DEUTSCHE BANK SPEEDS CUSTOMER SERVICE AND ACCESS TO
BANKING SERVICES WITH 3COM NETWORK; LARGEST SINGLE
HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTER NETWORK IN THE WORLD
LINKS 1600 BRANCHES
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 3, 1997--Deutsche Bank, one of the
world's largest financial institutions, has launched an aggressive program to replace its existing
network environment with a $50 million advanced high speed data network from 3Com Corp.
(NASDAQ:COMS), allowing the bank to enhance customer services, reduce costs, and speed
the internal flow of information.
When completed at the end of this year, Deutsche Bank will operate the largest single computer
network based on high performance Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) technology. ATM
networks provide the transmission speeds and bandwidth necessary to support data-intensive
applications, like document imaging and multimedia transmissions, that will help Deutsche Bank
manage the 13 million transactions it processes daily from over 1,600 branch offices, 1,600
automated teller machines, and thousands of customers accessing bank services from PCs. "At
Deutsche Bank, the efficient, fast exchange of information is at the heart of our customer
service," said Bernhard Czok, project director for Deutsche Bank. "Our network must enable
access to central databases from any branch office at any time." 3Com Meets the Deutsche
Bank Challenge
Deutsche Bank's previous network was an SNA-based star topology network, which has now
been replaced by an efficient IP protocol based network. In order to link the 35,000 customer
service workstations and to supply the bandwidth necessary for fast transfers of large data files,
Deutsche Bank initiated a $1 billion project to update its entire IT infrastructure and install a
data network from 3Com that would support legacy investments and grow with the business as
new financial applications, services, customers, and employees are added.
"Deutsche Bank's visionary banking applications coupled with 3Com's state-of-the-art systems
and support will make this network the most advanced in global banking today," said Eric
Benhamou, CEO of 3Com Corp. "Our partnership with a financial institution of this stature
demonstrates our commitment and ability to offer complete networking solutions to our
enterprise customers." Now harnessing networking as a competitive asset, Deutsche Bank is
currently linking workstations across its Frankfurt headquarters and branch offices in the new
network of more than 1,400 switches. Based on 3Com's Transcend(R) Networking architecture,
the network extends from the data center -- also known as the backbone -- at its Frankfurt head
office to the wide area network (WAN). The backbone is based on 3Com's CoreBuilder 7000
switches.
Users across the campus-wide headquarters access the full power of the network's high
bandwidth using CoreBuilder 7200 Ethernet/ATM modules which provide fast and
cost-effective Ethernet switching to servers and desktop computers. 3Com's SuperStack(R) II
NETBuilder(R) and NETBuilder II routers provide high-speed WAN links to branch offices.
The network supports state-of-the-art front and back office, online, and home banking financial
applications which are improving bank operations and delivering superior customer service. In
the back office, the trading system "db-trader" is the most prominent expression of Deutsche
Bank's new information systems strategy. Performing the bank's core transaction recording, it
seamlessly integrates all processing steps from order entry to bookkeeping, to settlement and
management reporting. In the front office, a broad range of powerful new tools are supporting
trading and sales staff, including Windows and db-office, based on Lotus Notes.
The network also supports key online services which allow customers to get current share
prices of selected German stocks, a listing of current currency exchange rates, and to access a
database of business promotion programs sponsored by European Union countries and the EU.
Reliable Networking and Quality of Service Through a combination of advanced hardware and
TranscendWare(TM) software for policy-based adaptive networking, the 3Com network
provides Deutsche Bank with virtually uninterrupted network operations. The fault-tolerance
built into the CoreBuilder 7000 switch, allowing for alternate routes in the network at peak
business hours, assures important internal and customer service functions are always completed.
The high-performance system ensures that the financial institution will incur no single points of
failure in the redundant ATM network.
"The new network is playing a major role in our goal of continuous productivity and improved
efficiency," said Czok. "3Com is helping us deliver a higher level of customer service." About
3Com 3Com Corp. enables individuals and organizations worldwide to communicate and share
information and resources at anytime from anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent
suppliers of data, voice and video communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking
solutions to more than 100 million customers worldwide. With global reach and local touch, the
company provides enterprises, network service providers and carriers, small businesses and
consumers with comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions for
building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area networks. 3Com has
worldwide revenues of approximately $6.0 billion and employs about 13,200 employees in 45
countries. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at 3com.com,
or the press site at 3com.com .
Note to Editors: 3Com, NETBuilder, Transcend, and SuperStack are registered trademarks, and
CoreBuilder and TranscendWare are trademarks of 3Com Corp. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
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