Nedbank Retail Banking banks on PSNext

2009/03/12

Nedbank has successfully implemented a culture of project management in the Retail Banking division using the PSNext enterprise project management system as an enabler. This has resulted in major improvements in the execution and visibility of strategic projects.

Profit Increase Needed

In order to increase the profitability of Nedbank Retail Banking, Rob Shuter, Retail Banking MD, created the Retail Project Office (RPO) in 2004 under the management of Bash Abed and assisted by Alexandra Ayres. “When we first started, we found a large number of projects, over 2500 in fact, many of which did not contribute towards corporate objectives.” said Abed. “We also found much duplication, wheel spinning, overutilized resources, different methodologies, projects took too long to execute and executives had a murky view into the status of strategic projects.”

The first year was spent in setting up standards and processes, weeding out projects, introducing a suitable methodology and defining requirements. “Fortunately we had solid support from Rob Shuter, who believes you cannot manage what you cannot measure.”

IT EPM not Suitable

“In the first year we also suffered the pain of managing projects manually.” It was obvious a tool was needed to help manage projects. “One of our major challenges was to convince the board why the enterprise project management (EPM) tool used in IT was not suitable for use in Retail. After careful consideration and after having trained a number of our senior staff on the IT tool, we decided we needed something that was more suitable for non-IT personnel. We also needed an integrated tool with good reporting and good local support.” said Abed.

Decided on PSNext

Nedbank decided on a proposal from McManus Consulting which was based on the PSNext Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) system. In addition, McManus also provided an excellent implementation strategy of which change management formed a major portion.

After purchasing PSNext, the next challenge was to customize the system and to get staff members to accept and start using the system. “We had excellent support from our vendor which was a key factor in our success. Together we customized PSNext to fit our requirements and developed a set of sophisticated dashboard reports.”

Executives Get Results

Due to the career changing importance of these dashboards, it was vital that everybody had confidence in the accuracy of the results. Initially PSNext was blamed if a robot was red, however, after a while, people stopped disputing the accuracy of the reports. A turning point was achieved when EXCO started pushing for results. Executives could see the difference between ad-hoc projects and well planned projects using PSNext.

Success was also based to a large extent on the credibility and stability of PSNext. “The choice of the correct tool, in this case PSNext, was absolutely important. It had to be easy to use. It had to have the powerful reporting we required. It had to have the flexibility to support the processes in Retail. We needed controls and security at various levels. We also require portfolio management which is now available in PSNext Release 3.”

Success Recognition

The implementation of the RPO together with achieving a culture of project management in Retail is recognized as a successful project. One of RPO staff members received a 'top achiever' award. These awards are very rare for back office staff and in this instance the award recognized the contribution of the RPO towards the success of Nedbank.