Case Study - Volkswagen Bank

The Volkswagen Bank is part of Volkswagen Financial Services AG a 100%-owned company of the German automobile giant, Volkswagen (Frankfurt: VOW.F, LSE: VKW.L).

It was formed to provide financial services both for the group dealers (VW, Audi, Seat, Skoda and related brands) and for their customers.

Since 1990 it has operated as a full-service bank providing banking services to the general public and today it is one of the largest direct banks in Germany. With facilities in nine different countries and affiliations with businesses throughout the world, the Volkswagen Bank's Italian branch, situated in Milano, is one of the concern's main centers of operation.

There, they operate a pair of clustered IBM iSeries 825s which serve some 220 users connected by a combination of desktop and laptops PCs. Access to the iSeries database from the network is made by a rich and varied selection of applications, among them ODBC, FTP, DDM, passthrough and Telnet.

The need for an exit point and security control solution came following the order that the bank comply with the demands of Basel II. The IT department wanted an easy to use product for managing TCP/IP and consulted with IBM Global Services, the bank's main service provider. IBM suggested the Enforcive solution. They later assisted in the installation and implementation process which, according to Ubaldo Sena, IT Architect at the Volkwagen Bank in Milano, went ahead quickly and easily. Upgrades that became available after the initial implementation have since been downloaded and installed by the bank's IT staff.

Ubaldo is responsible for system administration. He uses the Enforcive product for access control, auditing and system management making much use of the on-line inquiries, reports and the graphical application analyzer (for network access trends). He plans to expand the bank's use of the instant alert facility in the near future. He explains how the versatility of the product allows him to use warning mode to monitor non-critical forms of access while FTP, ODBC and all other critical application servers are locked down completely.

One of the features particularly liked by Ubaldo is the GUI, which he describes as "Very clear and linear" and he likes the way the product integrates into the iSeries. His confidence in its reliability and stability is reflected when he states: "When the product is running, you can forget all about it".

On the issue of systems management, Volkswagen Bank's IT Architect makes frequent use of the many of the built-in iSeries system management facilities including OS/400 system inquiries, user profile management, system audit and journal management. He explains: "It's the tidiest way to manage system security. I use the Enforcive/Enterprise Security GUI to manage many areas of security, not just TCP/IP".

He has found the GUI intuitive enough to do most things without need of the on-line help or support but speaks highly of both IBM Global Services and Enforcive Systems Ltd. He mentions their readiness to help with any issue, summing up the support he has received as "fantastic".

When asked if the product has stood up to his expectations, Ubaldo answers without hesitation: "Totally, and more!".