MeesPierson

Frontier Technology has been working with MeesPierson for the last four years to deliver innovative solutions to match their business changes.

MeesPierson, formerly Fortis, has been setting the standard in trust and corporate services since 1952. A key player in the financial services sector with offices worldwide, the company has to operate within the legal constraints of each country and within the context of the wider banking community.

Given recent downturn in the global financial markets, MeesPierson has been experiencing significant changes in structure over the past few years. Originally part of Fortis, MeesPierson was created during the financial boom following a divestment, which also resulted in the formation of the financial firm Intertrust; the two groups subsequently merged. In December 2009, MeesPierson split from Intertrust resulting in the two separate companies working within the same building.

During each infrastructure change MeesPierson has decided to enlist Frontier Technology to provide innovative and cost-effective IT solutions. Our tailored and flexible approach has allowed the firm to have a consistently smooth transition, removing any burden from their IT department.

Phase One: Enterprise Vault to control the explosion of email data

In 2006, Frontier Technology began working with MeesPierson, initially in their Isle of Man office where we implemented Enterprise Vault. Enterprise Vault is the industry leading email and content archiving solution which enables companies like MeesPierson to store, manage and discover unstructured information across the organisation.

One of the main problems facing MeesPierson’s Curacao office was the continuing trend of growth in email stores. In an attempt to arrest the rate of growth, server mailbox limits were imposed and users were allowed to store messages within PST files. The PST files were soon widely used across the network posing a huge administrative burden. Eventually, backups for both Exchange and Network shares could not be completed within the allotted window due to the sheer amount of data on the network. It was clear that a more advanced solution was needed.

The management team took the decision to implement an email archiving solution and after reviewing the options, they chose Symantec’s Enterprise Vault. Based on our excellent service in the Isle of Man, we were chosen to implement the solution. Our consultants began by conducting a needs analysis workshop which involved discussing and researching MeesPierson’s current and future needs – both technically, legally and practically. We then designed the effective solution according to their specifications. After a completing a thorough pilot test , Enterprise Vault was fully installed and the PST migration began, resulting in all of the PST files being successfully archived. Mirchandani Vinod, IT Director at MeesPierson, explains the impact that Enterprise Vault has made on the organisation: “As a result of deploying the solution amongst all of our staff in Curacao, Exchange database sizes have been significantly reduced. PST files have been migrated into users’ archives and system backups are now completed daily. We’re delighted with the solution and have been very impressed with the levels of technical ability and customer service provided by Frontier.”

Phase Two: Supporting the de-merger

Our consultants were again enlisted two years later to support MeesPierson’s demerger from Intertrust which took effect in December 2009. Mirchandani Vinod explains: “As a result of the de-merger, we have worked with Frontier to ensure a smooth infrastructure split. Frontier installed Enterprise Vault and have worked tirelessly to separate the existing environment into two discreet and separate implementations. Frontier provided tremendous assistance to reorganise our data management, not to mention the necessary security of the two separate companies. The work was made significantly easier through the forward planning during the design phase.”

MeesPierson have enjoyed a long and successful relationship both with Symantec and Frontier – taking advantage of our specialist consultancy services and on-going support. Mirchandani Vinod concludes: “From the recent de-merger to the earlier data explosion we encountered, Frontier’s service has always exceeded our expectations. Whatever our needs, they have taken a tailored approach and provided the IT support required to solve the problem cost effectively and seamlessly.”

Organisation Profile:

MeesPierson is a Netherlands-based private bank headquartered in Rotterdam.

Business Situation:

The firm had been undergoing a number of structural changes in the past few years and needed an IT infrastructure to match. As a highly regulated company, the firm were required to show evidence of ‘Good Governance’. It was essential that their growing data was controlled, archived and easily retrieved.

The Solution:

Enterprise Vault

Key Benefits:

• Their data was effectively stored, managed and could be easily accessed
• Back-up times were reduced
• Exchange database files were reduced
• Data migration offering a smooth transition during structural changes