The knowis AG's financial platform helps banks and other financial services organizations by providing a “digital agility layer” between core banking systems and channels.
In the past, knowis has delivered on-premises solutions to its customers, but it wanted to expand its offerings by providing a cloud-based option.
“With an on-premises solution, there are setup and maintenance costs involved and potentially a long setup time,” says Christian Sternkopf, Vice President, Product Management at knowis. “And some of our prospective customers do not have the resources to buy the hardware, set up the infrastructure and maintain it.”
To reduce costs and deployment times for its customers, knowis wanted to find a scalable, cloud-based and fully managed database to use as part of its isfinancial platform. The database needed to provide the security that’s essential for the banking industry, as well as meet the requirements of the European Banking Authority (EBA).
Cost reduction
Customer setup and maintenance costs reduced by providing a fully managed, cloud-based option
Gains in TCO
Expands customer base to include smaller organizations by driving down the TCO of the solution
knowis chose the IBM® Db2® on Cloud database to give its customers a cloud-based, fully managed option. The company had to make sure that all of its customers’ data would be housed within the EU to comply with EBA requirements. “IBM has a data center in Frankfurt and can provide all of the management services within the European Union,” says Sternkopf. “No other cloud competitor could offer that to us.”
IBM worked with knowis to integrate the Db2 on Cloud database into its isfinancial platform. “Our experience with Db2 on Cloud was that it works out of the box,” says Sternkopf. “Collaborating with IBM while integrating Db2 in our platform was very smooth, and we got all the support we needed.” The database also integrated easily with the business’s existing IBM Business Process Manager on Cloud software. “It was a great opportunity to put IBM Business Process Manager and Db2, which are both cloud offerings, into our platform,” says Sternkopf. “They work well together and provide reliability and high performance.”
With the Db2 on Cloud solution, knowis can offer its customers a fully-managed solution that helps reduce setup and maintenance costs. In the past, when knowis approached a prospective customer about the isfinancial platform, the discussion would have to include arrangements for setting up and supporting an on-premises infrastructure. But with the Db2 on Cloud offering, knowis can now offer a cloud-based deployment option, which has helped shorten the sales cycle.
The cloud option has also increased the company’s potential customer base. Previously, knowis focused on selling to larger organizations because they had the infrastructure, skills and resources to run an on-premises platform. But with the Db2 on Cloud solution, the isfinancial platform is available at a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and requires no maintenance from the customer, which brings it within reach of smaller banks and financial institutions. “It’s a great opportunity for us to have a second deployment option and address smaller customer segments in the financial market,” says Sternkopf.
Founded in 2004, knowisExternal Link (link resides outside of ibm.com) is a specialized software vendor in Regensburg, Germany. The business specializes in providing solutions for the banking and financial services industry that help accelerate their digital transformation. knowis serves more than 100 financial institutions.
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