Notice to Change
- Now!
PC PROGRESS
14
euro/emu
WHAT'S NewS Issue 2 February 1998
The timetable for 'Euro proofing' our operations for the
introduction of a single European currency has always been an
exacting one. Here's a report on a new policy designed to keep
our effort on track.
The importance of the Euro project is
understood at all levels. But the offices
have heen overwhelmed hy the sheer
number of high strategie priorities: there is
also the millennium, the installation of
common systems, and the inauguration of
the new Investment Banking activities. A
delegation headed by Rabobank
International's Euro coördinator Hans
Reusch visited the EU offices late last year
and found that they were running, on
average, four months behind Schedule. In
many cases, Euro-related business
priorities have yet to be identified, project
management has been inadequate, regular
progress reporting has been sporadic, and
a generalized "wait-and-see" approach
towards the project prevails, says Henk
van der Stelt of the managing board.
EFFICIENCY DRIVE
While most offices made some progress,
only Utrecht, Luxembourg, Milan and
Rabo Securities have performed
adequately to date. This state of affairs is
unacceptable and radical improvements
are required on extremely short notice.
The EMU Steering Committee of the
Managing Board has therefore approved
an important change in the composition of
the Rabobank International Euro Project
Management team. 'It has been recognized
at the highest level that many offices
simply do not have the human resources
and in some cases sufficiënt knowledge to
fully keep paee,' explains Reusch.
REAL SUPPORT
At the start of this year, the Euro team was
fortified and reorganized. In mid-January,
Erik Tak, an experienced consultant, joined
the team and took responsibility for its
operational aspects. Anthony Kruizinga was
at the same time reassigned to look after
quality control and to work part-time on
one of four new 'Euro Flying Squads'. The
formation of these flying squads is an
important initiative which recognizes the
shortage in personnel and knowledge
throughout the network: while the
European offices will remain responsible for
the success of their implementation efforts,
just as before, the Flying Squads will soon
be visiting Paris, Frankfurt, London and
Milan to offer on-the-spot assistance so that
they can meet the tight deadlines involved.
NO PLAIN VANILLA
Each of these two-person squads will be
composed of a commercial specialist - to
identify business objectives - and an 1T
expert - to help define the technological
specifications needed to meet these goals.
Naturally, each office has different business
objectives and needs: 'When you buy a car,
you give the dealer a series of specifications
Client information plays a central part in our effort to emerge
as one of the continent's leading Euro banks. As the transition
to a single European currency draws near, Rabobank launches
an authoritative new PC program specifically designed to
match our informational resources to individual cliënt needs.
Michiel de Gou: 'we developed an
authoritative PC Program matching
individual clients' needs.'
It is easy to say, as a general principle, that
informing clients is a crucial strategie task;
doing it well is a much harder affair.One of the
main challenges associated with explaining the
Euro transition, explains Michiel de Gou of Cash
Management, is the very complexity of the
exercise.The Euro will potentially affect every
banking product and service on offer. But not
all customers usethe same mix;on the
contrary,they often face radically different
transitional requirements.When deciding how
best to inform clients about the Euro transition,
Cash Management recognized a need to tailor
material to cliënt needs, and thus save them
the trouble of having to waste time reviewing
data of little or no relevance to their concerns.
EURO QUESTIONS
The range of Cash Management-related
products runs the gamut from automatic
periodic payments, salary payments, direct
debits and all of the rest.The transition will
give rise to a wide variety of scenario-specific
concerns: what happens,for example, if a cliënt
sends money to Germany and the beneficiary
has a choice between accepting in either DM
or Euro? What are the cash management
implications? Are these different if the transfer
is being made to a non-EU beneficiary? What's
more.since different products and services will
be drawn into the Euro stream at different
times, some must be 'Europroof' before others.
This creates a temptation to take a minimalist
response or, even worse, to fall into the
dangerous 'wait-and-see'trap. Effective
preparation for the transition needs to be
integrated and focus on the entire process, not
merely some of its component parts.
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