Post-trade portal

Brickendon was engaged to assist in the building of a post-trade portal to be used by external clients of a top tier investment bank. The portal needed to allow various cross-asset trades, submitted to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) by the bank on their clients’ behalf, to be updated and resubmitted as necessary. It was a highly critical project delivering regulatory mandates, therefore adhering to the strict deadlines enforced by regulatory requirements was paramount.

The Challenge

• It was a large project incorporating several smaller projects and therefore difficult to make and track progress
• The project was managed by the vendor as opposed to the bank, resulting in a lack of overall control and a feeling that the client was not actually aware of what was happening on a day-to-day basis
• The architecture was already defined with a set structure, and as a result, there was little scope for innovation when attempting to solve newly encountered problems or software development issues
• Too many different developers involved – no one knew what anyone else was working on
• No tracking method for project progress
• Dependencies on the other team’s deliverables where status was not clearly communicated to stakeholders
• Too many people leaving the project
• No clear segregation of duties in the project

The Brickendon Solution

• Initiate a Scrum process for recording what people are working on at each stage of the project and what progress has been made
• Log everyone’s distractions in a tool daily so that they can be reviewed and addressed
• At the end of every sprint, initiate a review of how much was delivered, how much was missed and the reasons why
• Publish metrics to show whether we are delivering as per capacity, including details on defect coverage and capacity overview
• Send client weekly updates of project progress/blockers
• Allow for more innovative solution to problems
• Install localised managers who report directly to the client and who in turn, can facilitate clearer communication channels with the consultants
• Track people’s progress more closely. Is everyone spending the time they are supposed to on development work? If not, why not, and devise a plan to eliminate the distractions/blockers?
• Facilitate a better handover when consultants leave a project

Client Benefits

The benefits of the new system and revised operating model included:

• Regulatory compliant
• Removal of manual effort thanks to increased automation
• Better organisation
• More transparency in project status