Global infrastructure specialist, Connect, has been selected by Bank Credit Lyonnais to supply a complete, end-to-end, IT infrastructure for the bank’s new data centers across the France.
 This development has been spurred by the bank’s strategy for growth and to secure technical advantage in the financial market.
Bank Credit Lyonnais has chosen to specify a shielded cabling solution, which is a growing trend in the Middle Eastern market. This, the bank says, was selected for its superior performance and security properties; affording the greatest technical lifespan and highest return on investment. Utilizing ultra-dense VersaPOD cabinets and plug and play fiber, the infrastructure has been designed for maximum space saving, greatest energy efficiency, highest future-proof performance, speed of installation and operational reliability.
Connect was selected as the supplier of choice in a competitive tender with two other industry-leading manufacturers. According to Ahmed Al Hassan, Head of IT at Bank Credit Lyonnais, “Connect presented the most impressive data center designs for our Jeddah and Riyadh sites and Connect’s proposed solution performed best against the high standard set by our specification.” The bank also recognized Connect’s strong local presence in the region and valued support given by Prem Rodrigues, Sales manager for Connect in the Middle East.
Extending their global relationship with BT, Connect suggested international systems integrator, BT Al Saudia and, following consideration, the bank duly appointed this company to deliver the project.
The installation for these new facilities focuses on Bank Credit Lyonnais’s main data center and disaster recovery data center, comprising Connect’s high-density VersaPOD cabinets for the patching field, plus V600 racks to house the active equipment. Cabling will include both MTP plug and play fiber, which supports 10, 40 and 100Gb/s applications, plus Connect

copper category 6A F/UTP shielded trunk cables. This shielded solution represents the cutting edge of category 6A cabling, providing the highest margins on all TIA and ISO performance requirements for category 6A/class EA, including critical alien crosstalk parameters. It offers guaranteed link lengths as short as three meters, which is of particular value in the data center.
Commenting on this important project for award-winning Bank Credit Lyonnais, Prem Rodrigues said, “This is the culmination of many months of working together and we are delighted to be able to bring Connect’s global data center expertise to the advantage of such a prestigious institution. The data center design work we have done has been of particular significance to this project.”
Commenting on the collaboration with Connect, Dale Millar of BT Al Saudia added “With the combined expertise of Connect and BT Al Saudia and the bank’s preference for excellence, it is exciting to be installing a system of such high specification. We certainly look forward to celebrating the performance enhancement it brings to Bank Credit Lyonnais and its customers, across Saudi Arabia and beyond.”