CASE STUDY: Overcoming merger integration challenges

CONTENTS

Summary │ Delivering for Client │ Client Implementation

Background

A UK investment bank had recently acquired another large bank, which resulted in a duplication of several payment systems. The bank desperately needed to consolidate these systems in order to reduce support overheads and rationalise the architecture to enable future growth and enhancements.

The bank decided to build an entirely new system to incorporate all of the various existing functionality. This system would replace all previous systems and was required to integrate with a myriad of legacy components.

Summary

Legacy systems seamlessly integrated with new systems
Plug-in architecture enabled incremental adoption
Single payment system simplified the user experience
Fit-for-purpose standardised security model implemented

Delivering for the Client

The solution

Sandhata worked very closely with the bank’s project team to analyse the current framework, the legacy systems, and understand the constraints.

Sandhata was responsible for:

Architecting the new system to streamline all existing functionality and simplifying it
Delivering a strategic, maintainable and supportable system for the future
Designing and developing the system using integration best practice and the latest development tools
Testing the system to ensure code quality, and seamless system integration at every interface

The solution utilised plug-in functionality to integrate with the relevant legacy applications. The project was rolled out incrementally and aligned with phased decommissioning for a smooth transition.

The result

The new system used flexible, plug-in style architecture that delivered great support and enabled pay-as-you-go uptake of the legacy interfaces. This flexibility in the new system allowed current and future changes to be easily incorporated.

The client was able to make dramatic cost savings on maintenance and enhancements, thanks to the new system being radically simpler compared to the previous combination of applications.

The team

Sandhata was engaged to deliver this new system based on its strong integration pedigree. The Sandhata project managers worked closely with the bank’s stakeholders to ensure all dependencies were handled in alignment with the existing legacy systems. The Sandhata architects used their extensive industry knowledge to design a future-proof, robust system, overcoming the many legacy integration challenges.

Sandhata was able to supply developers and testers to work in unison with the bank’s own project team to keep pace with the requirement changes and deliver high-quality solutions.