“(…) The CGI team integrated seamlessly with our team, bringing vital
experience and insights while leveraging and augmenting the existing strengths
of our technical staff and deep business knowledge of our employees.”
Adrian Legin, Executive Vice-President, Operations and
E-business, Conexus Credit Union
In this ambitious undertaking, CGI and Conexus demonstrate that a true
partnership means sharing the challenges as well as the rewards.
With more than $1.3 billion in assets, over 80,000 members and more than
750 staff at 25 branches and services centers across Saskatchewan, Regina-based
Conexus is the province's largest and Canada's ninth largest credit union.
Conexus delivers innovative financial services—personal, commercial and
agricultural products and consulting—to meet the changing needs of its
members.
The Challenge
In 1997-98, Conexus (formerly Sherwood Credit Union),
issued a request for proposal to find an IT provider that could offer the
high-level expertise required to implement a new banking system. The aim was to
migrate from the existing Credit Union Central Bank System shared by some 50
credit unions to achieve more independence in operations and maintain direct
control over its banking system in preparation for future growth and Y2K.
Sherwood opted for Prologic's Ovation™ system as the solution to meet its
objectives and chose CGI—over three competitors—as its system integrator and
facilities management partner.
Ovation is an integrated core retail banking system that combines the latest
in client-server technologies with an innovative application architecture. The
system offers online transaction processing, customer relationship management
(CRM) and third-party applications that together form a comprehensive banking
system.
CGI successfully completed the Ovation implementation and the system went
live in 1998. CGI ensured system stabilization and flexibility so that Sherwood
could easily introduce products and add users without incurring the usual
incremental costs associated with the Credit Union Central Bank System. Other
advantages for Sherwood included enhanced product development, faster time to
market for products and services, better control over reporting, and universal
accessibility by members. With the Ovation system in place, Sherwood was ideally
positioned to go forward with its growth objectives, as witnessed by the 2003
merger of Assiniboia, Bethune, Chamberlain, Moose Jaw and Sherwood Credit Unions
to form Conexus, bringing over 80,000 members together. In light of this
development—and given its proven expertise with Ovation and knowledge of the
existing technology environment—CGI was subsequently awarded a five-year
outsourcing contract with Conexus, that would begin in 2003 with another
challenging project in addition to its role of providing data center support,
security, fire protection and facilities management.
The Strategy
The merger gave Conexus a number of reorganization
challenges, not the least of which was the monumental task of migrating the four
credit unions over to the Ovation system and in this effort, CGI's contribution
would prove invaluable. CGI worked closely with Conexus to manage and coordinate
the various vendor parties of the Credit Union Central Bank System, ensuring the
installation, customization, testing and certification of gateways and
interfaces to external connectors providing ATM, credit card, switching and
other services. Precise timelines and work schedules were drawn up as CGI went
to work writing the conversion programs, developing data mapping and
coordinating the migration. In all, some 30 people from Conexus and CGI worked
on this ambitious data conversion project where time, budget and successful
implementation were key. By year-end 2003, the job was completed, with CGI
bringing the necessary technical and management acumen to ensure stable and
reliable operations of the new system.
Says Adrian Legin, Executive Vice-President, Operations and E-business at
Conexus, “The depth of CGI's expertise and experience was invaluable in the
conversion. The CGI team integrated seamlessly with our team, bringing vital
experience and insights while leveraging and augmenting the existing strengths
of our technical staff and deep business knowledge of our employees.”
The Technology
- Database: SQL Server
- Operating Systems: Client Server: OS2, NT, 2000; Desktop: 95, NT, 2000
- Languages/Tools: VB 5.0, VB 6.0 Other: Probe
- Internet Development: HTML
- Networks: Token Ring, Ethernet
- Partners/Alliances: Other: Fincentric (Prologic)
The Results
With the conversion completed on time and on budget,
CGI continues to work closely with Conexus to manage and support their
applications and technology environment. In this valued partnership, CGI
provides a range of services including application management, release planning,
hosting services, LAN/server management, network planning and environment
upgrades. And with another Conexus merger approaching in early 2006 (with
Heartland, Prince Albert and Moosomin Credit Unions making Conexus the sixth
largest credit union in Canada, with $2.1 billion in assets), CGI is geared up
for another challenging conversion effort. In summing up this long-standing
relationship with CGI, Legin describes a unique dynamic: “Our relationship with
CGI is a true partnership. We share ownership of challenges and targets, along
with the associated risks and rewards. Like most financial services
organizations, our IT environment is very complex. In an environment where the
business challenges are ever changing, there are lots of things to keep us up at
night, but CGI's rigorous environment and processes provide us with trusted
'sleep at night dependability' in their IT outsourcing. In a continually
evolving global technical environment where there are new risks and challenges
weekly, CGI and Conexus work in an effective partnership where we openly
collaborate and challenge each other for continuous improvement.” |
