1. Customer Case Study
International Personal Finance: “Working together with GTS was done with great
efficiency and reliability, while gaining improvements in price and performance.”
Data Solutions
INTERNATIONAL PERSONAL FINANCE (IPF), operating under the business name Provident, is a leading international provider
of consumer credit – and the human face of finance with a business model that has been operating for more than 130 years.
Their consumer credit product has two core elements: a smallsum, short-term unsecured cash loan and an optional home col-
lection service provided by dedicated agents operating in emerging markets where demand for credit is growing and markets
are relatively underserved. The company has 2,4 million customers, 6,3 thousand employees and more than 28,4 thousand
agents and operates in six countries – Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Mexico and Romania with a central
office in Leeds, UK.
International Personal Finance // The Challenge
IPF was operating as a collection The service needed to be provided The process of converting a num-
of separate, independent compa- within the framework of an inter- ber of legacy connectivity solu-
nies in its respective geographi- national agreement but preserving tions to a consolidated, modern
cal markets. They recently decid- daily local contacts with field oper- virtual private network needed to
ed to consolidate their wide area ations and customer service within be carried out without impacting
networks as a fundamental part each country in Central Europe. daily IPF operations.
of their strategic planning for the IPF required local contacts from
future. IPF needed a reliable part- GTS who could speak the local lan- GTS created added value for the
ner to deliver quality connectivity guage and deliver a personal, pro- customer by helping to build a
between their main offices and ductive experience. GTS provided simple and easy-to-manage sys-
branches in Central Europe (Po- seamless services throughout the tem based on homogenous solu-
land, Czech, Slovakia, Hungary five countries facilitating direct tion in multiple countries. Addi-
and Romania) and their main data contact between the local IPF op- tional benefit for the customer was
centers based in the United King- eration and the local GTS custom- lower overall costs comparing to
dom. er service and network operation previous network configuration.
center in each country.

2. Customer reference
“We have created a robust network technology platform that supports the IPF network consolidation
strategy. Working together with GTS will make it happen with greater efficiency and reliability, while
gaining improvements in price and performance,” says Andrew Herd – Head of IPF IT Commercial
and Service.
// CONNECTION DIAGRAM
Essex Fujitsu Manchaster Fujitsu
Data Center Data Center
Romania HQ Romania Romania Romania
Branch 1 Branch 2 Branch ...
Poland HQ
Hungary HQ
Poland
Branch 1 Hungary
IPF Branch 1
IP VPN
Poland
Branch 2 Hungary
GTS CE IP MPLS Network Branch 2
Poland
Branch ... Hungary
Branch ...
Czech & Slovakia Czech Czech Czech Slovakia Slovakia Slovakia
Praha HQ Branch 1 Branch 2 Branch ... Branch 1 Branch 2 Branch ...
Why GTS? // The Solution
GTS and IPF engineers worked to- GTS took special precautions during well at many locations to provide for
gether to design a virtual private set up and migration of traffic from full connectivity.
network linking IPF branches with the legacy system to the new solu-
IPF main country offices, connecting tion to make sure the procedures The service is fully monitored by
IPF country offices to each other and did not affect IPF mission critical ap- NOCs (Network Operation Centers)
then finally connecting this network plications. at GTS and includes access to an
to the two main data center loca- on-line portal through which IPF can
tions sited in London and Manches- The network connects 27 locations verify the performance of its virtual
ter. The network features various in Czech Republic, 13 locations in private network in real time.
redundancy mechanisms to protect Slovakia, 17 locations in Romania, There is a dedicated team of service
traffic in the event that any network 24 locations in Hungary, 81 loca- managers at IPF headquarters as
infrastructure problem should occur. tions in Poland and two locations in well as in every country operation
The solution also satisfied specific the United Kingdom. to fully support this important ser-
requirements regarding network vice that is crucial to the company’s
separation and security in order to The backbone network uses fiber- daily operations.
provide the necessary privacy for optic cable for access at some loca-
IPF financial transactions. tions and radio and DSL copper as
Your contact for business solutions in Central Europe:
For more information or to further explore enhancement of your telecommunication networking within the Central European region, please contact us.
www.gtsce.com