Austria’s Volksbank and Murex conclude SaaS migration project

By Gloria Methri

Volksbank, the central entity of an association of Austrian banks, has successfully migrated client-server application MX.3, from bank premises to Murex’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) private cloud. Following the ‘lift-and-shift’ project, Murex can now manage the bank’s MX.3 hosting and infrastructure services.

In such a project, Murex transfers the full MX.3 environment, including the database, customizations, and interfaces, into the cloud, hosting Murex SaaS. The project took nine months to reach User Acceptance Test readiness, with a controlled budget. The project was accomplished remotely.

In essence, the Volksbank MX.3 instance is now managed by Murex. From an end-user perspective, the switch to SaaS was seamless, and new features such as the SWIFT ISO 20022 format were delivered.

Volksbank, a retail-and small and medium enterprise-focused bank, and Murex have a 15-year history of working together to optimize capital markets software usage.

“Adopting a ‘SaaS-first’ approach will allow Volksbank to take advantage of the MX.3 frequent innovations,” said Patrick Zima, Program Manager, Volksbank. “Shifting management of MX.3 to the Murex SaaS team has freed up in-house expertise and resources. This is just the latest collaborative evolution in our continuing long-term partnership.”

The project scope ranges from the MX.3 upgrade, which includes using new collateral and risk management modules; to the lift-and-shift stream. This included the adaptation of the global operating model and end-of-day housekeeping processes, as well as ecosystem integration and reporting adaptation with 28 interfaces and 57 extractions.

“We are excited to have helped Volksbank make this jump,” said Philippe Helou, Co-founder, and Managing Partner, Murex. “Continuous and proactive project management and close collaboration were key to our success in accomplishing this SaaS migration. It’s important to note that other Murex clients can replicate Volksbank’s success in similar migrations and can rely on an experienced Murex team to do so.”

Going forward, Volksbank aims to allow smaller banks within the association it leads to also benefit from their own treasury activities from the MX.3 platform on SaaS.