Who Was the Client?
One of the world’s leading private banks with offices across the world.

Client Requirements
In 2016, the Client sold two of its subsidiary banks. Programme teams were established for the disposal of these elements of the bank and the project tasks were run through a specific department called the Strategic Resolution Unit.

The programme team required a project manager and business analyst to manage and deliver the IT applications and branding programme stream, and later coordination of the operations stream. The stream had four main deliverables:

• To configure and provide access to certain applications during a transition period (post the formal sale of the entity to the buyer)
• The development of interfaces between internal systems required for the same transition period
• The development of branding changes to internal systems and Client output to be effective during the transition period
• The migration of data from the Client to the buyer’s systems (current and historic)

What Did the Project Involve?
The C5 project manager and business analyst joined the project team in the initial stages of the practical planning for the sale closure date and the implementation of a transition period. In the initial stages, the project involved the understanding of the data requirements from the purchaser and how this data would be mapped to the purchaser’s systems across the full spectrum of functions within the bank.

Once these requirements were understood, the work to design and configure platforms and interfaces and provide services to the purchaser began. This complex and multifaceted work was delivered across the bank’s global functional teams and needed detailed coordination and communication to a multitude of stakeholders; all within a highly pressurised commercial context. The culmination of the initial phase was the implementation of a transition agreement, providing the required services to allow the subsidiary bank to function under new ownership whilst still utilising our Client’s IT systems until the asset and data migration to its own systems was completed.

Although started concurrently to the implementation phase, the final phase of the project was the migration of the current and historical data from the Client. The scope of this data was all encompassing across all functions of the bank and its global group systems, including current Client positions and assets. The process involved understanding the requirements, designing the mechanisms to migrate the data, mapping it to destination systems and testing it thoroughly before the final migration occurred.

Length of Project
The implementation and migration phases of the project lasted 18 months.

Project Success
Although the project was long and involved difficult commercial discussions and arrangements, the work stream developed a good working relationship with the purchasing bank’s team and the subsidiary bank’s staff. This involved international travel to the location of the subsidiary bank and to the location of the purchaser’s HQ and enabled the sale and implementation of the transition agreement without impact to the subsidiary bank and its customers.

The migration of current and historical data allowed the seamless move of multiple functions of the subsidiary bank from our Client to the purchaser’s systems, out of hours and with no impact to the running of the bank.