Rabobank Core Banking Migration

<h2>Overview</h2> <p>Reporting to the Programme Director at <b>Rabobank</b>, I led the core banking upgrade project, migrating <b>RaboDirect</b> deposit products from the legacy European <b>Thaler</b> platform to a high-availability <b>Temenos T24</b> system in the Sydney data centre. Having previously delivered successfully as Implementation Manager in 2013, I was invited back to champion this critical transformation — Rabobank’s most complex initiative — while introducing scaled agile practices and ensuring zero customer disruption.</p> <h2>Key Activities</h2> <ul> <li>Introduced full Scrum methodology into Rabobank’s largest transformation, establishing a Scrum of Scrums across global teams. Leveraged <b>Jira</b> with inter-related User Stories to enable sprint planning, daily standups, backlog grooming, reviews, and retrospectives — proving scaled agile viability in a traditionally waterfall environment.</li> <li>Designed and deployed a high-availability T24 platform with DevOps integration, enabling future scalability for deposit product migration.</li> <li>Refreshed site recovery procedures, conducted rigorous non-functional testing (performance, failover, and penetration), and updated the <b>Business Continuity Plan (BCP)</b>.</li> <li>Developed a custom Excel runbook — a formidable coordination tool I authored — to orchestrate the multi-time-zone implementation across Utrecht, Sydney, and Auckland. It mapped concurrent events, dependencies, and real-time impact visibility, enabling proactive risk management and seamless team alignment.</li> <li>Launched <b>FutureTech</b>, a greenfield digital banking portal, by establishing a "steel thread" — a minimal viable integration path from UI to T24 — then iteratively expanded features around it until completion.</li> </ul> <h2>Technologies Used</h2> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.temenos.com/products/core-banking/t24/">Temenos T24</a> (core banking platform)</li> <li>Thaler (legacy European deposit system)</li> <li><a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira">Jira</a> (agile backlog and sprint tracking)</li> <li><a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence">Confluence</a> (knowledge and documentation)</li> <li>Microsoft Excel (multi-time-zone runbook)</li> </ul> <h2>Challenges and Solutions</h2> <ul> <li><b>Challenge</b>: Coordinating a complex migration across three time zones with interdependent legacy and new systems.<br> <b>Solution</b>: Built a real-time, shared Excel runbook with a master timeline linked to regional tabs, enabling seamless updates and visibility.</li> <li><b>Challenge</b>: Introducing agile practices into a traditionally waterfall environment on a mission-critical project.<br> <b>Solution</b>: Led by example, using Jira and Confluence to demonstrate transparency, velocity, and stakeholder alignment, securing buy-in across technical and business teams.</li> <li><b>Challenge</b>: Ensuring zero customer impact during a live cutover over a holiday weekend.<br> <b>Solution</b>: Executed meticulous non-functional testing and rollback planning, achieving a flawless migration within the planned outage window.</li> </ul> <h2>Outcomes</h2> <ul> <li>Successfully migrated all RaboDirect deposit products from Thaler to T24 over the Easter weekend, completing the cutover within the planned outage window with no extension required.</li> <li>Launched FutureTech, Rabobank’s new digital banking portal, fully integrated with T24 via a proven "steel thread" architecture, enhancing customer access and experience.</li> <li>Established a scalable, high-availability core banking platform ready for future product expansion.</li> <li>Championed scaled agile adoption (pre-SAFe) via Scrum of Scrums and Jira, delivering the T24 migration on schedule and setting a benchmark for future programmes.</li> </ul> <h2>Related Skills</h2> <p>This project highlights my expertise in:</p> <ul> <li><a href="/skills/2">Project Management</a></li> <li><a href="/skills/3">Agile / Scrum</a></li> <li><a href="/skills/12">Data Migration</a></li> <li><a href="/skills/6">Risk Management</a></li> <li><a href="/skills/11">Planning</a></li> </ul> <h2>Learn More</h2> <p>Explore <a href="https://www.temenos.com/products/core-banking/t24/">Temenos T24</a>, <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira">Jira</a>, or <a href="https://www.atlassian.com/software/confluence">Confluence</a>. Contact me via <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigel-bates-3409a23/">LinkedIn</a> to discuss my contributions to Rabobank!</p>

Overview

Reporting to the Programme Director at Rabobank, I led the core banking upgrade project, migrating RaboDirect deposit products from the legacy European Thaler platform to a high-availability Temenos T24 system in the Sydney data centre. Having previously delivered successfully as Implementation Manager in 2013, I was invited back to champion this critical transformation — Rabobank’s most complex initiative — while introducing scaled agile practices and ensuring zero customer disruption.

Key Activities

  • Introduced full Scrum methodology into Rabobank’s largest transformation, establishing a Scrum of Scrums across global teams. Leveraged Jira with inter-related User Stories to enable sprint planning, daily standups, backlog grooming, reviews, and retrospectives — proving scaled agile viability in a traditionally waterfall environment.
  • Designed and deployed a high-availability T24 platform with DevOps integration, enabling future scalability for deposit product migration.
  • Refreshed site recovery procedures, conducted rigorous non-functional testing (performance, failover, and penetration), and updated the Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
  • Developed a custom Excel runbook — a formidable coordination tool I authored — to orchestrate the multi-time-zone implementation across Utrecht, Sydney, and Auckland. It mapped concurrent events, dependencies, and real-time impact visibility, enabling proactive risk management and seamless team alignment.
  • Launched FutureTech, a greenfield digital banking portal, by establishing a "steel thread" — a minimal viable integration path from UI to T24 — then iteratively expanded features around it until completion.

Technologies Used

  • Temenos T24 (core banking platform)
  • Thaler (legacy European deposit system)
  • Jira (agile backlog and sprint tracking)
  • Confluence (knowledge and documentation)
  • Microsoft Excel (multi-time-zone runbook)

Challenges and Solutions

  • Challenge: Coordinating a complex migration across three time zones with interdependent legacy and new systems.
    Solution: Built a real-time, shared Excel runbook with a master timeline linked to regional tabs, enabling seamless updates and visibility.
  • Challenge: Introducing agile practices into a traditionally waterfall environment on a mission-critical project.
    Solution: Led by example, using Jira and Confluence to demonstrate transparency, velocity, and stakeholder alignment, securing buy-in across technical and business teams.
  • Challenge: Ensuring zero customer impact during a live cutover over a holiday weekend.
    Solution: Executed meticulous non-functional testing and rollback planning, achieving a flawless migration within the planned outage window.

Outcomes

  • Successfully migrated all RaboDirect deposit products from Thaler to T24 over the Easter weekend, completing the cutover within the planned outage window with no extension required.
  • Launched FutureTech, Rabobank’s new digital banking portal, fully integrated with T24 via a proven "steel thread" architecture, enhancing customer access and experience.
  • Established a scalable, high-availability core banking platform ready for future product expansion.
  • Championed scaled agile adoption (pre-SAFe) via Scrum of Scrums and Jira, delivering the T24 migration on schedule and setting a benchmark for future programmes.

Related Skills

This project highlights my expertise in:

Learn More

Explore Temenos T24, Jira, or Confluence. Contact me via LinkedIn to discuss my contributions to Rabobank!

Systems Software

Temenos T24