CURRENT CHALLENGES AND PROBLEMS

There have been rapid developments and changes in the IT industry since 1996 when the project started. These also brought about changes in the business environment. Electronic banking was added to the telephonic banking that was common at the time. The architecture of the AFAIB system was not ready for either of these. The major competitors of AFAIB introduced ATM, changed their banking systems and offered more IT-based services, yet AFAIB is performing well in the market. Within the first two years of operation, it had good percentage of the market. AFAIB was also aware that it needed to quickly upgrade its software and integrate its systems to meet the dynamics of the banking industry. It realized that it was locked into TA as its IT provider, at least for software services. AFAIB had invested so much on the software that it would be very difficult to change it. Changing the system would require amending many aspects of its operation, which might just be too costly. However, the system meets its needs, and TA is committed to providing all the possible support. For the reasons explained earlier, TA still ensured that professional integrity and good practices were maintained throughout the project and to date.

The project manager visited the bank in the spring of 2001, and the system was functioning very well and was stable. AFAIB has started electronic banking with the support of TA. TA owns the only commercial ISP in Country X and is well-positioned to assist AFAIB in this regard. AFAIB has not appointed a substantive IT manager, and how far TA can continue to provide the kind of support that the bank's expanding operation and more complex applications demands remains an open question. Work is still in progress to upgrade the system to accommodate the recent developments in IT, i.e., making the system integrate well with the Internet and even with wireless technology. This requires a considerable amount of work and time since the architecture of the system was completely different. Nevertheless, it is a challenge for TA to meet the need of its client.