MOSS 2007 Standardises Chembur Nagarik Sahakari Bank Processes

The Chembur Nagarik Sahakari Bank is a 30-year-old bank based in the city of Mumbai. With six branches spread across different locations, the main IT-focused areas are workflow automation for loan origination and approval processes, management of internal and RBI circulars, and collating MIS information across branches for RBI and management reporting. To meet these various requirements, the bank decided to provide its employees with an Intranet-based collaboration environment using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.

Loopholes in the existing IT set-up

S S Funde, director, Chembur Nagarik Sahakari Bank, says, “Initially, when we computerised the branches we thought we had achieved a great feat, as compared to other co-operative banks as they were not computerised. However, gradually we learnt that there were some loopholes in the system. Even though the branch was computerised, the inter-branch connectivity was not up to the mark and we had to distribute circulars manually. This resulted in excessive time consumption and had become an ordeal. In the event of a certain branch not sending the reports on time, it would result in frustration on the part of the management.”

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According to Akila Anant Kumar, director- Technology, Akna Infotech, one of the challenges that the bank was facing was MIS reporting and the technology that was used for this purpose was not uniform across branches. In some branches VBN SQL server was used, while in others it was C, therefore, the data retrieval was also not standard across branches. Daily reporting, generating reports adhering to RBI rules etc were turning out to be major obstacles and Akna Infotech began assisting the bank from there.

Kumar says, “The choice-of-technology decision revolved around what would address the problem of picking up data from disparate technologies, consolidating the same and generating one single report, all the while addressing the business needs too.”

Challenges thrown up by the back-end

While the core banking system was still being implemented, the bank faced a number of challenges at its back end, which primarily revolved around non-customer oriented business operations. Looking at all the various challenges that seemed to be troubling the bank, Akna Infotech, the bank’s Microsoft solution partner suggested Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 as an ideal adaptation.

“Two technologies that we found favourable were the SSIS of SQL server and share point portal server when it came to publishing of reports. So we decided to use SSIS to collect the data, convert it into a standard format and then publish the report through SharePoint,” says Kumar.

Owing to the size of the bank, it would have taken a lot of investment on its part to set up the entire portal. Funde says, “As our bank is small, we took help from our software vendors wherein they would manage the data centre and provide services on a rental basis, which also includes disaster recovery management.”

Collaboration portal fit like a glove for the bank’s needs

Using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, the bank implemented a collaboration portal. The portal has two subcomponents: Business Scorecards and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Automated Circular Management and Distribution. In addition, the bank has also implemented an MIS Reporting System and incorporated business process systems that cover the day-to-day operations of the bank in MOSS 2007. These systems include modules for Leave Application Management, Asset Management and Expense Reimbursement Management.

The bank then faced the challenge of making the employees accept the new solution as employee resistance to change is a part and parcel of the whole transformation process.

“Though the implementation took two months, time was spent in setting up the hardware the hardware and in getting the remaining infrastructure in place for SharePoint. We also lost time in gaining the confidence of the partner and ensuring them that we were working in their best interest. If I go neck-to-neck to the number of hours that were taken, then it would come to about fifteen days,” says Kumar.

Trail of benefits with MOSS 2007

With the bank instilling so much confidence in the capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, let’s see the numerous benefits that it garnered post the implementation and what the road ahead looks like.

Kumar says, “We could leverage the benefits of SQL server on two accounts, one was data management and the other was using the SQL server at the backend. Another important aspect that it had to address was to equip the bank’s IT team with capabilities to address the business processes and changes on a day-to-day basis. Though it appeared a small task from a technology point of view, however, managing this across branches was a huge challenge in a. Keeping all these parameters in mind, the chosen solution really fell across and catered to all requirements.”

“We have started opening new branches recently. In October, we opened a branch in Ghatkopar. Our main intention is not to spread the branche network but to give quality services to our existing customers and remain transparent as far as governance is concerned. Also, our aim currently is to go paperless across all branches as well as the head office,” concludes Funde.