Nigerian Bank Opts for Cloud Transformation to Upgrade Back Office Sytems

digital transformation

At a time when many banks are innovating cloud transformation of their businesses and cash management software to cloud-based solutions, companies must ensure they can offer a smooth transition for their client.

Here at Bluechip, we have helped FirstBank – a Nigerian multinational Bank and Financial Services company headquartered in Nigeria and with subsidiaries in West Africa, the UK and elsewhere – to embark on a project to move the bank’s Enterprise Resource Planning from on-premise to cloud-based solutions.

Background

Established in 1894, FirstBank offers a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services through more than 170,000 business outlets to over 17 million customer accounts.

With over 16,000 employees, FirstBank held the strategic ambition to enhance its human resources management. Given the availability of an advanced solution with Oracle Fusion Cloud, it selected Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM to provide a cost-effective and highly efficient solution to their current and future needs.

How did Bluechip help with cloud transformation?

The aim of the switch was to support FirstBank’s Innovation goal to deliver innovative products and services to their customers, as well as improve customer experience, increase efficiency, reduce costs and ensure;

  • As an Oracle partner, we worked to support the transformation designed to be implemented in two stages. The implementation solution begins with the Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution. It is then followed by the Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) solution to automate human capital functions fully.
  • Bluechip Technologies was engaged as its fulfilment System Implementation Partner for the delivery of the Oracle Fusion Cloud solutions, the objectives for which were clearly stipulated from the outset, including;
    • Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) must be available 24/7, 365 days a year
    • Be scalable to consider business expansion
    • Automate all the back-office processes and enable seamless Group Financial Consolidation and more.
    • Achieve savings of up to 50% in Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) over the existing Oracle on-premise solution
    • Be able to integrate with other digital transformation solutions adopted by FirstBank, such as ‘Finacle’
    • Much more can be found in the full case study here
  • The new cloud system – Oracle Fusion Enterprise Resource Planning Cloud Service – can create processes for areas such as General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Asset Management, Cash Management, and Expense Management.

Summary

The transformation from Oracle On-Premise EBS to Oracle Fusion Cloud has brought huge benefits to FirstBank. Their primary objective was to upgrade their ‘back-office systems’. Also a vital component in their overall innovative digital transformation strategy that aims to drive the adoption of digital banking throughout Africa.

In 2022, First Bank of Nigeria Limited won two International Investor Awards awards – Best Bank in Nigeria 2022 and Best Bank in Digital Transformation Nigeria 2022 in recognition of its continued efforts at reinventing its digital banking channels.

To read all about the outcomes and improvements of the transformation, click through to the full case study here.

Digital Customer Experiences with Customer Master Data Management  

customer data management

Why is a connected customer experience important?

A great customer experience is one of the most powerful marketing tools a business can have, and if that goes, quite often, so does your customer.

According to a MuleSoft webinar, 80% of customers will leave a company if they have a bad experience. So the onus really is on the provider to transform a customer experience and create positivity – understanding not only what they want but who they are, when they want it, and how they interact.

It can be difficult for customers to keep track of all the different data points and applications involved in each transaction. Having too many touchpoints can create a lot of frustration.

It is critical to have access to data – particularly customer data — to stand apart from the competition. This is where customer master data management (CMDM) comes into play.

Challenges of building a connected customer experience  

As already mentioned, disconnected data sets are one of the biggest challenges when creating the building block for a smooth and connected customer experience. So what other challenges and barriers come into this when looking at customer data?

The 360-degree view of customers – It promises to deliver and give marketers that picture-perfect profile of their customers. However, with GDPR coming into force in 2018 and implementation costs rising, things became much more complicated. It is believed that only 10% of surveyed organisations have managed to achieve this. A report from Gartner concluded that “By 2026, 80% of organizations pursuing a ‘360-degree view of the customer will abandon these efforts because they flout data privacy regulations, rely on obsolete data collection methods, and erode customer trust.”

The absence of high-quality, dependable data – From missing data to duplicate data, it’s one of the biggest barriers. Unstructured data means a business will not be able to create a solid customer data management system and subsequent workflows.

High costs – The rising costs of system maintenance and IT support for an on- premise solutions are squeezing company budgets, with little room to invest in innovations that will elevate the business in the future.

Lack of data governance skills – The absence of a rigid data management system twinned with the lack of data governance skills in-house makes it almost impossible to get a real understanding of the customer.

How can customer master data management help? 

Eliminates silos of data – Collecting data from multiple disparate data sources, such as cloud applications or local data sets. Bluechip can collect data from various business applications, such as CRM and accounting systems.

Creates a single version of the truth – A solid master data management means the data and the customer 360 profile, a business with the real insight and intelligence of the customer to execute the next action.

Cut through different definitions and different systems  – For example, the term “usage” could have a different meaning hence a different value in a marketing system vs an accounting system. A customer master data management system helps establish common definitions of data, so that all data views are accurate and consistent.

Make trusted data available for decision-makers – This data can be presented to decision-makers in a format that allows them to make business decisions quickly, such as introducing new products or creating personalised marketing promotions, identifying up-sell or cross-sell opportunities, or bottlenecks in growth. This information can then be used to improve customer experiences further. 

Creates a balance between data analytics and privacy and data protection –

Monetising the data assets to your business advantage is important to deliver exceptional customer experiences and stay ahead of the competition. However, evolving regulations around data and privacy can restrict how you use the data. With a customer master data management, a business can define its rules of how they can use the customer data and ensure its governed, as well as remaining compliant with any data regulations such as GDPR.  

Increases business agility –  A good system will continuously clean, dedupe, and merge rogue data with AI-fuelled tools, giving you the power to verify and improve your data in real time.