4-page Case Study - Posted 10/24/2007

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PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk

Bank Cuts Messaging Costs by 20 Percent by Moving to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

The nearly 7,000 employees at PT Bank Danamon Indonesia rely on effective communications to ensure the level of operational excellence that produces award-winning customer service and impressive business growth. From 1999 to 2006, messaging systems at Danamon were built on IBM Lotus Domino software. As Danamon grew it found that it needed a more advanced and integrated communications and collaboration environment. With the help of Mastersystem Infotama and Kairos Utama, Danamon replaced its messaging infrastructure with Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and implemented Exchange Server Unified Messaging technology. Today, the bank has a reliable messaging infrastructure with advanced functionality, including full support for its mobile executives. Danamon also lowered its communications costs by 20 percent because of the lower bandwidth requirements of the Microsoft solution.

Situation

We have seen a reduction of 20 percent in our network costs and our communication and collaboration capability is improved.  Budi Suryono Senior Assistant Vice President, IT infrastructure and Architecture Bank Danamon

With such an expansive operation, communications and collaboration are vital to the bank’s business as it strives to increase its competitiveness through high-quality customer service. In the past, Danamon relied on a mixed messaging solution to support its e-mail–based communications and collaboration. The system consisted of IBM Lotus Domino as the collaboration server software and Microsoft® Office Outlook® 2003 messaging and collaboration client on users’ workstations. The environment provided basic capabilities such as e-mail, calendaring, and scheduling. However, as competition became increasingly intense, users also demanded a more robust, feature-rich e-mail system. In addition, business opportunities were lost because of frequent two-day system outages

“Our users had gone through a cultural change. They increasingly demanded a 24x7, highly effective, messaging capability. Their tolerance for delays in sending or receiving e-mail was getting thinner,” says Budi Suryono, Senior Assistant Vice President, IT infrastructure and Architecture at Danamon.

In addition to the business needs of users, the bank’s IT department found the previous messaging system difficult to support. Danamon had implemented a SAP ERP solution to provide end-to-end operational support, including planning, but integration of its messaging system with the SAP solution was problematic. Often, when a new application was developed, the bank had to wait for up to three months to get it linked to the SAP infrastructure. Vendors were slow to respond to requests for technical assistance, and because Domino was not a widely used product, skilled resources for the server software—both in-house and external—were difficult to find.

Mobility was another growing challenge. Following the acquisition of Danamon by Asia Finance Indonesia, the bank’s top executives have been on frequent roadshow trips overseas to promote its services to investors. From their hotel rooms, they were able to access their e-mail using their notebook computers. However, the faster pace of business demanded that decisions be made quickly. Mobile messaging became an urgent need, because executives should be able to receive and send messages on their mobile devices at any time and from anywhere. The need for push e-mail became apparent, but it was not supported by Domino.

In early 2006, Danamon found itself at a crossroads. It was time to decide whether to continue using the old technology or migrate to another messaging solution. “Although the choice might seem clear, as a bank we are always conventional in our investment decisions,” said Budi. “We needed to carefully weigh our options.”

Budi’s team defined its selection criteria. First, the new messaging solution must feature advanced technologies that met the bank’s evolving requirements, especially in the area of communications and collaboration. Second, it must be backed by a reputable company and skilled, readily available support resources. Third, integration with the ERP must be as effortless as possible to prevent IT operational complexity. Fifth, the solution must have a well-defined technological roadmap. Finally, the solution must offer an acceptable Total Cost of Ownership.

“As a bank, we have to be prudent in our IT spending. In planning our budget, we must strike the right balance between functionality and risks,” says Budi.

Solution

The new messaging platform was so well received that we converted 1000 mailboxes within one month.  Budi Suryono Senior Assistant Vice President, IT infrastructure and Architecture Bank Danamon

At the same time, and unrelated to the bank’s research into a new messaging solution, Microsoft Indonesia offered Danamon an opportunity to join its Rapid Development Program (RDP). Danamon looked at this program as a great opportunity to learn the capabilities of Exchange Server 2007, especially its Unified Messaging capabilities. The bank accepted the offer in November of 2006 and the RDP got underway in April 2007.

Implementation of Exchange Server 2007 was done by Mastersystem Infotama, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Afterward, Kairos Utama helped with the deployment of Exchange Server Unified Messaging. Both were directly supported by Microsoft Services.

Budi and his team chose a top-down approach in change management. The top executives tested the new solution, especially the mobile support. Once they saw the benefit of its features, such as push e-mail, they drove the adoption of Exchange Server 2007 by the rest of the company. The solution was deployed on HP Blade server computers and a Hitachi storage system.

Users are grouped into four categories—Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Blue—each of which is managed by the IT department according to users’ needs. For example, each of the categories has a different maximum size limit of attachment that it can send. The bank’s existing Private Bank Exchange (PBX) systems are integrated with unified messaging, so that users can receive important e-mail messages by phone when they have no access to a computer.

“The new messaging platform was so well accepted that we converted 1000 mailboxes within one month,” says Budi.

Benefits

The combination of Exchange Server 2007 and its Unified Messaging capability offered Danamon a level of messaging effectiveness far beyond its previous e-mail–based communications and collaboration platform. “Exchange Server 2007 enables us to do things we were not able to do in the past, such as support mobility. We also have a much more reliable messaging system to support our operations,” says Budi.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 enables us to do things we were not able to do in the past, such as support mobility. We also have a much more reliable messaging system to support our operations.  Budi Suryono Senior Assistant Vice President, IT infrastructure and Architecture Bank Danamon

Enterprise-Grade Unified Communications

Exchange Server 2007 and its Unified Messaging capability deliver an end-to-end unified communications platform for the enterprise by combining voice mail, fax, and e-mail in one inbox. Integration with the SAP ERP system is no longer an issue due to the high level of compatibility with Exchange Server 2007.
 
“The new platform will serve as the foundation for Microsoft Office Unified Communications, which is part of our blueprint,” says Budi.

Users have the same messaging experience regardless of whether they are accessing e-mail using their workstations, portable computers, or mobile devices running the Windows Mobile® operating system. The familiar, standardized user interface and appearance make using the solution easy.

Anywhere Access

With the mobility support provided by Exchange Server 2007, executives on the road can easily check their e-mail using their mobile devices. They can be reached and notified at any time. Scheduling and calendaring still work even when they are out of the office.

“Executives no longer miss meeting notifications because they can always get them on their mobile devices,” says Budi.

Improved Compliance

In the past, e-mail messages were stored on server computers until they were downloaded to users’ desktop e-mail software. Today, messages remain on the servers until they are archived, and user mailboxes are backed up regularly. This helps improve data security and good corporate governance. “E-mail is the company’s property,” says Budi. “As e-mail is used as part of business activities, we need to retain them. In case of a dispute involving a user’s e-mail message, we are now able to retrieve it.”

Reduced Communications Cost

The low bandwidth demand of the new solution ideally suits the bank’s IT infrastructure. Because the bank’s operation covers a large of part of the country, the less bandwidth it uses, the more money it saves. The use of Exchange Cache Mode in Outlook 2003 also helps reduce bandwidth usage. “We have seen a reduction of 20 percent in our network costs and our communications and collaboration capability is improved,” Budi says.

Tighter Security

Exchange Server 2007 comes with Edge Transport antispam capability, which helps reduce the risk of users’ opening messages that contain malicious software attachments or links to malicious Web sites. The recipient filtering feature provides additional security by filtering out unknown recipients right at the edge of the messaging network. Legitimate recipients will not be locked out, as Danamon can “white-list” safe addresses to further reduce false positives.

For More Information

For more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234 in the United States or (905) 568-9641 in Canada. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:
www.microsoft.com

For more information about Mastersystem Infotama products and services, call +62 (21) 5790 1111 or visit the Web site at:
www.mastersystem.co.id

For more information about Kairos Utama products and services, call +62 (21) 5289 1800 or visit the Web site at:
www.kairos-it.com

For more information about PT Bank Danamon Indonesia Tbk products and services visit the Web site at:
www.danamon.co.id

Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

For more information about the Microsoft server product portfolio, go to:
www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

For more information about Microsoft Exchange Server, go to:
www.microsoft.com/exchange 

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published October 2007