ANZ overhauls IT operations

Beverley Head
Friday, 30 September 2011 15:03

IT People - People

ANZ Bank chief information officer Anne Weatherston has unveiled a radical overhaul of the structure and composition of the IT teams at the bank in order to meet the technology needs of the institution as it increasingly positions itself as a regional, rather than just ANZ-focussed,  financial services provider.

The announcement of the new team is intended to provide the muscle needed to deliver against Ms Weatherston's six year technology roadmap which she outlined back in July. Ms Weatherston joined the ANZ in early 2010 from the Bank of Ireland and now oversees the bank's overall technology programme which has a budget of around $1.5 billion a year.

The roadmap she laid out in July was founded on the maintenance of three separate core systems - one in Australia, one in New Zealand and one to support ANZ operations in Asia. Ms Weatherston announced to staff yesterday that she has now restructured IT into five teams - three global and two regional - intended to more tightly align IT supply and demand at the bank.

According to Ms Weatherston; 'Our new operating model meant we were able to further simplify the technology function making it even more service and customer focused, efficient and organised in a way to deliver better change outcomes.'

The three global teams will manage retail, commercial and wealth; institutional; and group functions. Two regional segments have been established - Asia Pacific Europe and America, and the somewhat less geographically diverse New Zealand segment.

A report in the Australian Financial Review this morning first signalled the restructure and the arrival of a swag of new IT honchos at the bank. While ANZ has not issued a press release, signalling it does not consider the appointments are likely to have any impact on its share price, a spokesman today confirmed a series of IT appointments.

The bank has also confirmed that Priyanka Paranagama, formerly CIO for group functions and Gary Sterrenberg, CIO Australia and retail are leaving the bank.