Dubai: Emirates NBD on Tuesday formally launched its fully integrated new data centre at Al Barsha in Dubai, which will be one of the largest data centres in the region.
Along with the main data centre, the Al Barsha centre will also house the central Information Technology Operations, a fully operational branch, finance and other support functions for IT and operations of the group.
The centre is a key element in the integration of services after the much-publicised merger of Emirates Bank International and the National Bank of Dubai in 2007.
"The decision to form Emirates NBD was based on a clear vision, to be a regional banking champion capable of leading the industry to new standards," said Ahmad Humaid Al Tayer, chairman of Emirates NBD.
"This is a major milestone for the group, especially after the merger," said Abdullah Qasim, chief operating officer. "It is very important to have a centre of this size and have IT functions under one roof," he added.
The banking group is already the UAE's largest in terms of assets and reported a first quarter profit increase of 5 per cent in April, year on year.
Senior bank officials said on Tuesday that the integration process should be complete by October, following which the rebranding of the group will begin.
"We're rebranding all the branches, we cannot do that yet because we have two different sets of systems, even now. It's not fair to our customers to rebrand if they're not getting the same service in each of the legacy branches," Rick Pudner, Chief Executive Officer, told Gulf News.
"The name is Emirates NBD, the actual logo itself is being finalised as we speak. So we're getting there," he said.
