Batelco and NBB Group Sign MoU Agreement Following a Tour to Batelco Hamala Data Center

April 7, 2021

Batelco received a delegation from the National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) Group, on a visit to the newly opened Batelco Data Center, located in Hamala. Members of Batelco’s top management, including Batelco CEO, Mikkel Vinter, and General Manager of Enterprise Abderrahmane Mounir, welcomed the NBB Group delegation consisting of Group Chief Operating Officer Ian Blacklaw, Razi Amin, Head of Information Technology at NBB, and Osama Ali Nasr, Chief Information Officer at Bahrain Islamic Bank. Both teams discussed the long-lasting relationship between Batelco and the NBB Group and future collaboration plans, before touring the facility.

During the tour, key features of the colocation facility were outlined by the Batelco team including the benefits it offers such as providing the right environment for the operation of the bank IT critical infrastructure. Also, both teams discussed a number of topics including the importance for the banking and finance sector to have access to a secure environment to locate their critical data, ensuring business continuity in the face of environmental or technical disasters.
Both Batelco and NBB Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalize plans that will see the Group’s core IT infrastructure being moved and hosted within Batelco’s Hamala Data Center.

Commenting on the signing, Mr. Iain Blacklaw, Group Chief Operating Officer at NBB, said: “We were delighted by the outcome of our Disaster Recovery operational move to Batelco’s RJR Data Center last year, and this agreement is a testament to the standards of excellence we have come to expect. The current shift is a strategic move towards a complete digital transformation at NBB Group, and given the recent upgrades to the bank’s services, we aim to adapt an independent techno-centric model of operation to further enhance our performance and expand our service offerings. Batelco’s new Data Center is fully equipped with all the necessary means to handle our IT infrastructure operations, allowing us to further focus on outsourcing our day-to-day responsibilities and operations while trusting that our infrastructure is being safely and securely managed and maintained by one of the most respected national entities in the Kingdom.”
Batelco General Manager of Enterprise Abderrahmane Mounir said: “We are very pleased to sign this agreement with the National Bank of Bahrain Group and look forward to be part of NBB’s Group digital transformation plans. We believe that the facilities and solutions we can offer are well suited and designed for the banking and finance sector and other verticals.”
“Due to the reliability of Batelco’s Data Center facilities, companies that host their data and equipment with Batelco are assured of uninterrupted, secure and scalable services that enable customers to focus on their core business while leaving the IT operational aspects to us. Additionally, customers using our Data Center services are provided with continuous support from Batelco’s 24-hour Network Operations Centre and business-continuity management facilities,” he added.

“The foundation of Batelco’s Data Center is based on making the digital business of our customers successful, by offering reliable, secure and energy-efficient solutions, combined with best-in-class customer support,” he added.

The National Bank of Bahrain began its digital transformation journey in 2018, in order to meet the fast-evolving needs of its customers and ensure a higher availability of its services. NBB is continuously modernizing every aspect of its banking experience through strengthening its digital capabilities, while reducing electricity consumption and dependence on physical technology within its own Data Centers, to ensure a greener environment.

Batelco’s Hamala Data Center is the third Data Center of the company and the second to achieve Tier III certification for design and build from the “Uptime Institute”, a global authority that specializes in evaluating global Data Centers through a series of performance-based assessments designed to measure progress and efficiency of all Data Centers across the world. With an area of 12,236 square meters, the Center is equipped with a total capacity of 2.7 megawatts that services 250 working racks, Batelco’s Hamala Data Center is the largest enterprise Data Center in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Batelco’s Data Center is designed to serve the growing demand from companies that require sophisticated and cutting-edge IT management services, premium collocation services, to suit all corporate needs, while eliminating the cost for companies to maintain their own disaster recovery solutions.