Clearstream’s IT division signs two new customers for its IT Hosting and Managed Services.

The Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco and BKCP Bank from Belgium will use Clearstream’s IT Hosting and Managed Services. Clearstream Services will run the IT infrastructure for the private banking application hub for Banco Bradesco outside the Americas, with supporting services provided by Real Solutions S.A. For BCKP Bank, the entire IT infrastructure will be supported by Clearstream Services, including the IT office infrastructure within the bank’s branches. All services will be hosted in Luxembourg. Clearstream Services now has 20 customers in its external IT business.Cost control continues to be a major concern in the financial sector and beyond. Financial institutions want to avoid to invest significant amounts of time and money in the construction and management of IT infrastructures, and thus increasingly outsource IT services to specialized providers.

Yves Baguet, Managing Director of Clearstream Services (photo), said: “IT outsourcing models need to cover the whole end-to-end outsourcing value chain: infrastructure, functional application and finally business operations. We have great experience and expertise in delivering the entire value chain, and are delighted that Banco Bradesco and BKCP Bank have recognised our delivery capabilities.”

Jean-Philippe Leroy, Managing Director of Banco Bradesco Europe, said: “Luxembourg is a very good location for hosting our new data centre with regard to the regulated environment, the high technical standards and infrastructures in place, as wells as to the competitive level of costs. We are convinced that Clearstream, as a global provider for managed hosting services, is the best partner for us, as it responds to our own high internal standards & policies, as well as to the expected guaranty of secure operations and business continuity.”

Alain Meulemans, Technical Director of REAL Solutions, said: “Real Solutions has partnered with Clearstream to allow a successful implementation of Banco Bradesco’s European hub. Clearstream provides the data centers, the operations and monitoring as well as the network communication through the Deutsche Börse Group backbone. Real Solutions supports in the project management as well as the relationship management between all the involved parties. The complementary nature of the teams were the major factors for the success of the project.”

Yves van der Beken, Chief Information Officer of BKCP Bank, said: “IT Outsourcing is not only a model of cost control, but also a way of accessing higher expertise, a highly available and secured infrastructure and to access large number of managed services around IT Infrastructure. Founding a partnership such as the one with Clearstream Services permits BKCP to concentrate on its core business, which is retail banking.”

Clearstream Services S.A., a subsidiary of Clearstream International S.A., was founded in Luxembourg in 1970. It is a fully integrated Deutsche Börse Group entity. The company employs almost 500 IT specialists in Luxembourg. Their tasks include building and running the Clearstream IT infrastructure. In addition, Clearstream Services has offered IT Hosting and Managed Services since 2004. The company has developed a full range of award-winning data center, hosting, co-location and outsourcing technology solutions for the international financial sector.

In 2004 Clearstream Services was awarded the status of “Professionnel du Secteur Financier” (PSF) from the Luxembourg Ministry of Finance, which requires that it’s IT Hosting and Managed Services activities are regulated by the Luxembourg regulatory body “Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier” (CSSF), thereby ensuring a high quality of services offered. Clearstream’s IT operations, development, project and IT security management processes are certified as meeting recognised International ISO Standards for Quality Management and IT Service Management.