Optimized Business Processes with the Help of IBM ECM Technology

Published on 29-Oct-2007

Validated on 22 Apr 2010

"The new IBM FileNet P8 project is one of the first of its kind in a German savings bank. IBM ECM and ConfoRs helped us to take the path of a modern financial services provider. Since we expect the entire banking sector to continue changing, especially within the back office, we are counting on the IBM FileNet P8 solution becoming a standard implementation for business processes within German savings banks. —Raphael Lamskemper, Manager for the IT Organization at TaunusSparkasse" - —Raphael Lamskemper, Manager for the IT Organization at TaunusSparkasse

Customer:
TaunusSparkasse

Industry:
Financial Markets

Deployment country:
Germany

Solution:
Enterprise Content Management, Information On Demand

Overview

TaunusSparkasse in Bad Homburg, Germany, currently employs approximately 860 staff and offers the most comprehensive and modern network of branches within the region. The universal bank with 54 branches, 14 consulting centers and 12 “selfservice” branches, serves around 250,000 customers. By size, it is ranked 57th out of the 500 savings banks in Germany. In the last year, its balance sheet totaled EUR 3.9 billion.

Business need:
TaunusSparkasse, needed to improve performance, customer service, increase efficiency and reduce costs,

Solution:
IBM FileNet ECM provides TaunusSparkasse with greater control over content across the organization, automation and optimization of business processes as well as simplification of decision making.

Benefits:
Improved data/ process consistency Integrated treatment of procedures through process automation Better risk management and error reduction Increase of productivity and service levels as well as a transparency of costs Resources saving and cost optimization of 30%.

Case Study

Overview

In order to improve performance, customer service, increase efficiency and reduce costs, TaunusSparkasse, a well-known German savings bank, is optimizing over 400 active, passive and service processes with the implementation of an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution from IBM ECM. IBM FileNet ECM provides TaunusSparkasse with greater control over content across the organization, automation and optimization of business processes as well as simplification of decision making. This gives the bank a crucial advantage over its competitors. Moreover, the comprehensive functions can be integrated into existing information systems to bring additional economical benefit.

“The new IBM FileNet P8 project is one of the first of its kind in a German savings bank. IBM ECM and ConfoRs helped us to take the path of a modern financial services provider. Since we expect the entire banking sector to continue changing, especially within the back office, we are counting on the IBM FileNet P8 solution becoming a standard implementation for business processes within German savings banks.”
—Raphael Lamskemper
Manager for the IT Organization at TaunusSparkasse

The customer

Headquarters
Bad Homburg, Germany

Industry
Financial Services

Application
Electronic Document Management

Products
IBM FileNet Business Process Manager

Benefits

  • Improved data/ process consistency
  • Integrated treatment of procedures through process automation
  • Better risk management and error reduction
  • Increase of productivity and service levels as well as a transparency of costs
  • Resources saving and cost optimization of 30%.

Differentiation and growth depend on a company’s ability to reduce overhead costs and, at the same time, to offer innovative and competitive products. It must also offer individual services and to adapt to changing market conditions.

Today, brand integrity is more important than ever. So lenders must reliably conform to all regulations all of the time. To achieve this, accurate and up-to date information must be available on demand and business processes must be standardized and optimized. At the same time, these business processes must be integrated into the entire enterprise environment and beyond.

TaunusSparkasse in Bad Homburg, Germany, currently employs approximately 860 staff and offers the most comprehensive and modern network of branches within the region. The universal bank with 54 branches, 14 consulting centers and 12 “selfservice” branches, serves around 250,000 customers. By size, it is ranked 57th out of the 500 savings banks in Germany. In the last year, its balance sheet totaled EUR 3.9 billion.

The Business Challenge
Unlike other financial services providers, TaunusSparkasse had used an electronic document management system to control and archive important data and documents since 1998. The challenge for IBM ECM and its process partner ConfoRs was to integrate with the existing IT services provider Sparkasseninformatik, which provides IT services for more than 230 Sparkassen banks in Germany. The existing internal communications platform Lotus Notes and the entire back office and service processes had to be managed by one IT system. “In the past we had to access different business processes by separate systems. In the back office, there was no electronic support function to streamline the business processes,” explains Winfried Wolf, manager of TaunusSparkasse’s IT department. “In the near future, by means of IBM FileNet’s P8 Business Process Manager, these different processes and functions will be interconnected and controlled by a single solution.”

The IBM ECM Solution
IBM FileNet P8 automates even the most complicated processes. It administers critical information of all kinds and connects existing systems for approval processes. By combining content and process management, IBM FileNet’s ECM solutions are able to regulate relevant content and business processes, which lead to efficient decision making at individual employee, project team or company levels. ECM solutions, based on the IBM FileNet P8 platform form an administration platform that is able to integrate with, and optimize existing business systems and functions. Due to their scalable architecture they can be extended into different departments if necessary.

The new processes have already been optimized successfully with the help of ConfoRs. Over the next months, in the first project stage, selected business processes, such as the treatment of overdraft limits, will be automated by means of IBM FileNet’s Business Process Manager. In the months following this, further relevant active, passive, and service processes will be automated throughout the company. In the near future, these automated processes will include and interconnect all TaunusSparkasse staff.

Winfried Wolf explains: “The new IBM FileNet P8 project is one of the first of its kind in a German savings bank. IBM ECM and ConfoRs helped us to take the path of a modern financial services provider. Since we expect the entire banking sector to continue changing, especially within the back office, we are counting on the IBM FileNet P8 solution becoming a standard implementation for business processes within German savings banks.”

The Benefits
  • The new P8 solution will support TaunusSparkasse in developing and receiving important advantages both internally and externally across the German Sparkassen bank network (Sparkassenverbund). There are many benefits that TaunusSparkasse expects of the new IBM FileNet P8 software:
  • integrated process control by overcoming department boundaries
  • improved data/ process consistency, e.g. by receiving data from other systems
  • integrated treatment of procedures through process automation
  • higher productivity figures, i.e. decreased turn-around times of 30%–50%
  • transparency of costs, resources saving and cost optimization of 30%
  • better risk management and error reduction
  • automatic reporting as well as continuous analysis, simulation and optimization of the banking processes in an integrated environment
  • increased service levels
  • fulfillment of audition requirements, consideration of compliance requirements (MaK, Basel II)
  • workflow can be divided into Sales, back office and external services facilities

Ultimately, IBM ECM will enable TaunusSparkasse to differentiate itself from its competitors and to become a market leader.

Products and services used

IBM products and services that were used in this case study.

Software:
FileNet Business Process Manager, FileNet P8 Platform, FileNet Content Manager

Footnotes and legal information

SWC10022-DEEN-00

IBM 3565 Harbor Boulevard Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1420 USA The IBM home page can be found on the Internet at ibm.com. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks, or service marks of others. References in this publication to IBM products, programs or services do not imply that IBM intends to make these available in all countries in which IBM operates. Any reference to an IBM product, program or service is not intended to imply that only IBM’s product, program or service may be used. Any functionally equivalent product, program or service may be used instead. IBM hardware products are manufactured from new parts, or new and used parts. In some cases, the hardware product may not be new and may have been previously installed. Regardless, IBM warranty terms apply. © Copyright IBM Corporation 2007.

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