Client Situation
Our client is amongst the largest banks in UAE with an asset size of USD 105 Billion. The bank had acquired the operations of a reputed foreign bank in Egypt in 2013 to gain market entry. The bank began a post-acquisition integration exercise to harmonise important back-office and support functions, including IT organisation and assets. The technology unit was tasked with the delivery of the project within a timeframe of 2 years.
Cedar’s Approach
The client had mandated Cedar to assist in the development of an integration plan, finalise the integration strategy, define the target application landscape, and oversee the training for the core team and implementation of the technology systems.
- Created the Program charter resource plan and a core team for technology and business.
- Conducted a mapping exercise between Egypt and UAE data along with the gap analysis and feasibility.
- Created a target application landscape for Egypt.
- Detailed the planning and budgeting of the project.
- Finalised over 1000 requirements for the bank.
- Managed development activities.
- Validated infrastructure readiness across the 35+ applications.
- Managed the data migration strategy and approach between the bank and the supplier. 6 mock migrations and 5 cutover dress rehearsal were executed.
- Ensured people readiness (1,500+) for the integration through trainings and 5 rounds of business simulations.
- Managed the testing (5+ rounds) and rollout of the system.
Outcome
The program resulted in a successful integration and rollout of the new applications across Egypt. The results included
- Achieved a 16% growth in revenue in the 1st year.
- Addressed key program risks.
- Developed and created BI and analytics reports.
- Achieved a big-bang cross-border rollout of 35 applications, 63 branches, 201 ATMs.
- No impact on customer service capabilities.
- Successfully managed change for 1500+ employees over 24 months.
- We made strategy and innovation work.