1-Dec-01
Written by Michel Jongen, Odyssey General Manager
The Odyssey Group was founded in Luxembourg six years ago with the aim of building a software company dedicated to the provision of IT solutions to the private banking and asset management industry. These tools aim to improve and optimise investment management related customer services, productivity and control. "We deliver competitive advantage" claims Odyssey. Michel Jongen explains how the Company has developed its systems to support this claim with new components, rapid implementation programs and new web-based solutions.
Today, the software produced by Odyssey is used by more than 90 clients in over 120 sites around the world, of which there are some 30 in Luxembourg, including banks such as BGL, BCEE, Dexia, Crédit Européen, ING Barings Private Bank, ABN-Amro, Degroof, BNP-Paribas, Société Générale Bank&Trust, Helaba and Dresdner. The Odyssey Group now employs 300 business and IT professionals of whom 100 are based in Luxembourg.
From 'toolbox oriented' application to 'off the shelf' turnkey solutions
With the combination of its Triple'A and Mirage product suite, Odyssey is offering Portfolio Management, Relationship Management and Market Data Management business solutions for Private, Personal and Institutional Banking. "In its original version Triple'A was typically chosen for the larger and more complex Portfolio Management projects due to its highly flexible and adaptable infrastructure, allowing our clients to tailor the solution to existing or targeted business and workflow processes. A typical example of such successful implementation was BGL's CARAT project" says Michel Jongen, co-founder of Odyssey. "It is important to note, however, that things have changed in the meantime. Today's version of Triple'A is a highly packaged, 'off-the-shelf and ready to be used' version, integrating the richness of Odyssey's business solution delivery experience acquired over the last 5 years" he adds.
As a front- and middle-office application, Triple'A is typically integrated in existing system architectures. It is therefore essential that it can be easily interfaced with various applications such as back-office systems, market data vendors, order routing solutions and electronic markets. "Thanks to the Triple'A Gateway including embedded 'market standard' middleware components, compatible with any other middleware solution our clients could have already installed, implementing on-line interfaces, data flows and front-to-back order management 'straight through processing' is an integral part of Odyssey's services range".
Over the last few years, Odyssey has built methodologies that seek to ensure 'delivery on time and on budget'. In order to provide a suitable solution for small-to-medium sized banks, typically users of back-office system packages, Odyssey has recently packaged its interfaces with back-office systems such as IBBA, IBSY, IBIS and Olympic. "We are well aware that in today's economic environment, 'time- and cost-to-market' are key selection criteria. With the Gateway, our valuable experience and a proven track record of delivering quality solutions, we have a unique position in the market. Sharing project risks with our clients is part of our business principles. Our commitment to deliver is our customer's best guarantee that the IT infrastructure needed to achieve their business objectives will be available on time", Jongen adds.
Triple'A as a business-oriented complement to back-office packages for small-to-medium sized banks
As an example of a tailored, packaged business solution, Odyssey has recently launched TOP, or "Triple'A-Olympic Pack". It allows Olympic users to benefit from a special, packaged 'turnkey' version of Triple'A that is tuned to complement the back-office processing of Olympic. "TOP is implemented in a record time for a fixed price. Since its launch this year, Odyssey is pleased to announce that already 9 Olympic clients have chosen to add Triple'A as their 'front-to-back' business-oriented investment management platform. They include names such as Ferrier-Lullin, Bordier, BNP-Paribas, Banque du Gothard, ING and ABN-Amro Luxembourg and there are more to come. For small sites Odyssey now offers an attractive 'entry level' pricing structure. As a result, competitive advantage through Triple'A is now affordable for all. The business solution components will be adapted to the requirements of the business segment and targeted user population" Jongen explains.
Competitive advantage through technology - from Web user interaction to GIPS certification
Another key business solution component is the Triple'A Web User Interface, which is an alternative user interface to Triple'A based on standard internet technology. Triple'A can now be delivered with standard Web interfaces packaged for Portfolio Advisors, Relationship Managers and their customers. In addition to the intuitive, easy and user-friendly interaction with Triple'A, web enabling also allows easier and more cost effective workstation administration and reduced network costs for remote users. "This is a major benefit for some of our clients who have implemented regional hubs with hundreds of remote users connected to a central server infrastructure. Fully secured 'anywhere, anytime' Triple'A access for travelling Relationship Managers and their clients and specially packaged B2B services such as transaction execution, custodian services and IT infrastructure for 'third party' portfolio managers, or 'tiers-gérants' as they are known, have also become easy to implement with Triple'A".
These are concrete examples and business opportunities resulting from the continuous investments Odyssey is making in the ongoing development of its solution components. This contributes to the long-term investment protection that Odyssey's clients have looked for. "Another example is Odyssey's capacity to deliver GIPS-compliant solutions as proven by the recent GIPS certification of Crédit Européen. This was achieved through Triple'A, Odyssey services and excellent teamwork with the bank. Odyssey's 'We Deliver Competitive Advantage' corporate statement is illustrated by numerous achievements such as these. We are proud of our contribution to the first official GIPS certifications in Luxembourg, since BGL has also been certified in the meantime", says Michel Jongen.
From discretionary portfolio management to Personal Banking, Advisory Services and Relationship Management
Odyssey's initial market was 'off-shore' banking. Over the last two years they have also acquired a leading position in 'on-shore' private and personal banking. Some recent projects include BBL, ING and Fortis MeesPierson in the Netherlands and Belgium, Deutsche Bank in Belgium and a couple of weeks ago, Hamburgische Landesbank - Odyssey's first domestic client in Germany.
With further focus on Client Relationship Management and event-driven, personalised advice-'information push'-oriented solutions for Advisory Portfolio Management Services, Odyssey is positioned to remain one of the key players in providing competitive advantage to the international Investment Management community. In combination with their strong local presence they are not only committed to providing advanced technology solutions but also customer services and support. "Our best publicity is our clients. Apart from our yearly Luxembourg-based Odyssey conference, the most recent of which attracted about 100 attendees in May, we are a rather discreet player" Jongen finishes.