Business Transformation
Reshaping the status quo.
Staying successful through sustainable transformation.
If you want to stay successful, you have to see innovation and transformation as an opportunity. We strive to shape the transformation of the finance sector. Together with our clients, we work on transforming developments and changes into sustainable business success for our clients.
As part of countless projects, we have supported our clients in transforming their business to account for new circumstances and requirements. We offer consultation for the introduction of new products and business processes, recognition and management of risks and fulfilment of regulatory reporting requirements. The successful implementation of outsourcing projects (systems, services) and the integration of mergers and acquisitions in existing functional and IT organisations are part and parcel of our consulting services. We understand your challenges and, using our triad consisting of business, technology and methodology, offer solutions to the particular challenges of transformation and migration programmes. To this end, we possess the methodology and political dexterity necessary to successfully and sustainably implement change.
Shaping the transformation together.
- Execution of PoCs and definition of business cases
- Definition of KPIs and negotiation of SLAs
- Optimisation and migration of existing structure and workflow organisations
- Coordination and implementation of transformation and outsourcing projects
- Coordination of change management processes
- Management of interdisciplinary and international teams
Successful transformations.
Spin-off of a reporting service unit into a subsidiary
As part of the implementation of MiFID II, Firstwaters successfully supported a major German financial service provider in establishing a reporting platform on the market for MiFID II pre- and post-trade transparency and transaction reporting, as well as EMIR transaction register reporting.
After MiFID II went live, the client decided to spin off the internal service unit – including its employees, external client relationships and the operational processes – to form a new subsidiary. Due to its long-standing expertise and the successful prior collaboration, Firstwaters was tasked with the coordination and technical migration for the project. The spin-off impacted market participants and national supervisory authorities in around 30 European countries, which necessitated an absolutely seamless and closely regimented cut-over due to contractual and regulatory obligations.
As part of the project, Firstwaters assumed the planning and management of migration activities in the internal IT department in close coordination with the business departments and the client’s management. In addition to the creation of an efficient approach to migration, in particular the approval and testing activities with the various national supervisory authorities as the recipients of the data to be reported were a significant challenge in terms of coordination.
Thanks to the target-oriented planning and close management of the project, the migration project was able to be successfully concluded within the scheduled time frame. Only a few days after the technology went live and a brief parallel phase, operations in the newly founded subsidiary continued seamlessly.
As part of a group-wide reorganisation of the entire Treasury landscape for an international banking group, Firstwaters made a significant contribution in the field of change management. Firstwaters was responsible for the replacement of two core banking systems, including the required migration of the data of more than 50 clients to the target application of the central institution. Through the unification of trade and settlement processes, significant synergy effects were realised between the central institution and its subsidiaries and affiliates.
In addition to the operational implementation, Firstwaters also assumed responsibility for the group-wide change management as part of a highly agile project environment. Firstwaters supported over 50 subsidiaries and affiliates through the entire change process – strategy and process changes were implemented together and firmly anchored in the group culture through the successful launch.
Outsourcing Treasury on a group level.
As part of a preliminary study, Firstwaters was contracted by a major German bank to evaluate potential alternatives for the replacement of its existing infrastructure in the bank’s Treasury division. The result of the assessment was the recommendation to, in future, execute the bank’s Treasury business on the global processing platform of the international head quarter and, at the same time, outsource the service processes to the platform.
In close cooperation with the executive board of the bank, the joint project between the bank and the head quarter was designed as an international project. Together with the CIO and CFO of the bank, Firstwaters assumed overall management of the project. The project was divided into multiple functional phases to reduce the complexity and to enable project results to be taken productively in manageable time frames.
At the same time, SAP Bank Analyzer was also integrated by the project for accounting reasons.
After conclusion of the project, its organisation and execution were used as best-practice models for other projects between the bank and the international head quarter.