Challenges To Core Banking Solutions Implementation Projects - Part 1

Imran Adeel Haider

Pakistan has seen a lot of banks going for new core banking solutions in the recent past. The top scoring companies here are:

1. Temenos T24 (Seven banks)
2. Sungard SYMBOLS (Three banks)
3. Misys (Two banks)

And Pakistan is not the only country in the world goes to such solutions. Obtained Banks in the Mid-East also have the same core banking solutions for a wide range of services offered to their customers, integrated with the new information systems. With the legacy systems, this was only a distant dream. Consumer Finance, based on the rapid increase in the number of wealthy and middle class, forced banks to opt for a better system and not on their current legacy applications can rely - but an archipelago of applications.

Access to these new applications - or their new versions, and business-loving people who have these applications from the word go. There are not many manufacturers, the implementation of this solution, so we can be sure that they will deliver very, very nervous. There are some basic shrink packaging needs CD / DVD to change the things tons. For an Islamic country, such as deducting Zakat (2.5% of the compulsory charity) what is not available, and the system needs to be modified. Do this kind of change is usually a number of local suppliers, who are in the bank to implement solutions.

And then you start seeing the problems.

Lack of Knowledge about the Proprietary Technology
Implementing people are not aware of the application and its underlying technology; they try to execute things based on what they learnt in college, using C# or Java. Most of the core banking solutions don't use any of these tools and platforms.

Lack of Knowledge about the Proprietary System
Players were not there when building the application developed /. They have therefore not the idea of things under the hood. This lack of knowledge poses a serious danger. Although the manufacturer of the application of implementation partners that includes trains, it is obvious that they can not train a large number of engineers of the company to implement. Also, the application vendors stretched for the supply and may not have much time away from implementation and the development of future versions / updates / patches of the applications.

No QA Process
Due to stringent timelines and over-stretched resources, the implementers do not find it worth the while to have a QA process to ensure delivery as per the set standard; supposing that there were any defined standards at all.

Scope Creep
As the Sukopukuripu banks do not have many ideas for new applications, business users, it raises will be used to their old applications. At times, things are running when they happened, please realize that you do not want that. This brings us to the next point.

Customizing towards the Previous System
Business users, in fact, to look and feel that the new system behave like the old system. To make matters worse, they may not fully conscious. Therefore, this issue time and again to them, before double-checking everything, they must seek it raised.

Unrealistic Timelines by Banks
Banks can be impractical for the completion of the project an ambitious timetable. As we can see that projects into the reasons for the delay, we are discussing in any multi-year run. Somehow, each bank that it has assessed the power of the timetable and be able to handle things better. But we know that in the IT world, this is not too late, or it does not play a role.

Unrealistic Timelines by Implementers
To beat the competition and win the order, the suppliers of banking solutions also agree with the aggressive and unrealistic timelines - timelines that even they know cannot meet.

Lack of Implementation Resources (Functional and Technical)
Lack of resources hits the suppliers/implementers very hard. There are a lot of banks going for such solutions; locally as well as internationally. This brings the workforce exposed to offers from around the world. In the case of T24, we have seen offers being extended to people who even mention the word T24 in their LinkedIn profiles. And since the banks in Singapore, Hong Kong and the Mideast pay in USD or AED, people from Pakistan and India find it very attractive to opt for such assignments. The local employers try to mitigate this risk by forcing the employees to sign three-years bonds with their staff before training them, but this doesn't help much, as the new employers are happily willing to pay their remaining period's salary to their current employer; afterall, they have to save their face in front of their client bank(s) who would be paying much higher than a bank in Pakistan would to a local implementer.

Subjugating Conditions on Consultants/Engineers
Consequently, the implementer imposes such restrictive conditions on its people that many feel disgruntled and mistrusted. They look out for a chance to get out of there, and they usually take that too.

Cash Burnout Due to High Salaries
To counter the brain drain, the implementer will keep offering high salaries to people on board. This salary is close to or equal to what would an employer offer to the Middle East and Far East markets. These strains apparently the profitability and cash flows of the company for the implementation and management loses interest in the project. This pushes the downward spiral of the implementation project.

To be concluded...

This blog is also available at http://www.sapphireconsultingservices.com/scsblog/blogs and http://imranadeel.wordpress.com