HERITAGE BANK LTD
Banking has not had a good press since the global financial crisis kicked in around 2008 . Australia may have weathered the storm better than Europe and the USA , but it has faced similar issues . In some ways this has been of advantage to the largest customer-owned bank and one of the longest-running financial institutions in the country . Founded in 1874 as the Toowoomba Permanent Building Society , the organisation has evolved through Heritage Building Society ( 1981 ) until it became Heritage Bank in 2011 . At every step it retained its customer-owned structure . Today it has assets in excess of $ 8bn , and remains headquartered at Toowoomba , Queensland .
The evolution described above was predominantly structural . Technology , even in the last decade , took a back seat to tradition . However , in 2016 the bank developed a strategic plan to transform the organisation , making it more member centric and providing a solid growth path forward . A key requirement to improving member services was a material improvement in the ICT function , and
agreement to a technology roadmap . It engaged Queensland-based partner 451 Consulting to undertake an ICT review and to develop a roadmap for the IT department going forward . At the same time , it gained the services of a key member
242 February 2018