Peru's largest bank taps Lenovo, Intel for datacenter optimization

Banco de Crédito del Perú (BCP), the country's biggest bank by assets, is optimizing its datacenter and reducing its server fleet with hyperconverged equipment from Lenovo with Intel's processors.

BCP is installing 154 nodes of Lenovo's ThinkAgile VX servers, powered by the 4th generation of Intel's Xeon processors, the Chinese company said in a statement.

The ThinkAgile line is a hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solution integrated into VMware's software-defined datacenter platform.

The machines will replace more than 400 blade servers and 12 storage systems currently in place at the bank’s datacenter, for a total hardware reduction estimated at 60%, according to Lenovo.

The contract’s value was not disclosed.

“We currently have hundreds of servers and storage systems in our datacenter. By consolidating to the Lenovo ThinkAgile VX series, we will have much less physical infrastructure, requiring less power, less cooling and less manual labor to operate,” David Villavicencio Bernal, BCP's manager of strategy, technology innovation, infrastructure and IT operations, said in the statement.

In addition to a reduction in hardware installed, the project also foresees 20% lower energy costs and 30% savings related to human resources. 

Over the next four years, BCP is expected to install a further 100 ThinkAgile VX nodes and plans to migrate workloads currently running on its legacy IBM Z mainframe and IBM Power Systems infrastructure to Lenovo's platform.

FOOTPRINT

The financial sector is the second strongest for Lenovo's infrastructure solutions unit ISG in Latin America, behind only the government vertical.

Lenovo was also selected to develop a major AI project for Chile’s stock exchange, among other deals, João Bortone, ISG's LatAm chief, told BNamericas in June.

The Chilean project refers to a high-frequency trading solution, "which is basically AI" with on-premise Lenovo servers, the executive said at the time. 

Lenovo's ISG business unit originates at IBM and was maintained after the acquisition of IBM's x86 servers unit, which was finalized 10 years ago for over US$2.3bn. In 2005, Lenovo had purchased IBM's PC business for US$1.25bn.

The servers unit acquisition included consultancy and equipment-related services. Since then, Lenovo has expanded and increased the portfolio.