Project Delivery as a Service (PDaaS)
Our client, a major global bank, took the decision to close one of its regional subsidiary banks and sell/transfer its assets and operations to other banking entities within the Republic of Ireland. They announced this decision to withdraw in February 2021, after a strategic review found that the regional bank was not able to generate sustainable long-term returns for the shareholders.
The Withdrawal Programme was a multi-year programme involving the sale of six different asset sales projects worth several billion euros:
The programme required a blend of strong stakeholder management, working with the Board, Executive Committee, relevant counter-parties and suppliers, as well as a focus on appropriate customer outcomes and deep process & technology experience.
Agenor's 18+ years of experience and expertise in Agile Project Delivery methods and Test Strategy played a vital role in the success of this programme. This was a complex programme, carried out in a highly regulated environment, which required a forensic attention to detail by the Agenor team working in partnership with the clients in-house team, to safely deliver the required project outcomes.
John Allan, Head of Services
Agenor Technology
From an IT Technical change perspective, the programme covered the impact on our Clients' key business applications due to the product sales and withdrawal from Republic of Ireland (ROI).
This program had the potential to impact 10,000+ colleagues across our Client Technology Teams, that provided services to the Bank. The change program included the implementation of a solution to reconcile data across systems based on Key Data Elements (KDE) such as Customer, Deal & Counter-party. It also involved the definition, design and delivery of data migration solutions for transferring customer data to other banks or archiving systems.
Additionally, the programme aimed to deliver technology solutions to automate customer account closures and switchers, and to support the operations team managing the customer exit process.
The programme involved a complex and staged process of winding down the business and ensuring a smooth transition for customers and staff. Some of the IT challenges included:
Agenor’s involvement was key across points 1 & 2 above. Split between the Mortgages Platform and the overall Operations Solution, undertaking key tasks through Project Management, Business Analysis, Testing, Defect Management and Implementations.
Whilst the Programme has a very broad scope, in this case study the key deliverable was a Defect Management Process for the data migration for retail and SME loans and the Corporate and Commercial loans through the Agile Testing lifecycle. This presented several challenges:
Specifically for the Agile elements of the Project, some of the more common issues of the data migration activities (not specific to Defect Management) were: -
A robust and scalable Defect Management Process was implemented across the data migration for retail / SME / Corporate / Commercial loans to both other banking organisations in the region through the Agile Testing lifecycle. This included:
Challenges that were overcome for successful and effective Defect Management:
Jira was the overall tool used to track all development activities; testing; and subsequent release & implementation work. Approximately 30% of the project workforce had no access / limited access / no training and in some cases no desire to use Jira. In order to present a full and concise view of all defect movement and the development work associated, Agenor implemented some VBScripts to automate the export of all relevant data and sort it into a meaningful report. This ended up becoming a useful tool for Senior Stakeholders to the programme having full oversight of every element of the project through Excel.
Since the development and test team members are dispersed across various locations: India, Edinburgh, London, Dublin, they face a challenge of limited overlapping working hours. To cope with this challenge, all meetings are arranged in the early hours of the UK working day. They also communicate the priority actions for the next day via email at the end of the UK working day. These actions need to be clear, concise and unambiguous.
On several occasions Production data was to be utilised in the testing and validation of pre and post migrated data. Agenor was able to input previous experience of the governance and tiered approval process for using production data in a test environment. Partial obfuscation; non-sensitive personally identifiable data etc. Any future production data testing requirements would be able to follow the process through effective use of Test Data Risk Assessments.
These issues were mitigated by implementing a process of continual improvement and learning, enabling project team members to:
Agenor's expertise in this agile migration project demonstrates the power of implementing best practices for a successful outcome. With meticulous planning, trial migrations, and automation of workflows, the team has set the foundation for a smooth transition. The establishment of feedback loops, coupled with the improvement of processes, and the implementation of data governance measures has further strengthened the approach. Through these efforts, we have paved the way for a successful migration, while setting the standard for others to follow.
Large-scale technology changes can be complex, risky and costly. Since 2006, Agenor Technology has built a strong reputation as trusted IT delivery partners, with a track record for planning and implementing major digital transformation programmes in some of the world’s largest organisations. As specialists in Programme Delivery, Test Design & Execution, Digital Engineering and IT Service Management, and with a forensic attention to detail, Agenor mobilise the right team rapidly to ensure the delivery of “best fit” technology solutions implemented quickly, safely and at a competitive price. Whether you are ready to start scoping your project or just want to discover more about Agenor, our experts are at hand to help.
