Rolling out the
NETWORK
WHAT'S Nf.wS Issue 9 September 1996
international Communications
9
The concept of a network-wide Communications system is far
from new. But putting in place a comprehensive, worldwide link
is a complex, time-consuming business. After 9 months of hard
work, the first link-ups are in place and the whole network
should be online before year-end. Project leader Jo Knippenberg
talks us through the intricacies of full 'roll out'.
The 'International Communication
Project' is doing exactly what its name
suggests. 'Our job,' says Jo Knippenberg,
'is to install a Communications network all
x>ver the world, in every branch and office
f Rabobank International, and to
connect every office to every office,
electronically. Essentially, we're talking an
intra-office connection.' What he is not
Live team - Jo Knippenberg (centre) and the
Utrecht project team: Mart Rovers, Marcos
^osales, Pieter Jan van Herel, André van der
I inden and Dirk Hakkesteegt.
talking is electronic mail only. 'That's
right,' he says. 'E-mail is only one of the
functionalities that the network will have,
and in some cases already has. We began a
pilot project with a number of offices,
including Paris, Dublin, London,
Singapore and New York. Paris, London
and New York are already live. And, if all
goes according to plan, the whole network
will be live by the end of the year.'
INTRA-BRANCH PLANNING
So what are the other functionalities
available via the new network. 'One is
remote access,' says Paris' Yves Morvan.
'We not only have an e-mail facility that
works, we can also access DEVON in
^trechr and use that application here in
Paris. You should see Utrecht as our
regional computer centre. They have
applications like ATLAS we can use and
rather than installing each at every office,
the network can access what they need at
one central location. It is extremely cost-
effective. Another functionality is file
transfer, or the ability to send chunks of
data back and forth efficiently and safely.
What I'd like to point out about this
project is that it brought in all the IT and
operations managers at the planning stage.
That meant we could input our* thinking,
suggestions and, of course, requirements
before design was started. This was a new
approach and since we've gone live in
Paris, we can see it has really paid off.'
GOING LIVE
Jo Knippenberg mentions 'functionality' a
lot. It appears that the number of
functionalities that can be built onto the
new network system is almost unlimited.
'Besides e-mail, file transfer and remote
access, you can think in terms of video
conferencing and telephony, information
sharing. In fact, the sky is the limit
because this area is so fast moving and
innovations are appearing all the time,
that we cannot even predict what may be
available in a few years time. But the
important thing today is to get the
network working and get everybody live.'
VIRTUAL CIRCUITS
Getting the network working means
getting the infrastructure right. Before you
can install any of the functionalities, you
have to start with the basics. 'That means
your communication lines must be in place.
There are network providers of the kind
of lines we need who have huge trunks of
cables - transatlantic, transworld. We rent
what is called a virtual circuit from them.
This is our private piece of the line which
no one else can access. Now, clearly the
lines between Utrecht and New York, or
between Sydney and Wagga Wagga will
differ in size because the volume of data
passing through them is different. So, we
rent what is known as a band width, that
is the part of the cable which is ours, and
its size is determined by our needs. The
beauty of this system is that you can
increase your band width if you need to.'
REGIONAL SUPPORT
We keep mentioning Wagga Wagga. This
is because it forms an excellent example of
how the intra-office link-up will work.
Communications between, for example,
Singapore and Elong Kong will be carried
along a direct line between the two.
However, if someone in Wagga Wagga
wants to e-mail a colleague in Utrecht, the
link will run via Sydney, Singapore and
then to Holland. 'Right,' Knippenberg
confirms. 'And it will all happen
automatically. All you have to do is
indicate the addressee and the system will
do the rest. We have opted for this system
because it is the most cost-effective.
Basically, it comes down to a network in
which the regional support centres - New
York, Singapore and Utrecht - are tied
together in a broader band width. The
link between, say, Sydney, Indonesia and,
for example, Bangkok, will be smaller
because they transfer less volume.'
HIGH SECURITY
The sticky question for anyone involved in
electronic Communications systems is, of
course, security. While we have all become
pretty much used to the idea of data
whizzing its way around the world at
almost incomprehensible speeds, the spectre
of hackers getting into your system has also
become a reality today. 'Security is a major
point,' Knippenberg agrees. 'But, you
know, we're not pioneering this system.
Numerous banks and other users with
high-security requirements are already on
it. Our own system is very secure. We have
put together a number of guidelines. First
of all, you look at the access an office can
have to the system. All have access to
e-mail and file transfer. That is because
with these functionalities you cannot sit
down at your PC in - I'm anticipating here -
Bombay and make changes to a document
in Utrecht, or give a command. That's
because there is no direct interaction
between those two locations. On the other
hand, an office with remote access to
Utrecht could pose a problem.'
STRINGENT AUTHENTICATION
The reason is that an office like this has to
be able to access applications in Utrecht.
'And,' says Knippenberg, 'we have
applications here in Utrecht which are
able to move a lot of money from Point A
to Point B. So we have put in place a
whole range of security facilities, such as
encryption of the line, fire walls. A fire
wall is like a gate and the gate checks who
is coming in, what he or she is doing,
what access is needed. In fact, we have a
