The project won the Silver Award in ‘Technology and IT Sector’ at the National Project Management Excellence Awards 2023.
People’s Bank, taking yet another significant leap towards technological innovation, partnered with Hayleys Fentons ICT for a transformative SD-WAN project. This initiative covered 375 customer contact points across Sri Lanka, becoming the largest SD-WAN installation within the financial sector in the country. The project’s astounding scale is a testament to the technological prowess and dedication of the Fentons ICT team, as they completed this multi-hub enterprise deployment in a mere 70 days.
SD-WAN, a cutting-edge networking technology, empowers organisations to securely connect users, applications, and data across multiple locations, enhancing speed, safety, and flexibility.
Key features of the deployment include a central SD-WAN Hub at People’s Bank’s head office in Colombo 02, fortified with Redundancy Disaster Recovery (DR) measures to ensure uninterrupted service.
Commenting on the achievement, Clive Fonseka, CEO/GM of People’s Bank said “This is another important milestone in our journey to become the most technologically superior bank in the country. We remain steadfastly committed to use technology not only to offer an enhanced banking experience to our customers but also to increase our operational efficiency and revenue.”
Dhammika Dasa, Chief Information Officer of People’s Bank, enthusiastically praised the successful implementation, stating, “Hayleys Fentons ICT has played a pivotal role in modernising our network infrastructure. This SD-WAN project not only optimises our network performance but also enables us to provide island-wide support within 2 hours via support centres.”
Hasith Prematillake, Managing Director of Hayleys Fentons, expressed pride in being the preferred technology partner for People’s Bank stating that all 375 branches were seamlessly connected to the central hub through secure IPSEC tunnels, reinforcing security and reliability for the bank. “In addition, our team took proactive measures for the network’s resilience by installing a secondary internet connection for backup purposes. The successful deployment is a testament to the technological prowess and dedication of the Fentons ICT team.”
Yoosoof Ihthisham, General Manager of Hayleys Fentons ICT, emphasised that their solution modernised the bank’s network infrastructure and equipped them with tools to enhance security, agility, and cost-effectiveness. The central management system provides administrators with complete control and easy network performance monitoring, ensuring secure communication between SD-WAN-enabled and non-SD-WAN branches.
By adopting SD-WAN technology, People’s Bank takes significant steps towards cost efficiency, optimising network traffic, reducing WAN circuit costs, and centralising management. This deployment aligns with the evolving technological landscape and solidifies People’s Bank’s position as the leader in digital banking innovation.
