Danske Bank is to implement performance management software from
PeopleSoft in a multi-million pound investment designed to cut the
monthly accounts cycle.
The software will reduce the time it takes to close the monthly
accounts from 12 to three days, the bank said. And in an added
return on investment Danske expects the package to help it to meet
the requirements of a new code of conduct for international
banks.
The $3.25m (£2.16m) contract will see the Denmark-based bank scrap
a range of financial reporting applications and roll out
PeopleSoft's Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) software
across its offices worldwide.
Companies use performance management, or analytic software, to
measure performance across company divisions and to track customer
profitability.
With the global slowdown in technology spending suppliers are keen
to push performance management software as way to get better return
on IT investment and to drive down costs.
The EPM software, which includes specialist transfer pricing and
risk management modules, will take 18 months to roll out across the
bank. It will replace a handful of in-house and standard financial
software packages used across Danske.
Thomas Johansen, first vice-president of Danske Bank, said, "It
will cut the closing of the book cycle for monthly accounts from 12
to three days. To close a book in three days you need best practice
in technology. You can only do this with an integrated
solution."
Danske also decided to overhaul its financial systems to accelerate
responses to shifting regulatory requirements in the global
marketplace, Johansen added.
One high-profile example of new regulatory requirements is the
proposed Basel Capital Accord - designed to make banks' assessments
of their own loans and investments more sensitive to risk.
Under the code of conduct banks that can show an advanced level of
risk management will be able to reduce their capital costs. One way
to achieve this is by demonstrating sophisticated IT systems.
"About a year ago we said we needed to understand data better and
deliver information faster to managers. Our home-grown systems are
pretty good on a standard basis but with regulatory requirements
and globalisation you need to react faster," Johansen added.
An IBM datawarehouse, currently being installed by Danske, will
store the mass of transactional and financial data for the EPM
software to analyse.
PeopleSoft, however, provides a datawarehouse as part of the EPM
suite for financial services companies, and traffic will be able to
pass between the two.
Bank takes steps to cut costs
Project Breakdown
- Value of contract: $3.2m
- PeopleSoft product called Enterprise Performance
Management
- Modules include transfer pricing, risk liability, and
activity-based management
- Due to be implemented within 18 months, by November
2002
Main Business Benefits
- Reduces the time it takes to finish the monthly accounts cycle
from 12 to three days
- Improves the analysis of financial information and gives
managers a more coherent overview of the group's
performance.
Nick Huber
nick.huber@rbi.co.uk