back to article Irish banks settle with Oracle over banking software 'fiasco'

Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has settled its lawsuit with Oracle over Flexcube, a product the bank claimed was "beset with serious technical problems". AIB signed a deal to deploy Oracle's Flexcube Universal Banking software and Flexcube Messaging Hub software back in 2007 – the deal was inked with subsidiary Oracle Financial …

COMMENTS

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  1. Pen-y-gors

    Goodwill?

    I'm not too sure quite how any Irish (or European) bank reckons it has any goodwill to lose....

  2. Richard Wharram

    Wow

    I'd love to see the details :)

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Que Nelson voice:

    HA-HA!

  4. roomey
    FAIL

    I believe this may be the real reason for the Irish banking crisis!

  5. DrXym

    Seems like a good way to waste money

    Why is it that governments and large organisations always contract out their business to companies who charge massive daily rates and who are so large that suing them would be fraught with difficulties if / when things screw up?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Because...

      They can't outsource to tiny companies becuase said companies don't have the track record required to get through the due dilligence process (ie: could this comapny go under while we work employ them) prior to a contract being signed.

      Basically: You can't setup as an outsourcing operation and expect to get big companes throwing big contracts at you, without having a track record to trade on.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Banks can only go so small

      At least in banking, those small players won't get past the due diligence phase. There aren't many shed-based outfits making full-blown banking engines. If there were, the banks are too risk averse to take a punt on them (which is good, coz it's our money). And if the banks did trust the small players, those small players couldn't afford the massive indemnity insurance that the banks demand. The fact is that there are many successful implementations of FlexCube out there, so the AC posting below saying this is a requirements mismatch is probably correct. And before anyone suggests that banks should write their own engines - many are still trying to extricate themselves from Cobol they wrote in the 70s. COTS is the way to go.

      1. Tom 13
        Facepalm

        I dunno,

        maybe we'd be better off if the banks were punting shed based outfits. They seem to be a fair bit safer than those moving average hedge fund mutual swap insurance policy mortgage backed security thing they have been investing in...

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Oddly...

          It's when dealing with the exotic instruments that the banks tend to write their own software. Coincidence?

      2. Stevie

        Er...

        Because the Cobol programs have gone threadbare and don't work anymore.

        Well no wonder the banks went titsup! That stupid computer language (written specifically to deal with money and accounting and optimised for same) is to blame!

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No surprise

    That project was an absolute clusterf*ck. Even after the deal was signed iFlex were of the opinion that they were rolling out an end-to-end product from teller to DB, but the bank only wanted some middle-ware to which they could hook in their existing systems.

    FYI: The head of that project still occupies an executive management position.

    1. Field Marshal Von Krakenfart

      No shit, Sherlock

      That's why they employ external companies, so that when the $BANK does fuck-up it's all external company/consultants fault*, after all why should a fat cat bankster risk his/her over-paid position when he/she can sue the big consultancy firm and sack the independent contractors while going around saying "tisk! tisk!, we won't employ them again".

      AIB are not the only bank in Ireland to employ external consultants who failed to deliver technological change.

      * Unless you are Accenture in which case all delays are due to the customer constantly changing the requirements (documented)

      annon, icon, see title

  7. PeterM42
    FAIL

    Why would they buy Oracle anyway?

    If you have been involved at the bottom end of software implementations (ie: actually having to do the dirty work of installation and support), you know that Oracle is NOT the best. It seems to have it's fanbois, but it's still cr@p.

    Remember to get version number 10.2.5.456.12.01.9.0.1.1.1 with the BLUE label on the CD (or is it v10.2.5.456.12.01.9.10.1.1.1 with the RED label??????? (I never remember.)

    The salesmen must be good, because people still buy to regret.

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