Bank of Ceylon implements SL’s first private cloud with KBSL, VMware and Hewlett Packard Enterprise

The team from KBSL and VMware together with Bank of Ceylon

Bank of Ceylon (BOC), recently completed the deployment of the country’s first-ever private cloud in partnership with KBSL Information Technologies Ltd. (KBSL), VMware and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). 

To celebrate this achievement, KBSL hosted a private event at the Courtyard by Marriott.

BOC’s existing infrastructure required digital disruption and the bank’s continuous expansion required uninterrupted capabilities to efficiently operationalise its infrastructure and support upcoming projects. Having identified these challenges and risks, VMware, a leading innovator in enterprise software providing cloud, networking and security, and digital workspace solutions, envisioned and designed a state-of-the-art architecture in collaboration with KBSL and HPE. The architecture will aim to support the bank’s digital transformation journey, offering agility at the pace of cloud adoption and building a future-ready architecture. 

With the implementation of the private cloud on-premises, BOC will have an automated and simplified data centre management, more intrinsic security platform for business-critical workloads, and be able to deploy and release newer versions of applications using some of the very latest technologies, with the ability to scale solutions across private and public cloud, giving higher agility, speed-to-market, and relevance. 

Bank of Ceylon Chairman President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera said: “The partnership with KBSL, VMware, and HPE has demonstrated the ability for key partners of the bank to deliver exemplary technology solutions that are best of breed. We believe this initiative will enhance the experience delivered to all our stakeholders involved to their utmost satisfaction.” 

Bank of Ceylon General Manager Russel Fonseka said: “As the leading bank in the country, we work to deliver best-in-the-class products and services to all our stakeholders. With the synergy that was brought together with this collaboration, the bank can help its customers to deliver a world-class service and fulfil its commitments as a state bank towards the Sri Lankan economic wellbeing.” 

Bank of Ceylon Acting Head of IT Haritha Rajapakse said: “We are incredibly proud of the project management teams that worked on this tirelessly, and the learning we gained out of this implementation was simply so invaluable. We pursued various agile methodologies with daily standup meetings and fortnightly steering committee meetings for instance.” 

The deployment also includes other technologies such as VMware Tanzu, a modular, cloud native application platform that accelerates development, delivery, and operations across multi-clouds.

‘‘We are very excited to realise what we once envisioned, having put together an amazing tech stack that will enable BOC to be one of the most technologically savvy banking providers in the next few years. We take this opportunity to thank KBSL and VMware teams for all their support,” Rajapakse added.

VMware Nascent Markets and Vietnam General Manager and Country Leader Venkatesh Murali said: “We are happy to collaborate with Bank of Ceylon in this landmark initiative. The deployment of the country’s first private cloud demonstrates Bank of Ceylon’s commitment to embracing the latest technologies and driving digital innovation. By leveraging VMware’s multi-cloud software solutions, Bank of Ceylon is well-positioned to optimise their operations, enhance customer experiences, and maintain their position as a leader in the banking sector.”

HPE Sri Lanka and Maldives Country Business Lead Dinendra Perera said: “Hewlett Packard Enterprise is delighted to handhold with KBSL in this turnkey project delivery. As a part of HPE’s data first modernisation approach, we have provided a robust AI driven compute platform for this deployment.” 

KBSL Information Technologies CEO Ehantha Sirisena said: “As one of the country’s leading systems integrators, deploying this first-of-its-kind project together with VMware gives us a pioneering edge in the private cloud space. Our sincere thanks to the team at BOC for their utmost trust in us and to all the teams that made this a success.”