As we celebrated the millenium in 2000, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) was getting ready to ditch the Nat West computer system to save some £350 million over three years, and impose its own legacy system on the new subsidiary...
Julian Bray, and writer and broadcaster, in researching for a new broadcast project has found that" massive cutbacks in spending on computing systems and a rejection of the NatWest computer system when the bank was taken over by RBS could be at the root of the current computer crash at RBS group."
Back in the year 2000, Bray claims The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) had quoted IT cost efficiency as the main reason for favouring its own systems over those of Natwest's following its then recent takeover of the bank.
By scaling its existing computer platforms to cope with additional Natwest account data, it claimed at the time that it would save £350m over three years, the bank was quoted as saying that "to pick and mix two systems simply doesn't work".
"When RBS announced the predicted savings, people were sceptical. But from the results so far, it seems to be achieving reduced costs in terms of what it set out to do," said Daniel Mayo, a consultant at Datamonitor.
Earlier this year(2000), Datamonitor predicted that the merged banks would reduce staff numbers and cut spending by around eight per cent.
RBS has already shed thousands of jobs, and plans to reduce total staff numbers by 18,000 within three years. It remains unclear how many of these losses are IT related.
Datamonitor warned, however, that RBS should not get complacent, as the initial integration is the easy part, with cost reduction harder to achieve as time goes on. "That's when problems arise. If it's planning to integrate core systems as well, that's where it will find the potential banana skin," said Mayo.
Contributor: Media, Cruise Line , Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster & Journalist Julian Bray NUJ, EQUITY UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (UK HOME ISDN 017 33 55 53 19) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5 SKYPE: JULIAN.BRAY.UK
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