Bank Austria Creditanstalt
Over 12,000 staff at Vienna-based Bank Austria Creditanstalt can
now access information from throughout the organization using a
comprehensive intranet solution based on Hyperwave’s knowledge management
software.
Making information instantly available through the company’s intranet, the Hyperwave Information Server has eliminated the need for couriers and faxed memos and has transformed the way in which information is relayed between teams and employees in the Bank Austria Creditanstalt and its 500 branches.
Corporate Intranet
The intranet solution was designed to provide comprehensive online help for the bank’s decentralised workplace systems. Content needed to be accessed directly from applications on a context-related basis and Bank Austria Creditanstalt required an efficient information service that would be available to all employees. "Our employees now have optimal access to permanently up-to-date information and our bank is now benefiting from considerable cost savings by using the knowledge management solution," said Gerhard Edl, Head of Information and Communications Systems in the Bank Austria Creditanstalt. Currently the intranet is divided into five main categories: News, Product Information, Processing, Data & Facts and Service.
In total, 12,400 users will be able to access 130,000 static HTML documents, image, graphics and PDF files on a cross-location basis. Access to 1,850 comprehensive product descriptions with relevant information and all in-bank processes and system documentation will also be possible.
Hyperwave’s solution automatically manages and structures content as it is added. Dynamic hyperlinks ensure that information is constantly updated as documents are added, amended or removed, providing users with connected and continuously updated information. Information can be actively linked across categories and links can be easily identified by all users, allowing information to be used efficiently.
When choosing an intranet solution, link management was a decisive factor. We needed to reduce expenditure and any possible sources of error. Users always know where to find information since the hyperlinks remain intact if objects are moved or renamed. If objects are deleted, the links will be removed by the system. Moreover, users only see the content they are meant to and do not see links to information which they are not authorised to see. Gerhard Edl
The Hyperwave Information Server guarantees optimal content recoverability with its hierarchical structure, separation of document content and additional attribute based information. A benefit of this type of solution is that the individual information objects are only dealt with once. For example, changes in the personnel system automatically change and update the content displayed in the intranet, without any manual maintenance work.
Another requirement during the development of the intranet was the ability to access authoritative, company-relevant information. Since the knowledge management system was implemented, the relevance, quality and speed that information is distributed across the company has significantly improved. Specially implemented push technology means that employees receive the information that is relevant to them. For example, Bank Austria currently targets groups, each comprising 3,000 to 4,000 recipients, with a group-specific email newsletter that also has additional links to the intranet. All news articles are automatically archived for subsequent retrieval.
With the implementation of the new Hyperwave intranet, we believe we have moved Bank Austria’s working environment one step closer to the paperless office ideal. By adopting a comprehensive knowledge management solution, Bank Austria can now harness the full potential of its corporate knowledge. Terry Jordan, VP Worldwide Marketing at Hyperwave
About Bank Austria/Creditanstalt Group
Bank Austria Creditanstalt was formed in 1991 with the merger of the "Zentralsparkasse" and "Länderbank" banks to create Austria’s biggest credit institute. With the acquisition of the shares of the "Creditanstalt" from the Austrian federal government in January 1997, Bank Austria took another step towards European expansion. With a balance of € 165 bln it is among the first of the five main Austrian banks and is almost as big as the four following banks put together. The group employs 18,787 specialists - 14,700 in Austria. It is also highly profitable, with a return on equity of 13.1%. Bank Austria takes care of 1.7 million private customers and around 50,000 business accounts in 650 Austrian and foreign branches. One out of five Austrians and four fifths of the big enterprises in Austria maintain business relations with the group.
The group is present throughout Austria with focus on the Vienna region in accordance with the economic structure of the country. The Bank Austria Creditanstalt is the biggest foreign bank in the central and Eastern European countries since the region’s opening to the West.
About Wave Solutions Information Technology GmbH
Several companies take care of the organizational and IT-facilities of Bank Austria. The Bank Austria/Creditanstalt Group’s systems administrators come from WAVE Solutions Information Technology. WAVE was established in 2000 and comprises now also CAMSCO, the IT company of Bank Austria/Creditanstalt Group formerly operating only in CEE-countries. WAVE is responsible for the whole systems architecture, its development and maintenance as well as all projects for the future relating to data processing to customer interfaces.