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euroConex
A European first in
credit
card payment processing
Why did the CEO of a brave new European card processing
venture say he had never before seen a project delivered to the agreed
quality, cost and time constraints?
Why was VISION invited by the US parent to advise how what had
been achieved could be applied to the American market?
The answers lie in what happened after Billy Saunderson, CEO
of euroConex, called upon VISION. Saunderson runs the
new joint venture between the US's Nova Corporation and Bank of
Ireland, recognised that the euroConex project could not be delivered
without external, professional support.
euroConex set out to provide the most secure, cost effective
and comprehensive card payment acquiring processing system in Europe.
Nova, now part of US Bancorp, is a giant in the US credit
card industry, with assets in excess of EUR153 billion (US$189 billion), it is the 8th largest financial services holding company in the United States. The Bank of Ireland is a leading European bank,
with assets of EUR106 billion (US$130 billion) for the year to March 2004.
Tight timeframe
euroConex wanted to become a force
in the valuable, if fragmented, European market. In June 2000, it said it
wanted to create a fully functioning processing system within 12 months.
euroConex knew there was much to do in a tight
timeframe. VISION had to collaborate on providing programme, project and
delivery management skills. VISION assembled a team of specialists who worked
seamlessly with euroConex's own team led by its CIO, Grant Putre.
"Within a week, VISION appeared to be part of the business
- it wasn't like dealing with a consulting company," recalls Saunderson.
"They empathised with me in terms of the critical time lines I was
trying to achieve."
Complex project
The project was large and complex.
VISION took charge of eight of the 15 individual information systems
projects, as well as the overall programme. This involved the coordination
of over 100 technologies and business professionals from the US, the UK
and Ireland.
Central to the project was the migration of the Bank of
Ireland merchant base to a new platform, capable of supporting euroConex's
challenging business targets.
Substantial development and localisation was involved on a
Stratus platform and a host of other technologies, including Unix, Linux,
Sun Solaris and Nortel Switches. VISION also worked on the development of
a new POS terminal, capable of handling transactions across the Web.
Milestones achieved
VISION and euroConex achieved
all the milestones. The technology build is capable of supporting
euroConex's growth goals over a three-year period. Such was the project's
success that Nova asked VISION to see how some of the pioneering
innovations could be applied to the US market.
"I can say without fear of contradiction that I have never
experienced a systems project of this magnitude which has been delivered
within the parameters set for quality, time and cost, as was the case with
this project," Saunderson said. "If VISION brings the same level of skills
and application to any other potential customer then without hesitation
I'd recommend them."
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