Getronics has launched a new service, Managed Branch, that it says will allow banks to rapidly deploy branches and "significantly" reduce costs. The company says that it is in discussion with its existing branch service customers and expects to set up two pilots of the new service before the end of July – one in the UK and one "elsewhere in Europe".

Developed jointly with Microsoft and Network Engines, the service is based on what Getronics calls Dynamic Branch eXperience, a hardware and remote configuration combination that allows it to set up and support bank branches faster and at lower cost. The solution is blade server based, with one blade configured as an ISA firewall and the other blade acting as the ISA firewall protected Network.

James Gardner, director of retail banking at Getronics Global Financial Services, said that studies the company has done with international clients show potential cost savings of 30%, though this could be greater in mature markets where greater efficiencies can be achieved.

DBX uses a hardened device supplied by Network Engines to deliver services securely into the branch. It can be shipped from factory to branch and then remotely configured by Getronics from its data centre in Budapest. It is provided as a fully managed service for a single monthly fee, calculated according to branch size.

Gardner said that the Network Engines box "manages everything that comes into a branch. It allows us to do things remotely, which means that we can do more with less people". He said that the technology allows the concept of the "just-in-time branch" being deployed at temporary locations. "With one of these and perhaps a recycling ATM machine, a bank can put a branch outside a sporting venue, for instance, and there is the potential to do a lot of interesting new things."