Main areas of evaluation 1. Functionality 2. 3.
Functionality
The functional support was linked to a wide range of both current and future requirements, with the latter including Islamic banking, internet banking and MIS reporting.
Technical Architecture
The technical architecture analysis included scalability, systems architecture, interface capabilities and data migration.
Vendor Strength
The vendor evaluation included experience, implementation, project management track-record, financial strength, and commitment to its product, help desk facilities, documentation and support capabilities in the region. Each factor within the three areas was given its own weighting. ‘It was a very independent, auditable exercise,’ he said.
There were also reference site visits. The three systems that ended up on the shortlist were Flexcube from Oracle FSS, Harland-derived Phoenix via Kuwait-based International Turnkey Systems (ITS), and Polaris’ Intellect suite. Oracle FSS scored 86 points out of 100, ITS scored 63 and Polaris 58.
‘It was not that difficult a choice,’ pointed out Dickens. The selection ended in October 2003 and contracts were finalized in December that year.
Implementation
The same consulting firm was used on the implementation, with this kicking off a couple of months later. Using Cedar provided continuity, so that it was a fairly smooth transition from selection to implementation. It meant that, having helped to choose the system, the same consultancy then had to deliver, so there was no walking away, said Dickens. ‘It worked really well.’ In addition, using a third party to do
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Technical Architecture Vendor Strength
the administration around the project freed up Dickens to address any issues that arose and ensure that these were dealt with quickly. By being able to concentrate on the big issues and not become embroiled in the minutiae of the project, he was able to drive all the steering committees and was able to make aggressive and bold decisions where necessary, or was able to escalate issues to the appropriate business heads and ensure a swift response from them. The money on the consultancy firm was well spent and not excessive, said Dickens.
However, a bank should not give a third party ‘carte blanche’. From the bank, there was a dedicated team of users from all business areas and a dedicated IT team, accounting for around 25 to 30 staff. Oracle FSS/I-flex was also part of the project team from the outset. It provided resources on- site until after the cut-over, including a permanent project manager and ‘shell team’ of five or six staff which was augmented depending on the project stage. The business owners had to sign off their parts of the project. One major task that kicked off at the start of the project and continued throughout was data cleansing.
Challenges
Moving from an archaic account-based system to a modular customer information file-based replacement was clearly not a case of replacing like-for-like. ‘There was an awful lot of data scrubbing. The quality of the data was pretty ropey and there was a lot missing.’ There was a need to identify duplicate customer records across the branches and this could only be done through manual scanning. There was then a need to add to the data, to fill in the many gaps, with this deemed to be essential as the bank moved to improve its customer relationship management (CRM). Another complication was staff training.
Testing & Training
Clearly, the bank was adapting to the system, not the other way around. ‘We made a very conscious effort to keep customization to an absolute minimum,’ said Dickens. The vendor was already working with many other more sophisticated banks around the world, ‘so how could a little bank in Abu Dhabi be any different?’ The vanilla products within the new system were ‘already a huge leap forward for us’. Thus, the focus was on implementing well what was there rather than becoming side-tracked by small improvements and changes. It was much better to use that precious time to concentrate on User Acceptance Testing (UAT) and simulations, concluded Dickens.
Islamic Report
www.ibsintelligence.com
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