case study: raiffeisen


IBS Journal January 2016


‘We are constantly challenging the programme plan


to review the critical path and to take additional measures when needed. This is essential for a project of this size


and to make sure things are on track.’ Mathias Schütz, Arizon


One platform Arizon sees itself as offering an ‘integrated digital and physical customer experience’. Its intention is also to get all sales channels merged on one platform. In reality, Schütz believes this works


because of how Raiffeisen operates. ‘Thanks to its co-operative structure with 300 independent banks (and roughly 1,000 branches in total), the bank is known for a close relationship with its customer base. ‘Knowing the client is one of the key


strengths of Raiffeisen.’ To use all this knowledge requires something special and technical – and he calls it a ‘modern, multi-tier architecture combining operational data from the core system with real-time analytics from dedi- cated subsidiary systems’. Arizon’s objective is to provide data in


‘just the right amount and detail’ to enable real-time performance for the customer. He also says the architecture should be


‘flexible enough to keep up with the high pace of change in this part of the market’. On top of the core banking system,


Avaloq Banking Suite, a ‘completely new end-user experience will be added’, Schütz adds, ‘featuring modern and intuitive user screens and innovative case management capabilities to manage key processes such as the client lifecycle.’ This will be supported by Avaloq’s dig-


ital banking development, Avaloq Front; and Raiffeisen has opted for browser-based workplaces for all bank staff, which Schütz says Avaloq Front can offer.


Milestones The migration’s end date is a few years away – and is everything on schedule? Schütz replies: ‘We are constantly chal-


lenging the programme plan to review the critical path and to take additional meas- ures when needed. This is essential for a


34


project of this size and to make sure things are on track. We are confident that the migration of all 300 banks will be complet- ed by the end of 2017.’ In terms of the timetable of events, he


is very forthcoming about what will hap- pen, and says the programme plan is based on four major milestones. These are the completion of develop-


ment in 2016; then the system integration and pilot testing to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. These two will be followed by a roll-


out to banks in the second two quarters of 2017; and then a decommissioning of lega- cy systems in Q1 2018.


Largest in the landscape The planned timetable is lucid and logical, but every project has its inevitable challenges. Schütz says: ‘The number of parties


involved in this programme made it chal- lenging to find the right governance initially. ‘We have now found a governance


structure that ensures fast decision making and maximum engagement and dedication to project success for all parties involved.’ These involved parties mean Raiffeisen


Schweiz, the 300 Raiffeisen co-operatives, Avaloq and Arizon. However, the ‘biggest challenge’


regarding stakeholder and change man- agement will be with the 300 banks and its 8,000+ users. To that end, and to ensure full user


engagement, a dedicated project has been initiated to address topics like change man- agement, user and bank enabling, roll-out support, and so on. In addition to these ‘soft factors’, there will also be a number of technical chal- lenges, such as migrating from 300 sepa- rate systems with ‘partially heterogeneous data structures’ onto one centralised plat- form, the development of completely new


© IBS Intelligence 2016 www.ibsintelligence.com


Raiffeisen fact file


• Third-largest banking group in Switzerland, comprising nearly 300 co-operative banks


• •


Specialises in retail banking


3.7 million customers, including 1.8 million co-operative members (co-owners) of Raiffeisen


• Over 1,000 branches throughout Switzerland


• Head office in St Gallen •


Founded in 1899


designed front user screens, and the overall system performance. He sees all of this as ‘challenging’, as it will be the first Avaloq installation world- wide with 300 units on one instance. There is a lot to do and to ‘quickly gain


confidence in this area’, Arizon will conduct ‘extensive non-functional testing’ early on in the project. The goals and timetable are all in


place, but it will require highly-skilled per- sonnel to carry this all out. For this, Schütz says Arizon is imple-


menting one of the largest projects in the Swiss banking landscape. The company has ‘strengthened’ its


in-house skills with the help of external experts. Therefore, as with many other implemen-


tation projects like this – and Schütz has a lot of experience in this field – system integrators have been contracted to support the project. He is ‘confident’ that Arizon will get suf-


ficient staff numbers by early next year. The migration is a massive project and


it will be very interesting to see how it all develops over the next few years. Antony Peyton


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