Westpac has made major advances in the last half year in improving the reliability and stability of its in-house IT systems according to the bank’s CEO, Gail Kelly. Speaking today at the announcement of its financial results for the quarter, Kelly said group executive, technology, Bob McKinnon — who was poached from the Commonwealth Bank mid last year specifically to lead a then newly-created technology division at the bank — was largely responsible for the improvements. “Technology has been a big focus for us this half,” Kelly said this morning in a media conference call. “The Westpac systems environment is inherently very complex and subject to reliability issues. “Bob McKinnon, who has been with us since last August, has significant strengthened the team and has introduced discipline, analytics and rigour into our IT environment so improving reliability and stability.” McKinnon’s job has been made all the more difficult given his additional task of integrating the ICT systems of St George Bank — which Westpac agreed to buy mid-May last year, creating Australia’s second-biggest bank and largest provider of home loans. However, according to Kelly, the bank had been actively working to drive the most value out of the combined entity to help it compete with banks such as the Commonwealth Bank and ANZ, both of which have made recent announcements about their heavy investments in IT. “Under Bob’s leadership we have developed a strategy and an IT roadmap for the years ahead which is pragmatic and executable and which will drive further benefits from the merger,” Kelly said. Westpac Group reported a pro forma cash earnings of $2295 million, down 6 percent for the six months ended 31 March 2009. Net profit after tax was down 1 percent to $2175 million for the six months ended 31 March 2009. Pro forma cash earnings per share of 82.4 cents for the first half 2009 was 16 percent lower than cash earnings per share for Westpac in the 2008 first half. Kelly said that while it was disappointing to announce an overall decline in cash earnings, the group’s performance demonstrated that it had a strong, diversified and resilient businesses. “We are also further strengthening our productivity focus,” she said. “Initiatives underway will begin to be reflected in our second half results but will be more pronounced in 2010. While seeking to reduce expense growth, we continue to prioritise key elements of our strategy, particularly investments to enhance customer service and develop our technology infrastructure.” Related content case study Toyota transforms IT service desk with gen AI To help promote insourcing and quality control, Toyota Motor North America is leveraging generative AI for HR and IT service desk requests. By Thor Olavsrud Dec 08, 2023 7 mins Employee Experience Employee Experience Employee Experience feature CSM certification: Costs, requirements, and all you need to know The Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification sets the standard for establishing Scrum theory, developing practical applications and rules, and leading teams and stakeholders through the development process. By Moira Alexander Dec 08, 2023 8 mins Certifications IT Skills Project Management brandpost Sponsored by SAP When natural disasters strike Japan, Ōita University’s EDiSON is ready to act With the technology and assistance of SAP and Zynas Corporation, Ōita University built an emergency-response collaboration tool named EDiSON that helps the Japanese island of Kyushu detect and mitigate natural disasters. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe