Consulting - Banks

Our extensive range of services and support for banks include:

• System Selection
• Contract Negotiations
• Project Planning Services
• Operations & Technology
• Shari'ah Compliance 
• Bespoke Market Research

System Selection

Selecting a system, whether a core banking solution or a specific banking application, is a critical decision for any bank. The success of the selection process depends upon:

• A sound strategic framework with clear, achievable objectives for the new system
• A structured selection process but not a laborious one
• Good intelligence into the suppliers and systems.

IBS Intelligence can add value to your project in all three areas. First we can help you establish a realistic framework for your project, by drawing on the experiences of hundreds of other banks and using the strategic consultancy skills of our senior advisors.

Next we have a well-proven selection process which can be adapted to your own project needs. The process is at the same time rigorous (it is vital to demonstrate due diligence) and yet streamlined. For example, often the most time-consuming part of the process is requirements definition, and we can help here not only by identifying the critical aspects, but also with standard specifications for most banking applications.

We can also save you much time in drawing up long lists and shortlists of potential suppliers, using our unparalleled experience of the market. And we can identify the benefits and risks of each contender in relation to your own requirements.

• Examples of our success

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

Contract Negotiations

When projects have problems, the impact is usually financial. Project challenges often arise when the relationship between the bank and its software and consulting vendors becomes strained, either because of missed deliveries, the discovery of unsuspected complexities or from the impact of external competitive or regulatory pressures. The relationship between all these parties is governed by a series of contracts, which are themselves based on a series of understandings and agreements reached during the selection, negotiation, and post go-live phases.

We believe that it is in the bank's best interest to negotiate the best contracts possible with its core banking vendors, and then to make sure that these contracts have ongoing financial and operational significance for all key  stakeholders. A good contract for the bank is one in which:

• The original business objectives of the core renewal process are infused within the entire contract
• The software and services are delivered at the cheapest achievable cost to the bank as benchmarked against actual market statistics
• There is a provision for agility to allow all parties to respond to changing business and regulatory pressures, whilst still remaining focused on the original business requirements and business outcomes
• Is deliverable by all parties; there being little point in a bank forcing vendors to sign contracts which they cannot deliver.

A bank will also find it invaluable to ensure that it has access to all relevant information regarding the contractual obligations and how they relate to the business outcome; this should be available to the relevant stakeholders in a collaborative and easily accessed way. Having this information available should also allow a bank to establish a continuous mechanism to measure the vendor-bank performance and to report on this.

Use our experience to help to achieve a better business outcome for your core renewal project by helping you to understand what to focus on, tools and approaches which can help you, and to better engage with software and consulting vendors.

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

Project Planning Services

Projects relating to the replacement of core banking systems tend to run over-budget & over-time, and a number fail to deliver the projected business benefits. Indeed, despite years of effort and major expenditure, senior management in a number of banks have been forced to cancel a core banking project when it became clear that it would not meet the bank's business requirements.

Core banking replacement projects are complex and large scale, and as the project impacts on most core operations and processes, have been likened to “a bank having open heart surgery”. As banks only tend to replace core systems every 20 to 30 years, it is likely that the senior business and technology management responsible for the last core system replacement have moved on. This combination of complexity, scale and relative inexperience within the bank in delivering a core banking system replacement project are, we believe, the root causes of project overruns, and indeed, project failures.

Our Project Planning for Core Banking Replacement services are designed to assist banks deal with both the scale and complexity through detailed planned, and by using a “Lessons Learned” approach, will assist banks in overcoming the relative inexperience in delivering such a major project. 

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

Operations & Technology

IBS helps banks assess the strengths and weaknesses of their current infrastructure and future plans, develop action plans to address current issues and prepare for the future with strategic planning.

Our methods involve matching existing capability to current and future business needs, as well as comparing your infrastructure and its performance to other banks. We set out alternative solutions to your needs and compare them in terms of their fitness for purpose, expense and risk factors.

• Examples of our success

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

Shari'ah Compliance Services

IBS has developed a proven Shari'ah benchmark, which allows us to examine and assess the degree of Shari'ah compliance in a vendor's products and services, then report back and advise on what, if any, action is required to bring these systems to compliance. The benchmark provides a systems-based evaluation by consultants with the required level of knowledge of Islamic banking, knowledge of banking packages, the ability to gauge systems against widely held Islamic banking principles and seek solutions regarding functional gaps.

IBS is ideally positioned to analyse and make recommendations on Islamic financial systems:

• Tried and tested methodology - IBS has provided benchmarking analysis for market leading vendors and banks in the Islamic finance sector
• 20 years conventional banking experience - IBS is an acknowledged leader in the field of core banking systems in conventional banking
• IBS researches and publishes the definitive work on systems and vendors in the field in the Islamic Banking Systems and Suppliers Guide
• IBS's lead consultant is an affiliate member of the Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance (IIBI), with the requisite Post-Graduate Diploma in Islamic Banking.

For more information on our Shari'ah compliance services click here >>

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

Bespoke Market Research

Gathering and maintaining up-to-date information on markets, competitors and activity in the banking community is essential but challenging. IBS Intelligence can help. Drawing on over 20 years of expertise, an internal database of 13,000+ past and present international system implementations, and our extensive library of in-depth research publications, we can provide bespoke market research to meet any project requirement.

If you are engaging in a system selection or technology review, our unique independent perspective will offer unprecedented insights into industry issues, drivers and trends, and the strengths and weaknesses of the suppliers and their systems.

- We are strictly impartial and objective
- We can identify the best approach for your needs
- We deliver a sound independent view of new or existing markets.

Arrange a briefing with one of our analysts to discuss your research requirements - contact info@ibsintelligence.com or call us on +44(0)1303 262 636.

Contact us to discuss your requirements
Email: info@ibsintelligence.com Tel: +44(0)1303 262 636

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Also available from IBS Intelligence:

Banking System Selection Training Course

With over two decades of expertise and an international reputation for independence, IBS Intelligence is offering a new in-house training course for financial institutions large and small. Our two-day Banking System Selection Interactive Workshop is designed to ensure a smooth selection process resulting in fewer mistakes with considerably less stress.

• Banking System Selection Interactive Workshop: Best practice and risk mitigation training course