage
solution for cheque imaging because of its unmatched "open"
architecture, scaleable capacity and media-independent design. One
half of the solution was ready to go. All that was needed was the
other half.
The team recommended ADIC and ImagePlusTo
determine the best method of implementing a cheque imaging solution
for the bank, an evaluation team was assembled comprising data
storage solutions experts from ADIC and data imaging experts from
IBM. After extensive testing and evaluation, the team determined
that the best imaging application for the AML/2 would be ImagePlus
imaging software from IBM. To meet capacity and performance
requirements, it also recommended the installation of two IBM 3995
Model 133 optical disk jukeboxes. Each jukebox could provide
automated access to a maximum of 144 optical disks. According to
G'nter Roestel, director of Information Services for the bank: "The
implementation of ImagePlus into the AML/2 platform went off
without a problem. ImagePlus provided the right cheque imaging
solution to meet all of our present and future requirements, plus
it allowed us to take even greater advantage of our existing ADIC
storage investments. Because you can attach any media drive, from
any vendor, right to the side of the AML/2 with no modifications,
we were able to easily integrate the two IBM 3995 jukeboxes
alongside our 36-track tape drives and get this new fully automated
cheque imaging application up and running quickly."
The AML/2 can
archive optical disks outside the jukeboxes tooIn analysing
Landesbank's long-term optical disk storage requirements, ADIC also
recommended that the bank dedicate a portion of its existing AML/2
library to the ImagePlus storage hierarchy, thus taking greater
advantage of the library's unique ability to store a mix of media
within the same library. The AML automated media libraries from
ADIC are the only automated data storage solutions on the market
today that provide this capability. In addition, the ability to
archive older optical disks inside the AML/2 has allowed a dramatic
increase in the amount of cheque imaging information that can be
made available to customers whenever its needed. In fact, the AML/2
now enables the bank to store an impressive eight weeks of
information right on optical disk for fast access.
The AML/2
provides optimum flexibility and modularityBecause the AML/2
Automated Media Library uses two high-performance robots to store
and retrieve any media, at any time, the bank can move data from
one media to another for a more cost-effective alternative
consistent with user requirements. Today, the bank stores
transaction data on magnetic disk for three days and then moves it
to optical disk for approximately 60 days. After that, the data is
automatically archived long-term on 3490E tape cartridges, also
stored inside the AML/2. In fact, to comply with German banking
regulations, the data must be archived inside the library for seven
years. The AML/2 is the only automated media library that can
provide the kind of incremental expansion to handle these large
capacity requirements - and do it cost-effectively. Even more
importantly, the unmatched flexibility of this ADIC solution has
helped the bank maintain required customer service levels without
having to add additional expensive optical jukeboxes or
robotics.
Meeting Landesbank's capacity requirements today and
tomorrowLandesbank's AML/2 automated media library is currently
configured with a capacity of 10,320 tape cartridges as well as
1,020 optical disks. The library's optical disk capacity alone
provides the equivalent storage of more than seven additional IBM
jukeboxes. As Landesbank's data storage requirements continue to
grow in the future, AML/2 capacity could be incrementally increased
up to an impressive 46,080 cartridges or 36,000 optical disks or
any combination of the two.
What's the bottom line on cost
savings for Landesbank?By integrating the two existing IBM 3995
optical jukeboxes with the impressive multiple-media storage
capacity of the AML/2, Landesbank now has nearly unlimited storage
capacity at a fraction of the cost of using an optical-only storage
strategy. Even more significant is the impressive cost savings
they've experienced in manpower requirements. According to Roestel:
"It would take six people, working full time, to do the amount of
cheque processing we can get done in a single day using the
ADIC/ImagePlus solution. That represents significant savings to our
overall bottom line."
In Europe and around the world, only the
best managed banks will winHow has the ADIC/ImagePlus
contributed to improved customer service? "It used to take our bank
days, or sometimes weeks, to find and then retrieve older, archived
data from microfilm," says Roestel. "Today, the AML/2 provides
customer service response times in seconds. That fact alone has
helped us stay that one step ahead of our competitors, and just
that one step ahead will continue to position us as a leader rather
than a follower."
Flexible, expandable ADIC/GRAU storage power
will help you tooThe ADIC/GRAU storage solution developed and
successfully implemented for Landesbank can work for any company or
organisation using ImagePlus on an MVS platform. In fact, ImagePlus
technology coupled with ADIC/GRAU storage hardware and software is
a powerful solution trio for a wide range of document imaging
applications including file folder, cheque processing, remittance
processing, payment system transactions, customer service and
microfiche replacement. "What we like best about ADIC is the fact
that their flexible, non-conventional data storage solutions have
helped Landesbank move far beyond the boundaries of traditional
applications thinking to help us deliver new and better services to
meet the needs of our customers."
Compiled by Paul
Phillips(c) Stac Software, Inc. 1999