Banco Sabadell has successfully completed the deployment of a new technological infrastructure that reinforces the resilience, operational capabilities, security and business continuity of the entity. Within the framework of this transformation, Banco Sabadell has chosen the IBM z17 mainframe, IBM’s flagship system designed for the era of artificial intelligence, which allows the bank to operate in a highly secure, flexible environment prepared to support critical loads with maximum availability. With this implementation, Banco Sabadell becomes the first Spanish entity to adopt this technology.
Increased computing power and AI acceleration
The IBM z17 is the result of five years of design and development, during which time more than 300 patent applications have been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Its development has had the direct contribution of more than 100 clients and the close collaboration of IBM’s Research and Software teams.
This new mainframe incorporates advanced multimodal AI capabilities, new security features for data protection, and tools that leverage artificial intelligence to improve system usability and management. Among its main innovations are its capabilities to process inference in real time, optimize critical loads and reinforce decision making where the data resides.
The platform also integrates automation and intelligence capabilities that allow you to optimize performance, increase security and increase operational efficiency. For an entity like Banco Sabadell, this technology provides a safe, reliable and resilient environment on which to promote new workloads, accelerate productivity and reinforce its continuous evolution strategy.
With this agreement, the entity also expands the capabilities of using AI by integrating it directly into the banking core to apply it in real time on key business processes and transactions.
Ángela Alfaro, director of zStack for SPGI at IBM, pointed out that “financial entities are evolving their critical infrastructures to respond to an environment where resilience, security and data intelligence are key factors of competitiveness. With IBM z17 we help Banco Sabadell develop a platform prepared for the era of artificial intelligence. This solution not only allows AI to be integrated directly into the banking core, but also optimizes operations and accelerates innovation, all on a secure infrastructure — with capabilities even to encrypt with algorithms. post-quantum in real time—, scalable and designed for hybrid environments.”
For his part, Enrique Rodríguez, director of Technological Services at Banco Sabadell, stated that “thanks to the modernization of the mainframe environment, we have a more efficient, resilient and flexible platform. The incorporation of IBM z17 with Telum processors for AI inference allows us to advance towards new use cases thanks to its specialized capabilities for core banking.”
Business continuity without interruptions
The deployment features a symmetrical architecture in two data centers, allowing Banco Sabadell to move workloads between both locations without interruptions, supported by the IBM Z Flexible Capacity for Cyber Resiliency functionality. These continuity capabilities are key for a financial organization with critical loads and high availability requirements.
The data is replicated synchronously in three copies using a GDPS Dual Leg scheme that guarantees immediate availability. Additionally, the bank maintains isolated and immutable backup copies with a frequency of up to one copy every six hours.
The dual active center and automation model provides the bank with new operational resilience capabilities
The entire process is automated through IBM GDPS, whose capabilities allow movements between centers, maintenance and updates without affecting the operation. As part of its cyber resilience strategy, Banco Sabadell has also incorporated a fourth copy in IBM Cloud hosted in the IBM data center in Frankfurt.
This configuration guarantees maximum resilience of both hardware and software, relying on advanced recovery, protection and redundancy capabilities.
DORA Compliance
The new architecture allows Banco Sabadell to strengthen its compliance with the European DORA (Digital Operational Resilience Act) regulation, facilitating:
- Operational continuity in the face of ICT interruptions
- Rapid recovery of critical services
- Reinforced control over essential infrastructure
The dual active center and switching automation model positions the bank at an advanced level of preparedness against technological disruptions, supported by new operational resilience capabilities.
Preparation for the AI era
The IBM z17 allows you to accelerate the transformation of core banking thanks to its integrated AI capabilities. Technology allows:
- Optimize performance and security directly where critical data resides
- Enable new workloads and improve productivity in a resilient environment
- Use AI and automation tools to standardize operations and increase organizational speed
- Anticipate disruptions, improve observation, and automate reporting and operational management
These capabilities make the platform a strategic foundation for evolving the bank’s operating model.
Banco Sabadell continues to promote its transformation thanks to the use of AI, which is allowing it to improve the service offered to customers and productivity in general. To date, the entity has already successfully deployed different artificial intelligence capabilities in areas such as customer service in call centers, support tools for business banking managers or assistants for technological development teams, aimed at increasing efficiency and accelerating innovation.
