In 2014 Depósito Central de Valores (DCV) worked arduously on the Sybase migration project, which allowed it to move from Version 12.5 to the new Version 15.7.  The objective was to update one of the most important components of the company in terms of information and processing management so as to allow the entity to continue advancing in its processes and improving the service it delivers to its clients.

Leonardo Mederos, Assistant Director of Systems Development and Maintenance said that one of the objectives to carry out the technological change was “furnishing the company with a version of the database drive that allows us to maintain the growth, support and connection with the new components that are being integrated, and with a long-term outlook”.

This, because the new version will be supported by the time provided by Sybase, which allows DCV to project ahead so as to develop new functionalities according to its customers’ needs, to have the tools to continue looking forward to the future and provide better sustainability of processes, security and business continuity.

In turn, Claudio Herrera, Operational Risk Assistant Director, referred to the benefits for DCV highlighting that “the database is a key element and heart of the business. All the information of DCV clients and operations are kept in Sybase. Therefore, this is about taking the company to a version that is compatible with all the new technologies and with worldwide support”.

The evaluation of the project is positive. The project met the objectives defined and it was successful because it managed to integrate all the areas of the company. It was a complex project and not alien to problems, though these were not far from what was planned in advance.  

Stages of the Proyect

The Sybase migration project had several stages that were carried out in a gradual and planned way: diagnosis, certification, user tests and trials to ensure that the business services were not affected or that the impact was minimal. In this sense, the integrated approach of the areas was a critical factor to success.

Many innovations were made during the testing process, such as extensively testing virtually all DCV and DCV Registros services with a mix of experiences from different areas, managing to cover 96% of DCV business processes and 92% of DCV Registros.  Another factor that influenced the positive evaluation was the decision to implement the change with the least possible impact and as controlled as possible.  This was performed through a strategy based on the business services, for which an analysis was made of the expected possible impacts of the change regarding the application and they were prioritized according to the critical nature of DCV services and the impact on clients.

The Sybase migration project was transversal to the company as it involved the areas of Development, Quality, Risk, IT Operations, Operations and Services, and others. In short, all the areas of the company participated from their experience.

Simultaneously, a project was carried out whose purpose was to determine how to address all the possible impacts/problems related thereto. For this, integrated work was performed, a follow-up and monitoring of the business process to take place in the future was planned, adjustments were made, internal communications issues and with the market were addressed, the people responsible of the various teams were defined, among other aspects, using the business continuity model as the process’ umbrella.
 
“We reached the certainty that it would work as it was a project with a highly integrated approach and with a lot of determination”, concluded both executives.

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