CenturyLink Case Studies First Southwest Bank Lays Foundation for Growth with CenturyLink

	First Southwest Bank Lays Foundation for Growth with CenturyLink CenturyLink

First Southwest Bank Lays Foundation for Growth with CenturyLink

CenturyLink

Technology Category	Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software
Applicable Functions	Business Operation
Use Cases	Remote Asset Management Cybersecurity
Services	System Integration
Challenge	First Southwest Bank, a regional Colorado bank, was facing a challenge with its existing network. The bank's network was unable to keep up with their business growth, leading to constraints and impeding employees' ability to complete transactions. The network latency among a patchwork of various providers had already impacted customer service and the bank was prepared to expand its reach. The network performance also constrained the development of new programs for loans or online banking tools. The bank's own IT operation was affected by the poor network performance. The failover site for disaster recovery was located closer to the main data center site than they wanted, posing a risk in case of a natural disaster. Read More
About Customer	First Southwest Bank is a $250 million bank with 7 branches stretched across 300 miles in southern Colorado. The bank's branches are located in diverse landscapes, from high desert to valleys to the southernmost peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Some of the bank’s branches are in remote areas as the bank specializes in agriculture loans to farms and ranches along with small businesses. The bank has been growing and is open to further growth by acquiring other branches or institutions. Read More
Solution	First Southwest Bank worked with CenturyLink to implement CenturyLink IQ MPLS Network Solution among its branches and headquarters in Alamosa. The CenturyLink solution had the bandwidth and coverage to replace the multiple vendors the bank used previously. MPLS provides the bandwidth for diverse networking needs. It establishes a secure Virtual Private Network for both voice and data transmission. CenturyLink IQ also makes it easy to add circuits to accommodate the bank’s future growth. The bank also benefited from the fact that CenturyLink’s network infrastructure covered the bank’s entire region with fiber connections boosting available bandwidth considerably – even for the rural branches. The MPLS upgraded network speeds from 1.5Mbps to 10Mbps. The bank can increase its bandwidth needs as they need to because the MPLS solution is scalable. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - Network Management & Analysis Software

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Use Cases

Remote Asset Management

Cybersecurity

Services

System Integration

Challenge

First Southwest Bank, a regional Colorado bank, was facing a challenge with its existing network. The bank's network was unable to keep up with their business growth, leading to constraints and impeding employees' ability to complete transactions. The network latency among a patchwork of various providers had already impacted customer service and the bank was prepared to expand its reach. The network performance also constrained the development of new programs for loans or online banking tools. The bank's own IT operation was affected by the poor network performance. The failover site for disaster recovery was located closer to the main data center site than they wanted, posing a risk in case of a natural disaster.

About Customer

First Southwest Bank is a $250 million bank with 7 branches stretched across 300 miles in southern Colorado. The bank's branches are located in diverse landscapes, from high desert to valleys to the southernmost peaks of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Some of the bank’s branches are in remote areas as the bank specializes in agriculture loans to farms and ranches along with small businesses. The bank has been growing and is open to further growth by acquiring other branches or institutions.

Solution

First Southwest Bank worked with CenturyLink to implement CenturyLink IQ MPLS Network Solution among its branches and headquarters in Alamosa. The CenturyLink solution had the bandwidth and coverage to replace the multiple vendors the bank used previously. MPLS provides the bandwidth for diverse networking needs. It establishes a secure Virtual Private Network for both voice and data transmission. CenturyLink IQ also makes it easy to add circuits to accommodate the bank’s future growth. The bank also benefited from the fact that CenturyLink’s network infrastructure covered the bank’s entire region with fiber connections boosting available bandwidth considerably – even for the rural branches. The MPLS upgraded network speeds from 1.5Mbps to 10Mbps. The bank can increase its bandwidth needs as they need to because the MPLS solution is scalable.

Impact #1	Teller transaction times were cut in half.
Impact #2	All the branches experienced faster service that eliminated the inefficiencies and delays the remote branches had come to expect.
Impact #3	Employee and customer satisfaction improved.

Impact #1

Teller transaction times were cut in half.

Impact #2

All the branches experienced faster service that eliminated the inefficiencies and delays the remote branches had come to expect.

Impact #3

Employee and customer satisfaction improved.

Benefit #1	The MPLS upgraded network speeds from 1.5Mbps to 10Mbps.
Benefit #2	A task that normally took someone all day took her an hour.
Benefit #3	A task that normally takes four hours took about 15 minutes.

Benefit #1

The MPLS upgraded network speeds from 1.5Mbps to 10Mbps.

Benefit #2

A task that normally took someone all day took her an hour.

Benefit #3

A task that normally takes four hours took about 15 minutes.

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Overview

First Southwest Bank Lays Foundation for Growth with CenturyLink

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit