Calypso implementation and data migration in just three-and-a-half months for Otkritie Bank

Otkritie Bank transformed the bulk of its investment division into an independent company, which continued to use the Calypso platform. The bank, however, still needed to support its own investment activity. This involved setting up the Calypso front-office system and migrating part of the data from the database that was previously shared with the investment arm.

Official Calypso Partner for the region EPAM, a leading global provider of digital platform and software development services, partnered Otkritie Bank in this project. One of the most challenging aspects of the project was its tight deadlines: the data migration had to be completed by 1^st May 2019, with the additional task of integrating a new source of market information – Bloomberg, to replace the former supplier Thomson Reuters.

It became clear that the classical migration principles would not work in this case because of the time pressures, so the project team had to adopt an innovative and more complex approach. Nevertheless, the team still managed to deliver the project in just three-and-a-half months.

The project involved analyzing the data used by the bank in the commonly shared product environment, determining the list of objects and necessary filters, and then developing the queries and scripts needed to select the information that was only relevant to Otkritie Bank. And while the necessary IT infrastructure was deployed within the Bank, data had to be exported via an additional server with reconciliation adding to the complexity of the team’s task.

Calypso provided advisory support to the team.

Says Andrey Sereda, Vice President Deputy Head of IT Development Department, Otkritie bank:

“Investment is an important part of the bank’s business. We are pleased that thanks to the excellent work of our own team, supported by our skillful partners from EPAM, Sova Capital and Calypso, we were able to ensure the smooth operation of the business throughout the project. I would particularly like to note the professionalism, technological competence and experience of EPAM’s specialists, who played a key role in achieving all of our goals.”

 Artak Oganesyan, Deputy General Director EPAM Russia adds:

“The project at Otkritie Bank presented definite challenges. For various reasons we had to choose migration technologies that had not previously been used for Calypso solutions – and we were operating under tight deadlines. EPAM has an in-depth knowledge of Calypso, based on a long-term partnership with the company and we have successfully implemented projects for various Russian and global investment banks and financial organizations. This experience, combined with the real teamwork shown by all project participants, helped us to overcome these challenges – and not just achieve the desired result, but achieve it faster than planned.”

 Calypso CEO Didier Bouillard concludes:

“We are delighted to see the successful implementation of Calypso across the Otkritie Bank front-office operations. The emerging markets, including Russia and the CIS, are strategic markets for Calypso, and we will continue to invest in these regions to provide solutions that bring global-standard market practices combined with local conventions. This project demonstrates our investment in our growing partner network (such as EPAM), combined with investment in tools to make migration/support/ upgrades easier and our commitment to customer success.”

Going forward Otkritie Bank is planning to expand its use of the Calypso system capabilities, migrate to a new version of the platform and assure closer integration with other internal information systems.