Strategic Plan
The banking sector is often viewed as rather conservative when it comes to the adoption of cutting-edge technology. It's not a surprise to many if some banks are still on the IT infrastructure they first started out with years ago.
One bank, however, knew that it had to ditch its archaic infrastructure if it wanted to move with the times. Two years ago, the leading financial group in Malaysia, Malayan Banking Bhd. (Maybank), embarked on a massive IT project to revamp its communications and collaboration infrastructure.
Tunku Alizakri Alias, vice president and head of strategic planning in Maybank's corporate planning department, says the project came about because there was a need for better communications and collaboration within his department. Thus, he made a request for a new messaging and collaboration application for his department.
From 1995 to 2001, Maybank had been using a mainframe-based solution called MemoID. According to Alizakri, MemoID was a product past its shelf life. "Not only was the command line-based interface cumbersome. We couldn't even attach e-mails or get connected regionally," he says.
Fortunately, his management saw the bigger picture upon Alizakri's request. They asked him to implement the change for the whole group instead -- all 400 branches and 23,000 employees throughout Malaysia and around the region.
Having to take on such an enormous task, Alizakri and his team then went back to the drawing board to rethink their approach to the situation.
After much deliberation with additional team members from the information systems and HR department, it was decided that Maybank would now strive to be a "learning" organization.
"All this while, we haven't been able to effectively leverage the vast amount of information and knowledge amassed in our organization. We need to harness that resource if we want to adapt and evolve with our business environment," he says.
For Maybank's vision to be a learning
One bank, however, knew that it had to ditch its archaic infrastructure if it wanted to move with the times. Two years ago, the leading financial group in Malaysia, Malayan Banking Bhd. (Maybank), embarked on a massive IT project to revamp its communications and collaboration infrastructure.
Tunku Alizakri Alias, vice president and head of strategic planning in Maybank's corporate planning department, says the project came about because there was a need for better communications and collaboration within his department. Thus, he made a request for a new messaging and collaboration application for his department.
From 1995 to 2001, Maybank had been using a mainframe-based solution called MemoID. According to Alizakri, MemoID was a product past its shelf life. "Not only was the command line-based interface cumbersome. We couldn't even attach e-mails or get connected regionally," he says.
Fortunately, his management saw the bigger picture upon Alizakri's request. They asked him to implement the change for the whole group instead -- all 400 branches and 23,000 employees throughout Malaysia and around the region.
Having to take on such an enormous task, Alizakri and his team then went back to the drawing board to rethink their approach to the situation.
After much deliberation with additional team members from the information systems and HR department, it was decided that Maybank would now strive to be a "learning" organization.
"All this while, we haven't been able to effectively leverage the vast amount of information and knowledge amassed in our organization. We need to harness that resource if we want to adapt and evolve with our business environment," he says.
For Maybank's vision to be a learning