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Dexia Bank invests in HP BladeSystem and Thin Client technologies
to build “Branch of Tomorrow”

“With HP, our bank branches gained a 
powerful infrastructure that meets their needs 
precisely. We predict the HP solution will yield 
large savings benefits, too.” 

– Lahouari Bouhjar, System Architect and Branch of Tomorrow 

Project Manager, Dexia Bank 

Executive summary: 
When Dexia Bank launched its “Branch of Tomorrow” 
retail banking initiative, its goals were to: 

• reduce the size and complexity of the bank’s 

technology operations 

• decrease maintenance costs 

• simplify access to applications and data 

• consolidate and centralize IT resources and applications 

in the bank’s data center 

• use the “lightest” possible computing technology in the 

bank’s branches 

Dexia Bank’s old system was not meeting business needs. 
Each branch bank had one Dell server, along with PCs on 
desktops. Because the primary applications were running 
under UNIX on IBM computers in the data center, the 
“heavy” branch office servers were underutilized. At the 
same time, operating and supporting them was complex 
and costly. 

With the Branch of Tomorrow project, Dexia consolidated 
its legacy client/server architecture into a centralized 
architecture based on 300 HP BladeSystem servers in the 

bank’s data center and 6000 HP Thin Clients in its 
branches. The solution also incorporates Citrix MetaFrame 
Presentation Server software 3.0, which provides local 
and remote users with secure access to virtualized 
client/server applications from any location, device, or 
connection. The new infrastructure enabled Dexia to 
eliminate the 1,100 costly legacy servers in its branches. 
In addition, the Branch of Tomorrow includes a Mobile 
Office component – built with HP Notebook PCs and 
Deskjet printers – to enable staff to conduct sales calls 
anywhere, anytime, within legal restrictions. 

European bank shows strong interest in HP infrastructure 
Dexia initiated the Branch of Tomorrow project in October 
2004 with a study of the infrastructure it would need to 
meet its key goals of reducing costs while increasing 
mobility, ease of access, ease of use, and manageability. 
The strategy they chose to meet these goals was to deliver 
applications and services to the branches using Citrix 
MetaFrame Presentation Server software running on HP 
BladeSystem servers in the data center. Dexia divided this 
large project into three major parts: 

• new data-center technology to replace branch servers 

• new branch-office desktop technology that would be 

easier to use and support 

•new mobile-computing solution 

Relates Dexia System Architect and Branch of Tomorrow 
Project Manager Lahouari Bouhjar: 

• “From December 2004 through June 2006, we built a 

totally different infrastructure, changing all the major 
components in 18 months.” 

• “The branches are very happy with what we have 

accomplished with the help of these HP solutions. They 
tell us, ‘Now we have a powerful infrastructure.’”