ILX Helps ABN AMRO Achieve Effective, Low Cost OS Deployment to 12000 Users Worldwide
Challenges
- Support and enable global change programme deployment to 12000 users
- Limit change programme impact on business operations
- Limited budget available for essential user training
Solutions
- ILX Desktop Self-help Solution
- ILX Support Tool
- Floor Support Trainers
Benefits
- Helpdesk calls decreased - despite 600 users per week roll out
- Delivered high level of user satisfaction
- Ensured little or no disruption to day-to-day operations
- Provided flexible and short lead-time change capability
- Supported fast and efficient change programme deployment
Our Challenge
ABN AMRO is a prominent international bank with a history going back to 1824. ABN AMRO ranks eighth in Europe and 13th in the world based on total assets, with more than 4,500 branches in 53 countries, a staff of over 110,000 full-time equivalents and total assets of EUR 986 billion (June 2006).
ABN AMRO’s Wholesale Client Services business had launched a major Transformation Programme to improve and update its computer systems to help introduce more common standards across the business, centralise system control and management, and achieve better value for money for its purchasing.
One key aspect of this programme — the Common Office Environment (COE) Deployment Project - involved reducing the number of different computer operating systems used across various parts of the business.
This key area of the programme has been the development and building of a new XP Platform and the subsequent deployment of this platform (on a new PC/Laptop) to 12,000+ users within the Wholesale Client Services business.
This user group is spread across 10 different countries (UK, US, Netherlands, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Japan, New Zealand) and contains in excess of 3000 Traders who are key to the ABN AMRO business and whose productivity must not be impacted in any way.
The expectation of the client in terms of the implementation and the usability of the COE Platform were very high.
Although EDS — the outsourcing partner charged with implementing the Transformation Programme - had planned the COE Deployment and had the necessary resources in place, the area of XP training had been overlooked.
A particular concern was that EDS did not have the experience of working in a banking environment and had little knowledge of the “Trader’ mentality. The risk of the COE Deployment impacting the business was high, and was raised as an area of concern by the client.
EDS was looking for the most effective way of providing the necessary XP orientation to the ABN AMRO users without taking the user away from their desks for long periods of time; without providing training that was unnecessary (as XP is not that different from other platforms); and without incurring excessive costs.
Our Solution
EDS called in ILX Group - a specialist provider of customised training and implementation solutions and services with considerable experience in the financial sector.
ILX was engaged to provide two solutions; a simple and unobtrusive way for users to self train and, when necessary, practical, hands-on support available to users at desk side.
ILX delivered this with its Support Tool and Floor Support Trainers during the COE Deployment.
ILX Group self-help tool makes user understanding easy
The ILX Support Tool was provided to the users before the COE platform was deployed (alongside the pre-deployment communication). This is an extremely user friendly tool that allows users to explore changes required for the XP platform through graphics, step-by-step guides and simple exercises.
Some of the key features of the ILX Support Tool that appealed to ABN AMRO and EDS are:
- Met user needs by focusing what is new, does not rehash old information
- Customised to match ABN AMRO’s COE platform
- Ease of Use
- Delivered on time High quality and reliable — 100 percent availability record
The Benefit
“The COE deployment is critical to our business,” says Simon Hvidbro-Mitchell from ABN AMRO.
“Had we not been able to deploy it quickly and with the least amount of disruption to our staff, it would have had a serious impact on our ability to function day-to-day.
ILX has played a key role in ensuring an effective and smooth roll out of the COE deployment and in the process has achieved a high level of satisfaction for users.”
Despite the fact that the new OS was being rolled out to around 600 users every week, the solution provided by ILX meant the there was no increase in the number of calls to helpdesks.
ABN AMRO had expected helpdesk request to increase and impact overall service. In fact ABN AMRO was running a service improvement programme and the quality of service provided had actually improved during the COE Deployment.
Simon Hvidbro-Mitchell from ABN AMRO, says, “I can only attribute this unexpected decrease rather than increase in helpdesk demand to the effectiveness of the ILX solution.”
Delivered value for money
Alongside the quality and effectiveness of the solution, ILX has also provided ABN AMRO with good value for money. Simon Hvidbro-Mitchell from ABN AMRO concluded by saying that “ILX has provided ABN AMRO with an excellent service during the COE Deployment and this has been seen as very good value for money.”