Overview
A leading South American bank, founded in the late 19th century, ranks among the region’s most prominent locally owned financial institutions. With a strong focus on serving small and medium-sized enterprises, retirees, and mid-to-high-income individuals, the bank operates an extensive branch and ATM network, delivering innovative financial services to over a million customers.
Business Challenge
As part of its bold “Cloud-First” strategy, the bank set out to become the first fully cloud-based financial institution in the country by 2025. While it had already migrated 60% of its x86 front-end applications to a third-party cloud provider, the core banking system which runs on IBM i within an on-premises Power Systems environment - posed a more complex challenge. With existing Power Systems hardware nearing end-of-service, the bank faced increasing operational and security risks, driving the urgent need to transition to a secure, cloud-based infrastructure and fully exit its data centers.
The IBM Solution
To meet these needs, the bank partnered with IBM to implement IBM Power Virtual Server (PowerVS) and IBM Cloud — an environment certified to support the bank’s core banking system. IBM’s technical and sales teams worked closely with the bank to deliver a robust Proof of Concept (PoC), validating PowerVS as a reliable platform for its mission-critical core banking operations. In parallel, IBM collaborated with the owner of the core banking application to certify the solution, enabling a confident migration path to the cloud.
IBM also facilitated a series of workshops led by PowerVS subject matter experts, showcasing the platform’s key advantages over competing solutions. A tailored reference architecture was developed, including low-latency connectivity between the bank’s AWS-hosted applications in Northern Virginia and PowerVS in Washington, DC, to ensure smooth and responsive day-to-day operations.
Client Benefits
Through its collaboration with IBM, the bank was able to:
• Securely run its core banking application in the cloud on certified, enterprise-grade infrastructure.
• Reduce operational and security risks through a supported ISV solution on PowerVS.
• Advance its Cloud-First strategy with a clear path to data center exit by 2025.
• Ensure low-latency integration between AWS and PowerVS, supporting real-time transaction processing.
Why IBM Won
IBM’s technical depth and collaborative approach played a key role in the bank’s decision. The bank’s CTO shared its cloud transformation goals with the IBM Cloud South America team - prompting immediate collaboration to certify the core banking application on PowerVS. IBM’s strong relationship with the bank’s executive leadership, combined with a successful PoC and a tailored migration roadmap, solidified PowerVS as the preferred solution.
Conclusion
IBM Power Virtual Server and IBM Cloud are empowering the bank to fast-track its Cloud-First strategy. With its core banking systems now running securely in the cloud, the bank is well on its way to becoming the nation’s first fully cloud-based financial institution - paving the path for innovation and digital leadership in the region’s financial services industry.