complex migrations. Nevertheless, she asserted that the roll-out was progressing well and according to the set schedule (although there was a delay of a few months in the implementation of the HP servers), and by this time 26 branches were running on SAB’s platform. ‘It was impossible to plan a full big-bang scenario because the branches were not all connected,’ she explained. The first go-live took place in mid-2011, at four locations. Gradual migration of the entire branch network was underway, in parallel with an upgrade to the newer SAB AT version of the system. According to El Khoury, the most significant adaptations for Karsazan Ayandeh concerned the integration, within the Unix version, of the Solar Hijri calendar (the official calendar of Iran and Afghanistan) for day-to-day calculations, the application of ratified profit rates to credit or savings periods, the availability of right-to-left screens and the application of the Persian language. ‘Iranian banking has lots of specifics and the penetration is extremely challenging for many core banking solution providers,’ she added. ‘We might say that, at the end of the day, banking is banking, and that every country and every bank has its specifics; but Islamic banking in Iran is different from Islamic banking or banking elsewhere. Iranian Islamic banking has lots of requirements that are specific to the country, the culture and the current political situation. These are not elementary and cannot be catered for at product packaging or product parameterisation
A Java version
On the product front, SAB was preparing a new Java-based branch solution. This was due to go into a first site in June 2010 at Fransabank in Beirut. It is meant to have simplified workflow for ease of use and flexibility. A credit application module was also under development. Again, usability was a key aim, said Schintowski. It had been validated with a number of users and Océor was cited as a possible first taker. These new components included the W4 Business Process Management (BPM) tool. SAB had been increasingly embedding this within its solutions to support task-based workflows, in areas such as anti-money laundering and sales support. SAB has the source code to the tool and can also distribute it as a product in its own right. In early 2010, SAB also announced plans to offer its system on a
Software as a Service (SaaS) basis. A pre-configured version had come out of work with existing client, Financière Océor, and would be used as a template for the new hosted offering. The solution would
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levels, regardless of whether the core banking product can strongly and easily adapt to country specifics or not.’ In addition to the language and calendar intricacies, there are ‘huge differences and huge gaps’ when it comes to processes, products, pricing, fiscal implication, documentation and so on, she said. ‘Core banking solution providers cannot implement an Islamic banking platform developed for other countries and markets in Iran. Therefore, an Iranian proven solution would be the best fit here, unless a complete and big investment in the product, the documentation and the team has already been made by the vendor. A long-term vision and strategy is a must, and Iran cannot be addressed opportunistically.’ El Khoury claimed that SAB had made such an investment: ‘Some of our consultants have already learned the language and converse in Farsi with the user, understand the products and their behaviour’. She emphasised that SAB worked and communicated directly with Karsazan Ayandeh, rather than via any third parties. She believed that ‘communication and team spirit’ had been instrumental in a successful roll-out of SAB’s platform at Karsazan Ayandeh. ‘The compatibility of both teams is playing an important role as well, our consultants succeeded in integrating with Iranian culture not only to accomplish their assignments but also to build new horizons of mixed culture.’
be available from April 2010, said Schintowski, and SAB Services, a specific new subsidiary, was launched to manage it. He felt demand was likely to come from banks and credit institutions. It was also hoped that this model would prove more attractive as a proposition for Islamic banking as it permitted banks to ‘test the water’ with this sort of offering. The offering would comprise SAB’s full system but with the ability to take portions of this, for areas such as credits, payments, savings, accounting/reporting and securities. The latter element would be provided by Samic, which was increasingly being sold alongside SAB AT for the securities portion. Compagnie de l’Arc Atlantique in Biarritz and Crédit Municipal de Paris are recent recruits for the SaaS model. SAB was also preparing a new Java-based branch solution, headed for Fransabank in Beirut, which had taken the system in 2009. It was meant to have simplified workflow for ease of use and flexibility. A credit application module was also on the way. A new version of the core system, now dubbed SAB AT rather than SAB2i, was announced in mid-2010. Linux was added as an option,
Islamic Report
www.ibsintelligence.com
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