Profiled:

Dexia Bank

10 September 2007

Dexia is a Belgian bank with global presence. Almost every company joining Dexia has its own software applications, entailing much work to achieve harmonisation. There was an urgent need for an integrated, easy- to-use system through which data and files could be sent and received securely.

"Because we operate in the financial services market, security is even more important to us than in some other sectors," says Jean-Luc Bruwier, office infrastructure manager at Dexia Technology Services. "Our strong growth worldwide meant we needed a solution that would enable a large number of staff and external partners to access information quickly and easily. In addition, we were given a three-month deadline to find a solution."

Dexia needed as universal a platform as possible, which could be used on every desktop operating system and any browser. It soon became clear that ISA Server 2006, which was then at the beta stage, suited Dexia's needs best. It also solved the issue of double antivirus protection – an internal Dexia security requirement – with a check on the ISA Server and a check on the data server. Strict authentication was also possible via ISA. "This project was one of the first in Microsoft's Technology Adoption Program (TAP). In fact, we were actually the first to go live with this application in Europe. It is very much something to be proud of," says Smekens.

"The solution we've worked out with ISA Server 2006 has the advantage of users only having to log in once," says Bruwier. "Once logged in, they can consult all of the information to which they have access without having to enter their log-in and password each time. Confidential information is only available for a clearly defined group of users."

Because users are in a familiar environment, the knowledge they already have can be reused and they can get to work immediately via a simple URL. This is a major departure from the old remote desktop connection, which needed a number of different operations to work. There are also significant advantages in terms of maintenance and management, as the application can easily be kept up and running with a small team.

"This project required a great deal of energy for three months," concludes Bruwier. "But the result is a highly effective and secure system that our people very much enjoy using."