BankservAfrica adopts Marval MSM IT Service Management Software

Nov. 9, 2012 - PRLog -- BankservAfrica, South Africa's automated clearing house, has implemented Marval's integrated IT Service Management software solution, MSM, which will enable the organisation to increase the efficiency of its IT service operation. This will improve and lower the cost of services to clients, and provide a framework that will enable the organisation to identify and implement continual operational improvements.

Chris Nolte, head of operations at BankservAfrica, explains why an integrated view of all ICT service systems was needed. "Marval will ensure we now have clearly defined processes with continual improvement measures and transparency into processes and operations.  As an ITIL® solution we can be assured of best practice integrated IT Service Management."

Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, BankervAfrica switches approximately two billion financial transactions a year, including interbank transactions, debit and credit card transactions. "Our aim is to ensure continual improvement to meet our very stringent and demanding service level agreements, having achieved 100% uptime for real-time services in our last financial year.  Operating in a highly regulated environment, we needed a system to effectively manage our critical ICT environment."

Efficiency, governance and adding value

Nolte says, "By increasing the efficiency of our operations - and specifically the IT services that drive operations and client service - we can add further value to our primary clients, the financial institutions, and their customers. With changing market dynamics, there are ever higher demands on performance e.g. debit cards as a primary means of transacting is becoming more pervasive. Our clients and consumers expect 24/7 access to transact. At the same time, we are dealing with very sensitive information. The banks operate in a highly regulated environment with stringent security and governance policies surrounding all transactions. In addition, there are the King III good governance and the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standards (DSS) to conform to."

"It is vital to understand IT service demands, along with the cost of and value derived from the application of its resource. Marval's ITSM solution offers BankservAfrica the functionality needed to consolidate its IT Service Management functions into a single integrated system whilst adopting ITIL and best practices. This solution allows BankservAfrica to understand IT service demands along with the cost of, and value derived from the application of its resources - an integrated view of all IT service functions whilst adopting ITIL for governance," says Edward Carbutt, Executive Director at Marval South Africa.

First phase ITSM go-live

Marval's IT Service Management Expert solution replaces all of BankservAfrica's disparate systems and provides an ITIL based governance framework. The solution rollout has begun and is accompanied by ITIL training of all relevant staff. The first phase go-live will see the Marval ITSM solution implemented for incident management and service desk, change management and problem management. A knowledge management component will be introduced in a later phase.

Nolte says, "This project is all about optimisation and providing more value for our internal and external clients. To achieve greater customer service efficiencies, we must drive out our internal inefficiencies and implement real continual improvement. The software implementation is therefore just the first step."

"The real task will be mapping the organisation's processes into the ITIL framework to measure and benchmark our operations, understand what we are doing and embark on improvement. This 'measure, review, improve' process is ongoing," he emphasises, "it is a journey. It is what will ensure the organisation remains a world class organisation providing world class services and has the agility to continue meeting the changing needs of its clients."

About BankservAfrica

Innovation drives BankservAfrica and has ensured they remain the industry leader in electronic payment and information switching services for 40 years - with world class systems, infrastructure, tools and expertise.

Since 1972, BankservAfrica has provided interbank electronic transaction, switching and settlement services to the South African banking sector and to banks in Africa; facilitating quality transactions in a properly regulated system, compliant with international banking best practice and standards, while reducing risk and complexity in the industry.

BankservAfrica annually switches, clears and settles nearly two billion transactions worth trillions of rands.