- ING Bank N.V., based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, has implemented MYRIAD as the Bank’s choice of Network Management Platform
- MYRIAD allows the Bank to record and track the relationships between all ING entities on the system and their counterparts, right down to account level
- Implementation of MYRIAD has enabled the ING Network Management team to consolidate, structure, enrich and analyse the Bank’s network data
- MYRIAD is delivering mechanisms for focused reporting, deeper inspection and more rigorous supervision of ING’s network of relationships, their associated costs and related performance metrics
- Just ten weeks into the project, the Implementation Team was able to make the PRODUCTION system available for inspection by Network Managers
- Within six months the ING Implementation Team had successfully launched the MYRIAD NETWORK and FEES modules
- MYRIAD has opened up new facets of ING data, with powerful reporting giving fresh insight into the Bank’s network data and relationships
“MYRIAD enables ING to hold more complete supplier data; it will allow us to make deeper analysis of our network of providers around the world. MYRIAD gives us the opportunity centrally to manage enquiries and issues with providers, to look more closely at the fees we are charged, and to put better controls around the account opening process. My Network Management team appreciates MYRIAD for the rapid access to information the software provides, allowing them to get on with their jobs and not worry about the integrity of the data.”
Joost ten Brink, Head of Network Management, ING Bank Treasury
Background
ING runs complex business operations on behalf of corporates, investors and trading desks. It does so through a large network of specialist partners and providers, including other Banks and Brokers, CSDs and ICSDs, Exchanges and many other types of financial institution.
Most of these services are provided through accounts held by ING entities with their counterparties. The Bank needs to keep its network under control and cost-effective. The responsibilities of ING Network Management are to ensure the completeness of all network data, from static and contacts to accounts and documentation, and to manage the cost, the quality and the effectiveness of services provided by these counterparties to ING Bank and all of its subsidiaries and legal entities.
The key drivers for ING Network Management are:
- Service: support all business lines by choosing the optimal account network for each ING entity, to enable processing of their cash and related transactions, according to their requirements
- Risk: assist in managing counterparty risk by performing frequent reviews and other compliance procedures
- Compliance: provide an auditable framework for all of the department’s activities and complete transparency for stakeholders both inside and outside the Bank, including Regulators
- Control: control over the Group’s network to understand and manage costs incurred from the network, reduce complexity of the network by regular maintenance (dormant accounts, old contracts) and reconcile network data against internal records
- Transparency: perform these tasks in an auditable and transparent way
- Responsiveness: respond and adapt quickly to changing market conditions
Business Need
ING considered a Network Management platform once it became obvious that the Bank’s existing solution was no longer fit-for-purpose. The Bank needed greater transparency throughout its large network of multiple providers and accounts, spanning multiple business lines, as well as an improved oversight of costs. In addition, the proposed solution was seen as an opportunity to drive change and although the Bank had asked for significant functional upgrades, these were only available via an off-the-shelf solution.
MYRIAD was selected following a rigorous RFP process run by external and in-house consultants and Procurement. Their independence and objectivity added weight and credibility to the selection process.
MYRIAD was selected for the extensive breadth and depth of functionality, immediate availability of the platform, as well as clear, concise pricing. MYRIAD Group Technologies demonstrated a full understanding of ING’s Network Management needs and an ability to deliver functionally and on time, from an established, proven implementation plan.
“When I first saw MYRIAD being demonstrated I knew it was the system to take our Network Management to the next level. When we started working with it, the depth of the system functions really impressed me.”
Thijs van den Berg, Business Analyst, ING Bank Treasury
Requirements
The requirements for the new Network Platform at ING included:
- A comprehensive, clean account database
- Checks for account uniqueness
- Ability to link accounts (i.e. linking Securities to Cash accounts)
- Workflow for opening and closing accounts
- All relevant documentation
- Registration and monitoring of fee schedules
- High volume, automated capture of complex invoices
- Comparison of invoices against schedules, estimated values, and against historic invoices over time
- Search, report and analysis functionality
- Granularity of user access, both for system functionality and data visibility
- Robust security features such as password policies, audit trail, and 4-eyes principle applicable to important static data changes
Approach
The MYRIAD team was involved from the start of the project, advising on the scope and nature of the problem at hand. This included face-to-face meetings with stakeholders, during which MYRIAD was able to explain the technical issues, provide demonstrations of MYRIAD functionality, encourage the appropriate resourcing with ING project managers and analysts, and set expectations for the Application Administrator role.
The ING MYRIAD Implementation Team consisted of a Project Manager, a Network Manager and a Business Analyst. Allowing for other commitments for team members, actual resourcing amounted to the equivalent of 1.5 full time employees for the duration of the 6-month implementation.
The Implementation Team was supported along the way by MYRIAD through regular conference calls, web conferences and monthly workshops in Amsterdam, where hands-on training and guidance was given. The on-site visits also provided checkpoints for the project management team and the opportunity to engage with other ING staff, thus ensuring the implementation was well rounded in covering the requirements.
The MYRIAD Support Ticket System (STS), in which any issues or questions are administered, proved to be a valuable tool in keeping track of issues and solving them.
“Configuring MYRIAD, using front end functionality, makes it easy to tweak the system to our needs. The system is very flexible.”
Rick Spaans, Project Manager, ING Bank Treasury
Results
The MYRIAD project commenced at ING in mid-January 2014, with demanding milestones to deliver a replacement for the previous system before end-June, 2014. Within the six months allocated, the ING Implementation Team has been able to implement the MYRIAD NETWORK and FEES modules comprehensively.
The ING MYRIAD Implementation Team worked hard at refining and enriching the Bank’s data. Following a number of iterations the ING data was imported into MYRIAD, re-analysed and cleansed further, at first into a Proof-of-Concept environment – a “playground” – and then into the Bank’s DEV (development) environment where the ‘real’ data, on an authentic system, was administered.
“Promoting our data and new functionality from Development, Test, and Training to Production goes very smoothly. Excellent support from MYRIAD experts available during implementation, always taking the ‘can do’ approach. Using their experience they always came up with the solution that we needed, instead of the solution we thought we wanted at first glance. Integration with Excel (upload and download facilities) eased the migration of the account data to ING MYRIAD.”
Rick Spaans, Project Manager, ING Bank Treasury
By mid-April, 2014, within ten weeks of the start, the Implementation Team was able to make the PRODUCTION system available for inspection by the Network Managers. During the transition from Project to Business-as-Usual, account management functionality was handed over to the line organisation, where the team at ING quickly grasped the concept and within a week was able to perform the daily account maintenance activities themselves.
Lessons and Benefits
Rapid delivery of ING MYRIAD can be attributed to the agile approach to project management, to the profile given to the project within the organisation and to the support of ING management. This gave the project team sufficient authority to take decisions on how the account framework should be organised.
NETWORK data, now consolidated and refined in MYRIAD, has opened up new facets of the ING data, all of which can be reported upon. A good immediate example of this is that ING was able quickly to configure and run a report needed for the T2S project, as well as reports giving insight into and detail behind the number of accounts per region and per Business Line.
“If you put data into MYRIAD, you can get it out. The reporting features are powerful and easy to configure. The functionality in MYRIAD works very intuitively and is relatively easy to grasp. The system has been setup logically – errors are more likely to be human than system-wise”
Barry Pijnenburg, Network Manager, ING Bank Treasury
By mid-April, 2014, within ten weeks of the start, the Implementation Team was able to make the PRODUCTION system available for inspection by the Network Managers. During the transition from Project to Business-as-Usual, account management functionality was handed over to the line organisation, where the team at ING quickly grasped the concept and within a week was able to perform the daily account maintenance activities themselves.
