Nordic Banking Leader HP Integrity NonStop BladeSystem offers great reliability and efficiency, handling a large amount of transactions for Nordea Bank Finland

“NonStop system support for open standards is very important to us. With the help of this open architecture, we can choose which doors we will use—because all doors are basically open for us.” —Teppo Jansson, specialist, Nordea Bank Finland Plc

HP customer case Objective study: Nordea Bank Ensure a robust, reliable computing infrastructure Finland has relied to support key business processes, including cash on HP NonStop management, collection services, and payment technology to handle and integration services mission-critical financial applications Approach since 1983, Deploy open, modern NonStop technology—most leveraging core value recently, the HP Integrity NonStop BladeSystem, complemented by HP StorageWorks XP disk along with modern, systems and Atalla network security processors— standard features at the core of the heterogeneous IT environment to deliver the best to handle massive and fast-growing transaction possible service for volume and optimize customer service the bank’s customers. IT improvements Industry: financial • Core platform value complemented by modern services technology and open standards • Extreme availability enables customers to • Integrity NonStop BladeSystem delivers perform banking transactions around the clock significant performance capacity boost • NonStop system handles massive transaction • Mixed workload, from online transactions to file volume with no impact on response times and transfers, handled easily and efficiently service levels • Seamless integration of NonStop system into the bank’s heterogeneous computing environment Nordea Bank Finland can hardly turn around without • Excellent backwards compatibility enabled winning an award. Recently, the industry-leading smooth migration to Integrity NonStop magazine The Banker, which is part of the Financial BladeSystem Times group, awarded Nordea “Bank of the Year” in Finland 2009. In January 2009, the magazine Business outcomes Euromoney recognized Nordea as the best private • Vital support for mission-critical cash bank in the Nordic countries. In February, Global management, collection, and payment Finance magazine included Nordea in its list of the applications world’s safest banks, and #1 in the Nordic region. • 100 percent application availability at the end- Nordea funds have received multiple awards from the user level consistently delivered Lipper Fund. In July, Euromoney named Nordea as • Data integrity of the NonStop system helps the best regional bank and best equity house in the protect bank assets and reputation Nordic and Baltic regions, best investment bank in Denmark, and overall best bank in Finland. This kind of success derives from many sources, is very important to us. With the help of this open including excellent management, competent and architecture, we can choose which doors we will dedicated staff, and superior products. It also use—because all doors are basically open for us.” depends on a robust, reliable computing infrastructure The core features of the NonStop system contribute to provide the best possible service for the bank’s significantly to the ongoing success of the bank’s approximately 3 million customers in Finland, of whom business. Over the past 26 years, Nordea’s volume almost 1.6 million are e-customers. For Nordea in in Finland has grown from tens or hundreds of Finland, the HP NonStop platform has formed the transactions per second (TPS) to more than 2,000 solid core of this infrastructure since 1983. “Already at TPS. “Thanks to the linear scalability of the NonStop that time, NonStop technology stood apart because of system, we have been able to keep pace with this its availability, scalability, data integrity, and security,“ growth simply by adding or upgrading processors,” says Teppo Jansson, specialist at Nordea. “The says Jansson. “And the availability is outstanding: same fundamentals keep us trusting the NonStop We typically deliver 100 percent availability at the system today.“ end-user level.” Manageability also earns high praise from Jansson, who notes that Nordea has not needed “In the financial business, reliability, availability, and to expand its NonStop server–related operation continuity are really important, and HP NonStop has resources even in the face of explosive transaction definitely delivered these benefits.” —Kari Oksanen, volume and related system growth. risk manager, Nordea Data integrity has been a hallmark of NonStop technology from the beginning, and its value to The NonStop platform performs a vital role at Nordea cannot be overstated. “As you can imagine, the heart of Nordea’s information technology (IT) data integrity is essential to us,” says Jansson. “When environment. The mission-critical applications that dealing with money, there is not an option for failure. run on the system support the bank’s key business Data integrity has always been ‘business as usual’ processes, such as cash and liquidity management for us in the NonStop system environment.” Jansson for customers, e-invoicing, as well as payment adds that the many different workloads at Nordea, and integration services. Nordea also trusts the from online transactions to file transfers, are handled NonStop server to run a number of critical market easily and efficiently thanks to the NonStop platform’s systems in Denmark and several cross-border Nordic superior mixed workload capabilities. The NonStop applications. system also integrates well with products from other A modern, standard platform vendors—for example, IBM WebSphere MQ—in Nordea never stands still in its quest for continuous Nordea’s heterogeneous computing environment, ® improvement, and neither does the NonStop platform. which includes mainframe, UNIX , and Wintel “During our almost three decades of working with servers. Says Jansson: “We have always been very NonStop systems, we have seen the development pleased with the communication features of the from a proprietary platform to an industry-standard NonStop system.” environment,” continues Jansson. “For example, today In addition to NonStop technology, Nordea takes we use HP StorageWorks XP disk systems connected full advantage of HP’s broad portfolio of products to the NonStop server.” Nordea also looks forward and solutions. HP StorageWorks XP systems form an to leveraging the system for a service-oriented integral part of the NonStop system environment, as architecture (SOA) and Java™ applications. Continues do Atalla network security processors. In addition, Jansson: “NonStop system support for open standards some 25,000 HP personal computers are used in the bank’s operations.

2 “Performance has improved significantly with the Integrity NonStop BladeSystem, giving us the capacity to handle even greater volumes and build new services.” —Teppo Jansson, specialist, Nordea Bank Finland Plc

The move to blades Because the data already resided on an Nordea faces daunting challenges on a daily basis. HP StorageWorks XP disk storage unit, which was to The bank must handle massive and fast-growing be leveraged in the new environment, there were no volume—21.6 million transactions per day, and data migration requirements. Jansson and his team counting—with no impact on response times and found the Integrity NonStop BladeSystem seamlessly service levels. Continuous availability is critical, as compatible with the earlier-generation NonStop server, Nordea customers perform banking transactions eliminating the need for detailed and time-consuming around the world and around the clock. These regression testing. Says Jansson: “Performance has challenges motivated a recent upgrade from the improved significantly with the Integrity NonStop existing HP NonStop S-series system to the new BladeSystem, giving us the capacity to handle even HP Integrity NonStop BladeSystem NB50000c greater volumes and build new services.” platform. Other key decision factors included a The introduction of the HP Integrity NonStop history of excellent application availability with BladeSystem platform, leveraging the performance NonStop systems, ease of application migration, of the Intel® Itanium® family of multicore processors, and the performance capacity boost of marked a major milestone in the ongoing evolution multicore processors. of HP NonStop technology. In accordance with Nordea’s NonStop system applications consist of HP’s strategy to “blade everything” that it makes sense approximately 230 mostly custom-developed, mission- to blade—for very good reasons such as excellent critical programs built on core NonStop software performance, more cost-effective power and cooling, products, including Pathway and NonStop SQL. To smaller data center footprint, lower cost per minimize risk, Nordea took a staged approach to transaction, and more—the Integrity NonStop migrating to the Integrity NonStop BladeSystem. BladeSystem provides an exciting new choice for A highly detailed plan, a strong team of NonStop NonStop system users. system–trained staff, and effective communication with both internal employees and third-party support personnel were all instrumental in ensuring a successful migration.

3 Customer solution at a glance

Nordea Bank Finland Plc has run mission-critical applications on Primary Software the NonStop platform since 1983 and values the modern, standard • Pathway features of today’s NonStop technology • NonStop SQL

Primary applications Services from HP • Approximately 230 applications, most of them custom-developed • Mission-critical services for NonStop and StorageWorks XP disk systems Primary hardware • Integrity NonStop BladeSystem • HP StorageWorks XP disk systems • HP personal computers • Atalla network security processors

The bladed architecture is all about ease of The NonStop system is one of the most critical manageability, better price/performance, increased platforms at Nordea Finland, handling as much as 90 density, and greater energy efficiency. The Integrity percent of all payments transactions. “It would be fair NonStop BladeSystem NB50000c platform delivers to say that most business-critical services in Finland all of these attributes, along with the world-class run on the NonStop platform, 24x7x365,” concludes availability and scalability that NonStop technology Jansson. “We are really pleased that the HP NonStop has always been known for. Because Nordea has a system has been able to handle our volume growth long track record of leveraging new technology to over the years with reliability and integrity, while enhance the experience of its customers, the Integrity evolving to become a truly modern platform for the NonStop BladeSystem was the logical next step 21st century. The Integrity NonStop BladeSystem offers for the bank. Says Jansson: “The Integrity NonStop Nordea Finland an excellent platform for the future.” BladeSystem architecture provides us with a secure way to support our business demands and handle continuing volume growth. It is a very solid platform.”

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