Bank of Ireland’s new CEO reviews tech revamp
Looking at Project Omega…
Bank of Ireland’s new CEO is understood to be reviewing its five-year €900 million modernisation initiative – aka Project Omega – according to the Irish Times.
As Banking Technology reported last year, the new set-up will be hosted by Capgemini. The bank was known to be evaluating a joint Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering from Temenos and Capgemini during the selection stage.
The offering is known as Capgemini’s Banking Platform, and is underpinned by Temenos’ flagship core system, T24. Meanwhile, another major consultancy firm Accenture was selected as the delivery partner, Banking Technology understands.
In the latest development, sources told the Irish Times that the bank’s board has been overseeing a review in recent months of early spending and results associated with Project Omega. “Some of them indicated that the project has slowed down significantly as a result.”
It is expected that Bank of Ireland CEO Francesca McDonagh, a former HSBC executive, “will also thoroughly examine the programme”.
The Irish Times says analysts from research firm The Davy said in a report published last week that although Bank of Ireland investors have “digested the cost” of the IT programme, they have not yet factored in its benefits, including that it will “materially improve” the lender’s cost-income ratio and return on equity.
The bank said on Monday (2 October) that the IT investment programme “continues to make progress”.
“Important milestones relating to technology developments have been met this year, alongside the ongoing simplification of products and propositions and the group-wide development of digital capability to meet changing customer behaviours and preferences,” a Bank of Ireland spokesman said at that time.
“A further update to the market will be provided in the context of our full-year 2017 results.”
