IBGT Finance, Reporting Systems

Proposal from i-exceed

Jan, 2014

Copyright 2014, All rights reserved.

i-exceed technology solutions private limited,
2nd Floor , SJR Padukone Plaza,
51, 100 ft. Road,
2nd Block, Koramangala,
Bangalore 560034, India.
The data presented in this presentation is intended to be an outline of our general product and services direction. It is
intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any contract. It is not a commitment to deliver
any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development,
release, and timing of any features or functionality described for i-exceeds products remains at the sole discretion of iexceed technology solutions private limited.

Executive summary Key Requirements

Current operating model at DBSs IBGT-Finance Reporting Systems,

Involves Development activities ,viz. Project delivery & enhancements and Production support
Is run in an co-managed model, with major chunk of activities outsourced to NCS & other vendors
such as OCS

We conducted a brief 1-week business study exercise with the key IBGT stakeholders. This
provided us an understanding of the current operating model of the four key application
systems, viz., FC, CPMS, DSS & HFM. The following were identified as key areas for
improvement:

Enhancements Timelines
Process adherence
Production support SLA adherence & timelines
Handling demand variations

Release Management Processes & Timelines

Retention of Key resources
Knowledge Management
Operational Costs

Executive summary Key Requirements (Contd.)

Overall Strategy
o

Current strategy is to Insource key activities

DBS resources to be responsible for complete enhancement analysis

(publication of functional & design specs ) & development (partly/ fully)

Target Operating Model

Reduced Total Cost of Ownership

Development
o

Improvement in current processes

Out-sourced development team to provide ability to quickly scale

Better Output Quality (Internal MIS Reports, Regulatory Reports)

Country T&O (DBS) to prioritize User Requests (URs)

Better change mgmt. and improved release and demand mgmt. processes

Production Support
o

Shared Operator (L1) pool to achieve economies of scale

L2/3 support to be co-located with DBS SMEs

Seamless operations in production systems with minimal downtime &

improved SLA compliance
4

Executive summary Our Proposal

Address all key operating model components viz., People, Processes and
Technologies

Define a phase wise approach for transitioning from the current

operating model to the target state
Five Key Considerations for the
Target Operating Model &
Interim Transition

Minimize any impact on BAU, in-flight and upcoming projects during

the interim transition; Provide an optimized plan to balance transition
costs and associated risks

Rationalize resource requirements and minimize the TCO

Provide a Continuous Improvements plan to bring in best-practices in the

final steady state operating model (Knowledge Management, Quality Controls,
Schedule and SLA Adherence)

Executive summary Our Proposal (Contd.)

Target Operating Model (TOM) Highlights

Completely onsite (Singapore) based model
Aligned with DBSs insourcing strategy One Single Organization pyramid where iexceed
developers, SMEs, L1/2/3 support would report into DBS SMEs and PMs, with dotted line
accountability to iexceed management
Production Support Model Shared Operators (L1 Support) across the four application systems
Use of appropriate tools and processes to ensure adherence to quality standards, SLAs and
schedules
Creation of document repositories to enable KM, rapid on-boarding and knowledge retention in
steady state BAU
Constitution of a transition board that would oversee the path to reach the proposed TOM
A brief detailed due diligence is proposed to finalize the phases & transition plan
Phase wise Transition based on risk perception, application complexity, usage volumes & execution
feasibility ;
Phase 1 DSS & HFM
Phase 2 CPMS + FC
Phase 3 FC (Remaining)
Separate sub-tracks (Phase 1a, 1b etc.) could be done (identified post the due-diligence) for
ensuring transition by country/instance (for FC)
6

In-Scope Application Portfolio

Financial
Consolidator (FC)

Cost & profitability

Management System
(CPMS)

Decision Support System (DSS)

& Hyperion Financial
Management System (HFM)

Single Source of Truth Internal system developed in house for

consolidating information across transaction processors, product systems and
GL; designed to automate reporting
Key Systems: Finacle, IMEX, Murex, PSGL
Each country has a separate instance (Staging area Core Processing Data
Object creation Handoff files/ Excel reports)
Tech Skills - Oracle, Pl/SQL, VCS, Basic DBA; production job scheduling (TWS)
Resources 7 DBS, 37 NCS (across SG & Chengdu) for Dev.; 1 DBS & 11 NCS
for Prod. Support

Compute and provide reports/files for FTP, SP, GP & ABM

Development done at ETL layer; Prod. Configurations at EPM layer
Three Instances SG, HK and all other Overseas countries
Average of 2 URs/country /month
Tech Skills : EPM Tools (Peoplesoft), ETL (Informatica), UNIX
Resources 1 DBS, 6 NCS for Dev, 6 NCS for Prod. Support

System is used by the Group Finance; DSS is used to an MIS View while HFM
is used to get a financial accounting view of the balance sheet
Reports are built either using available standard templates or are developed
using additional scripts
No Daily batches; only L2 and L3 support is required
SME/ Tech Skills : Essbase, Hyperion, 5 years relevant exp. in Banking/Finance
Resources Development is managed by DBS using OCS consultants;
Production Support (L2 & L3 only ) is done by 10 NCS resources (5 each)

Proposed Target Operating Model

Production
Support

Development
Overall Demand
Management

Governance Model
Knowledge
Management

Project Mgmt.
Tier

Financial
Consolidator
(FC)

Resource Mgmt.:
Attrition mgmt.,
Reskilling, Rotation

Project Mgmt.
Tier

CPMS

Allocation:
Onboarding,
L1/Operator Shared
Pool, Development

BA/SME* &
Tech Lead Tier

DSS & HFM

Common layer for all IBGT Finance

Applications

Developer Tier

SME L2 & L3
Prod support**

Development:
Enhancements & Changes
Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

SME Pool, Estimation,

VCS, Process

L1 Support (Operators)
Governance &
Risk Mgmt.

SLA Mgmt.
L2/3 Support

L1 Support (Operators)

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

SME Pool, Estimation,

VCS, Process

Specific activities (For

Application & Development
/ Production Support)

SLA Mgmt.

L2 & L3 Support
(Dedicated tech resources)

SME L2 & L3 Prod support**

Development
Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

Governance &
Risk Mgmt.

DBS Process
Adherence

Estimations, VCS

Developer Tier
Project Mgmt.
Tier

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

Country (User)
Interactions

Developer Tier

Overall Metrics/SLA
Tracking (Dev. & Prod
Sup.) across systems

Infrastructure mgmt.
& Dependency mgmt.
(across applications)

BA/SME* &
Tech Lead Tier

Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

SME L2 & L3 Prod support**

L2 & L3
Support

* SMEs in 5 key areas e.g. Credit Risk, CPMS, RMG. Etc.

** SMEs to be involved in L2 & L3 Support as well

Proposed Target Operating Model

Production
Support

Development
Overall Demand
Management

Governance Model
Knowledge
Management

Project Mgmt.
Tier

Financial
Consolidator
(FC)

Resource Mgmt.:
Attrition mgmt.,
Reskilling, Rotation

Project Mgmt.
Tier

CPMS

Allocation:
Onboarding,
L1/Operator Shared
Pool, Development

BA/SME* &
Tech Lead Tier

DSS & HFM

Common layer for all IBGT Finance

Applications

Developer Tier

SME L2 & L3
Prod support**

Development:
Enhancements & Changes
Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

SME Pool, Estimation,

VCS, Process

L1 Support (Operators)
Governance &
Risk Mgmt.

SLA Mgmt.
L2/3 Support

L1 Support (Operators)

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

SME Pool, Estimation,

VCS, Process

Specific activities (For

Application & Development
/ Production Support)

SLA Mgmt.

L2 & L3 Support
(Dedicated tech resources)

SME L2 & L3 Prod support**

Development
Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

Governance &
Risk Mgmt.

DBS Process
Adherence

Estimations, VCS

Developer Tier
Project Mgmt.
Tier

Governance
& Risk Mgmt.

Country (User)
Interactions

Developer Tier

Overall Metrics/SLA
Tracking (Dev. & Prod
Sup.) across systems

Infrastructure mgmt.
& Dependency mgmt.
(across applications)

BA/SME* &
Tech Lead Tier

Demand &
Capacity Mgmt.

SME L2 & L3 Prod support**

L2 & L3
Support

* SMEs in 5 key areas e.g. Credit Risk, CPMS, RMG. Etc.

** SMEs to be involved in L2 & L3 Support as well
Indicates Proposed activities outsourced to iexceed

Transition Plan

10

Transition Plan: Pre Requisites

Set Up
DBS Process and Policies: Vendor employee onboarding policies & Compliance and
Audit related policies
Infrastructure related: Connectivity to DBS network & Office space security
management
Resource Onboarding
Resource Identification
EP processing, Relocation of key resources from Bangalore office to Singapore
Availability of DBS Personal for Transition Board activities

11

Transition Plan: Transition Board

Post the due diligence phase, a joint transition board is constituted to enable smooth transition across
phases. The structure is provided below:
Role (#)
Transition
Manager (1)
Application
SPOCs (2)

Resources From

Activities

Functional/
Business
SMEs(2 or 3)

Tech
Architects(2)

Work with DBS IBGT on various action items to enable transition

Help in co-ordination between DBS IBGT, i-exceed teams and other
application SPOCs
The transition manager would be responsible for all transition phases
across applications and would continue to be the PM post transition
To enable necessary co-operation from other application SPOCs and NCS
SMEs and PMs
Separate for each phase and would depend on application under scope
Oversee creation of repository of system capability and business
functions
Participate in key requirement gathering discussions with business users
for ongoing projects
Work with NCS team to enable transition as per agreed terms &
conditions
Understand the overall application landscape in DBS for the in-scope
applications
Oversee creation of inventory of application software
Understand application architecture design
Work with IBGT team in architecture reviews
Build knowledge of all online and batch interfaces of the application
12

Proposed i-exceed Resources Split (Post Transition)

Skill Sets Required

Production
Support

Development

Development*
- Oracle (PL/SQL,
Stored Procedures)
- Version Control
(VCS)
- Basic DBA skills
Production Support*
- TWS
- Basic Oracle/DB

4 SMEs
2 Tech Leads
30 Developers

1 SME
5 L1 Support Personal
5 L2/3 Support
Personal

CPMS

Development*
PS EPM, Informatica,
UNIX, DB2, VCS
Production Support*
TWS

1 BA/SME
1 Tech Lead
4 Developers

2 L1 Support Personal
4 L2/3 Support
Personal

6 BA/SMEs

DSS & HFM

Development*
Essbase, Hyperion
(HFM)
Production Support*
Not Applicable

5 SMEs for HFM

5 SMEs for DSS

Financial
Consolidator
(FC)

In addition to the above resources, 1 Overall Project

Manager would be provided from i-exceed (for all
common activities across applications). The person
would also be the transition manager during transition

* Relevant Banking domain, project management

skills, financial accounting, and number of years of
experience has been taken into consideration as per
the proposed role in the target operating model

13

Key Resources
Skill Sets Required

Financial
Consolidator
(FC)

Development*
- Oracle (PL/SQL,
Stored Procedures)
- Version Control
(VCS)
- Basic DBA skills
Production Support*
- Tivoli Work
Scheduler (TWS)
- Basic Oracle/DB
skills

CPMS

Development*
PS EPM, Informatica,
UNIX, DB2, VCS
Production Support*
TWS

DSS & HFM

Development*
Essbase, Hyperion
(HFM)
Production Support*
Not Applicable

Development

Production
Support

* Relevant Banking domain, project management skills, financial

accounting, and number of years of experience has been taken into
consideration as per the proposed role in the target operating model

14

Potential Risks & Our Proposed Mitigation Plan

Risks

Suggested Mitigation Strategy

Delay in transition timelines

leading to delay in
commencement date of steady
state target operating model

Knowledge loss due to

Transition

Lack of Documentation

Strong governance model to manage all stakeholders of the engagement and

Implementation of appropriate escalation mechanisms
Defined communication model for periodic interaction between the various
stakeholders
Periodic status check during the transition phase
Any delays or issues to be immediately escalated
Daily progress meetings to address any sessions that are postponed or speedily
plan around other potential delays
Plan a transition that is role based with a special focus on SMEs
Identify critical employees with significant domain and process knowledge and
immediately plan periodic sessions with them
Prioritize knowledge transfer for application which are business critical and have
dependency on single SME s
Any delays in sessions or getting information during transition to be reviewed in
transition board review meetings
Review the available documentation and plan sessions accordingly
All involved SMEs and technical resources for the application to participate in all
review meetings for quick knowledge gathering and faster knowledge
dissemination
Institutionalize processes around creation of documentations

15

Potential Risks & Our Proposed Mitigation Plan (Contd.)

Risks

Suggested Mitigation Strategy

High attrition of critical

employees (usually SMEs) post
transition, leading to
Knowledge loss

Prioritize knowledge transfer and knowledge management of business critical

projects
Retention programs for critical employees to be launched
Back fill through i-exceeds existing employee pool, with similar competencies
Constant employee engagement to understand incentives in play
Implement periodic rotation and reskilling programs

16

Our Differentiators
Three Key Differentiators
1. Carefully Laid Out Transition Strategy
Robust Transition methodology to ensure services availability, knowledge & process retention
Transition timelines would align with DBSs overall strategic and project specific imperatives
2. The Right People
Involving people with extensive banking technology experience, especially those with
experience of dealing with large process-oriented banking eco-systems
Domain Knowledge; understanding of regulatory reporting and MIS requirements
Key resources would possess a mix of project management and domain expertise
Availability of talent pool for quick scalability & managing abrupt demand variations
Availability of resources with long term commitment to IBGT-Finance Reporting Systems
Reduced Turnover Risk due to our carefully laid out incentives management and rotation
programs
Single iexceed management team to oversee i-exceed activities in IBGT-Finance & interact with
key DBS stakeholders; this would improve co-ordination, operational efficiency & reduce costs
3. Senior Management Commitment
KPIs across both Development and Support activities to measure key engagement parameters
Periodic monitoring and review using a good governance model

17

Thank You

Appendix

Transition Plan
Our Guiding Principles
Due diligence (DD)
Initial DD required to identify all in-flight projects and upcoming projects, along with their timelines
Identify the risk perception of each module within these application sets
Phase wise modules for transition as per complexity (either by country or by functionality, for FC)
Knowledge Retention (for each phase)
Knowledge circulation to the SMEs+ Execution team using Train the Trainer method
Provision for a shadow period using two distinct phases
Knowledge acquisition phase (KAP): Creation of an application specific knowledge base
capturing functional overview, technical architecture, processes, common problems and their
resolutions
Parallel Perform: iexceed to take up activities and be accountable for work done;
To be done in two phases, in the following sequence
First, Secondary Support
Secondary, Primary Support
Production Support knowledge transition to be done using the following sequence
First, complete transition of associated development modules
Second get the transition done for L1 Support activities (Helpdesk)
L2/L3 Support using the knowledge base created for development transition
20

Transition Plan (Contd.)

Dignified Process Transfer

Regular meetings with SPOCs from NCS and other upstream and downstream applications
Best practice assimilation and enhancement
Set up of appropriate knowledge management and documentation processes across all 4 applns.
Identify and Leverage other DBS tools and document processes
Streamline SLAs and metrics for KPI measurement and tracking

21