JAKARTA, Indonesia, Jan. 19, 2004 – Intel Corporation today announced that PT Bank Lippo, Tbk has deployed Intel® Itanium® 2 processor-powered IBM servers. The deployment is part of a wider initiative to provide the bank’s growing customer base with world-class services ranging from consumer and commercial to investment banking. The bank aims to improve its service and customer support infrastructure by more efficiently integrating its network and servers to consolidate customer databases across the country.

"Bank Lippo has one of the highest number of branches and auto-teller machines in Indonesia," said Halim Wellianto, general manager, information technology, PT Bank Lippo, Tbk. "Given the sheer scale and nature of our operations, maintaining highly reliable and scalable database networks is crucial to maintaining our service efficiencies and meeting the expectations of our 2.9 million customers nationwide.

"We needed a platform that provided high availability and stability yet was low in maintenance costs," said Wellianto. "The IBM servers powered by Itanium 2 processors have demonstrated outstanding performance, scalability, reliability and price-performance based on our initial tests and trials. This deployment has definitely raised the bar for the implementation of technology at Bank Lippo, and for Indonesia’s banking industry in general."

Bank Lippo deployed Itanium 2 processor-based IBM xSeries* servers running on Microsoft* Windows* Server 2003 and Microsoft SQL Server* 2000.

"The Itanium 2 processor is uniquely designed to address the need for faster, more affordable and reliable computing solutions required by the increasingly competitive banking industry," said Arya Sanjaya, business development manager, Intel Indonesia. "For a leading banking institution such as Bank Lippo, it’s critical that its IT infrastructure operate efficiently and cost effectively. Itanium 2-based servers deliver this required level of performance and help enable the delivery of world-class services to Bank Lippo’s customers."

"Bank Lippo understands that technological innovation drives business results," said Suryo Suwignjo, country manager, Enterprise System Group and Channels, IBM Indonesia. "This collaboration will go a long way toward transforming the bank into a true on-demand organization that is more resilient and better able to respond to changes; allowing the bank to focus on its core competencies."