FST Media Staff: What are the top three IT priorities for DBS’ private banking unit this year?


Stonham: Having implemented our new platform in Hong Kong, we are now working hard to implement it in Singapore in the second half of this year. There are a number of milestones along the way.


In April, we will be upgrading the software version for Hong Kong such that it can run Multi Entity Single Instance (MESI). This is necessary to be able to run Singapore on the same instance of the software. Then, we will be adding additional functionality which will be implemented for both entities, and finally, we will be migrating Singapore clients on to the system.  At the same time, we will be extending the infrastructure to cater for Disaster Recovery capability in both Hong Kong and Singapore. Beyond that we are also looking at additional capabilities of the system which we might implement.


FST Media Staff: What are some of the emerging IT trends for private banking that DBS is keeping an eye on; and how do you see these evolving in the next 12 to 18 months?


Stonham: Clients are becoming increasingly sophisticated, and as such, we need to be able to meet their expectations. This means a combination of excellent investment product offering, value-added advice such as portfolio management, and first-class service across the region. All of these require extensive use of technology. In particular, we consider integrated regional systems and increasing capability in data management to be key factors in our future scalability.


FST Media Staff: What are the key challenges facing IT investments in the private banking sector?


Stonham: As in any downturn, it is always important to keep investing such that you can emerge from it in a stronger position. DBS is well-positioned to do that as an Asian Bank with our operations spanning 16 markets in Asia and the Middle East. While continuing to extend our new regional platform across locations, we are also on the lookout for opportunities to increase its capability in order to service our clients better.


FST Media Staff: In your view, which countries in Asia are taking the lead in implementing business-enabled technology; and which developments do you think are the most significant or interesting?


Stonham: Asia is a region of great economic significance today, and financial services companies are expanding rapidly to tap the growing opportunities. Many players are international, and as such the technology deployed tends to be in line with world standards.


FST Media Staff: DBS has recently deployed the Avaloq Banking System (ABS) for its private banking unit in Hong Kong. What benchmarks does DBS use to measure the success of this rollout; and what have been the business benefits thus far?


Stonham: During the course of the project, we measure whether we are “on time and on budget”, as it is clearly not enough to deliver what was asked either much later than it was needed or at a much higher price. I am pleased to say we were “on time and on budget” in Hong Kong, and are currently equally successful at this midway stage of our Singapore implementation.


After the “go live” of a project, we measure success by the response from both our customers and our internal users, both of which have been positive. In particular, Avaloq provides front to back capability, so functions which were previously spread across multiple systems are now possible in a more effective way on a single platform. As mentioned before, key milestones now are to roll out to Singapore at the end of Q3 this year. That will be followed by more minor enhancements of capability.


FST Media Staff: What other new programs is DBS planning to roll out in the area of private banking in the next 12 to 18 months?


Stonham: The Private Bank is just one part of the DBS organisation, and as such, systems for Private Banking need to interface with other systems in the organisation, which are frequently upgraded. There are many changes underway at any one time. In particular, we are looking at how we distribute different products across our various customer segments through all the required channels, while minimising time and cost of deployment. We are doing this through a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) layer, which is an important step for us.


Apart from the focus on technology, we are also looking at our internal processes – how to streamline processes to eliminate wasted time and effort, and also to minimise turnaround time for the customer. Where possible, this is done in advance of application developments, which is very helpful in defining functional specifications. However, it is also part of our drive for continuous improvement.


FST Media Staff: What are the key challenges that you face in your role of managing both technology and operations?


Stonham: There are always challenges when it comes to expectations. I work very closely with both my business partners and my vendors, so we certainly understand each other. However, building technology solutions always seems to be slower and more costly than the business would like in an ideal world. Similarly, the time for vendors to implement new capability also seems to be slower than what I would like.


FST Media Staff: What keeps you motivated in your job – is it the technology or the sector?


Stonham: I feel very privileged to work in IT as I find it the most interesting part of the whole organisation. Not only do we need to develop a good understanding of the business pressures and opportunities in order to be able to build appropriate applications, we also get to take advantage of new technologies as they evolve.


In the infrastructure space, we are taking advantage of technologies such as virtualisation and Grid and storage de-dup (de-duplication) to optimise use of hardware. On the application side, there is always new functionality evolving, as well as an increased focus on data consistency and data mining.


During a normal workday I spend time discussing all three topics of business, applications and infrastructure, all of which have their own opportunities, and all of which make my job interesting.


FST Media Staff: In your job, you are surrounded by technology all day. Do you use technology in your down time or do you prefer more low-tech pursuits?


Stonham: Although I do enjoy low-tech pursuits out of the office, I also enjoy user-friendly technology. I am an Apple junkie, with my favourite technology being my iPhone and my second favourite being my iMac.


FST Media Staff: What skill-sets do you look for in aspiring IT protégés?


Stonham: First and foremost, I look for self-motivated learners. The only thing we can be sure of in technology is change, and we need people who enjoy it and make the most of it. Other important elements of successful IT people are their ability to deliver projects, or components of projects, successfully, and this requires many abilities put together – an understanding of the business, planning, collaboration, technology skills, and an ability to anticipate problems and to be flexible.


FST Media Staff: Every IT leader, particularly at your level, has a legacy they wish to be remembered for. What is yours?


Stonham: Although financial institutions are typically big investors in technology, they are not investors for the sake of it, but because it is a key enabler for their business. As such, I want to be remembered for helping my businesses be “best in class” at all they aspire to do. To do that, I need to be innovative and collaborative, and to take timely advantage of the opportunities offered through technology.