Core Banking License Renewals

2022-01-11

Software vendor relations, license renewal process is an already familiar issue in the Hungarian Banking, Pharmaceuticals and Energy industry. Often feared, often dreaded, but all of our clients have embraced the necessity and possible benefits of entering into a new software license modification or renewal process by communicating with software vendors with a different mindset.

Software license renewal processes naturally vary by industry, vendor, and type of license. Many Financial Institutions run on reliable, well-established Core Banking Systems (e.g. BankFusion Equation, BankFusion MIDAS, SAP, Oracle Flexcube) typically backed with strong IT support and maintenance contracts with the vendors, which is a must-have for supporting and providing day-to-day operations for the customers.

For a successful renewal, both the seller of the software and the enterprise purchasing it should look at how they’ve used the software in the past, how their needs may have shifted over the course of the contract, how pricing and/or the industry may have changed, and more. This can be a complex process and properly managing software license renewals can significantly improve the bottom line of any software vendor.

Advocate experts were involved in several license renewal projects that mainly focused on the following tasks:

  • examine and evaluate our clients’ needs and future goals: most Core Banking systems are operating on an account- or customer number-based license pricing, therefore it is crucial for the client to correctly asses the current and future needs in line with the strategic goals of future growth.
  • strengthen an already strong cooperation between the parties:since banking operations are as critical operations for citizen as water or electricity, authorities are keeping a strong focus on service outage metrics, therefore it is crucially to have a strong support and maintenance contract between the operating Bank and the vendor.

With the help of our experts several Hungarian Banks were able to get a good grasp on its current software license usage, create a growth vision and assessed the necessary number of licenses for the next 5+ years. Several additional tasks were needed to be executed to achieve these goals:

  • Archive and close the ready-to-be-archived accounts and customers.
  • Revamp the account product portfolio, making sure only the necessary amount of products are kept and all other products were deleted.
  • Review and renew the legally binding contracts while being able to negotiate better terms by building on the already solid background.

Needless to say, software license renewal projects will continue to pose exciting challenges for the Banking Industry, but Advocate Business Consulting has a proven track record and expertise in the field. Being one of the top consulting firms for the Hungarian Banking Industry, it’s assured that the Hungarian banks will be operating on more efficient license expenses in the next years.