LONDON
,
/PRNewswire/ --
- Free Guide From Level Four Aims to Assist Banks to Successfully
Outsource ATM Testing
Level Four, a leading supplier of open standards-based ATM software,
today launched its guide to outsourcing ATM testing. The current economic
environment is squeezing expenditure within the financial services sector and
forcing a renewed focus on operational efficiencies, which is pushing
outsourcing higher up the agenda. In the past, banks have had varying degrees
of success with outsourcing projects and have faced numerous challenges in
delivering the expected value. In response to this growing trend, Level Four
has created a guide which draws upon the past experiences of banks and aims
to provide guidance on the strategies and processes required to make the
outsourcing of ATM testing a success.
A survey conducted by the
Management Consultancy Association
(MCA) and
the
British Bankers Association
(BBA) found that 41% of financial services
managers expect to increase outsourcing due to the credit crunch. ATM testing
is one key area where this trend is increasingly evident, due to the
significant cost savings which can result from outsourcing. As the complexity
of ATM systems continues to increase, the headcount costs associated with
manually testing ATM functionality have also been growing steadily. By
outsourcing, banks can potentially make significant financial savings, if the
project is defined and executed properly.
Past experience in outsourcing shows that it is essential for banks to
have a clear understanding of the issues involved. The MCA and BBA study
found that only 24 per cent of financial services managers said they
adequately understood the offshoring industry. This demonstrates the lack of
understanding of how to get the most value from outsourcing and needs to be
addressed if this strategy is to be implemented successfully. Level Four's
guide builds on the previous outsourcing experiences of financial
institutions to provide a set of best practices to help banks to effectively
outsource their ATM testing capabilities.
Ian Kerr
, CEO of Level Four said: "In today's economic climate, banks are
looking at ways to cut costs and outsourcing is increasingly top of the
agenda. While outsourcing can generate significant cost and efficiency gains,
a number of points need to be considered in order for banks to get the
process right. There is a tendency for banks to repeat past mistakes, for
example it is often assumed that banks should outsource areas where they do
not have expertise. In fact, the reverse is true. It is crucial that banks
only outsource what they know, giving banks increased control over the
process through effective internal management. There is a lack of much needed
guidance on issues such as this, which may in part explain why outsourcing
has generated mixed results in the past. The guide aims to provide essential
advice to help banks that are considering outsourcing to do so successfully.
About Level Four Software
Level Four's integrated BRIDGE suite of open ATM software products has
been developed to address the needs of ATM deployers seeking to maximise
their investment in the ATM channel. BRIDGE is targeted at banks and ATM
deployers who are running, or are seeking to run, a modern ATM network based
on the industry-wide CEN/XFS open standard. As a true holistic offering,
BRIDGE recognises the needs of ATM deployers in the areas of installation,
testing and monitoring as well as run-time ATM software.
Since 1995, Level Four has built an impressive global customer base of
banks and payments processors including,
Royal Bank of Scotland
,
Lloyds TSB
,
National Bank of Dubai
,
Rabobank
,
VocaLink
and
Standard Bank of South Africa
.
Headquartered in Dunfermline, Level Four also has offices in
Dubai
and
Charlotte, NC
.
SOURCE
Level Four Software Ltd
CONTACT: Contacts:
Alexia Ward
, Hotwire, +44(0)20-7608-4687,
levelfour@hotwirepr.com
