By Emma Okonji
GTBank’s purpose-built Data Centre has received the Uptime Institute Tier III Design Certification.
GTBank accomplished this with technical and professional support from West Africa’s foremost information technology company, Resourcery Plc.
Resourcery worked with the bank, its architects and structural engineers to design and implemented the technologies within the stand-alone data centre. It also worked with the bank to achieve the Uptime Tier III Certification. The certification is based on set criteria covering mechanical, electrical, structural and site elements that ensure appropriate maintenance and seamless, continuous operations. The rigorous certification process included production and presentation of hundreds of design documents in special formats, multiple reviews, amendments and validations that ultimately led to the issuance of the respected Tier III Design Award.
Uptime Institute is the global data centre authority, the most trusted and adopted standard for design, build and operation of data centers, the backbone of the digital economy. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) stipulates that all Data Centre infrastructure and facilities for financial institutions shall satisfy the requirements for Uptime Institute Tier III design and construction. The directive requires that all commercial banks design, implement and manage a Tier III Data Center infrastructure to enhance the capacity, cost effectiveness and efficiency of banking services in line with best global practices.
The Uptime Institute Tier III Design Certification awarded to GTBank confirms the organisation owns and manages a concurrently sustainable Data Centre infrastructure that may be operated and maintained without impediments.
Solutions Manager, Network Infrastructure for Resourcery Plc, Tunde Eso, in his remark, said: “Resourcery as a leading system integration company in Nigeria and West Africa, have always offered cutting edge IT solutions that optimise productivity and performance of business organizations. Indeed, we are glad to have provided GT Bank with the Uptime Institute Tier III Design Award and the technical support required to achieve certification of their data centre facility.”
Speaking further on the significance of the Tier III Design certification at the presentation ceremony in Lagos recently, the Head, Sales and Business for Resourcery Plc, Angela Chike-Dike, added: “Resourcery Plc is delighted with the milestone achievement of GTBank as the first Nigerian commercial bank to privately own a Uptime Institute Certified Tier III Design Data Center facility. This certification reaffirms our commitment to GTBank in the areas of critical data security, storage and retrieval which are germane to the delivery of world-class banking services. We are convinced that our continued support and partnership will enable GTBank to complete the journey of attaining a full Tier III status.”
“We are pleased to work with Resourcery Plc on the Uptime Institute Tier III Design Certification,” said Mustapha Louni, Managing Director, Middle East and Africa for Uptime Institute. “It is important to realize the growth in the financial services industry in Nigeria, as it is imperative in mission critical markets like this,” Chike-Dike said.
