Luxoft Holding Inc.

05/25/2022 | News release | Archived content

How do Luxoft’s Hogan and IBM z16 help banks top customer expectations?

Every bank faces fundamental business challenges concerning the performance of its core IT platform; challenges which probe interrelated issues such as efficiency, security and customer expectations.



Self-service products and multiple product lines have caused workloads to spiral upwards. And although security is a central tenet of trust, banks still want to utilize innovative third-party solutions to improve their systems of engagement. This creates immediate tension between speed of innovation and the integrity of their core platform.

Banking is driven by mounting customer expectations around swiftness of response, simplicity and ease of access. After all, the rate at which banks keep up with the pace of change ultimately determines their success. Better yet, banks that anticipate fast-moving lifestyle changes and offer forward-thinking solutions are rewarded with an extra layer of market differentiation.

These challenges demand a multidimensional response - optimize, modernize and transform. Together, Luxoft and IBM are working closely with Hogan customers to meet and resolve these tests of their appetite for change and practical adaptability.

Adopt a world-class core-banking system


Hogan has been serving the banking sector for more than 4 decades. Over 50 banks and cards processors use Hogan as their primary core-banking application. Today, that is currently processing over $5 trillion in deposits, which makes it one of the largest core-banking systems in the world.

Luxoft regards mainframe-based, core-application modernization as part of a bank's transformation journey. With IBM and its other partners, Luxoft offers ways to:

  • Optimize current operations
  • Modernize how the core application is managed and enhanced, with continuous improvement and development cycles
  • Transform how the core will be used in the future
  • Integrate modern technologies that enrich the customer and employee experiences, as well as maximize the use of data and insights
Acting in concert, Luxoft and IBM are offering ways to optimize, modernize and transform banking applications. They're enabling Hogan, Luxoft's core-banking solution, to leverage the enhanced performance capabilities of the newly launched IBM z16 and exploit the scale of the platform.

Hogan and IBM z16 in sync at scale


Digital transformation of banking and the global economy means ever-increasing volumes and variety, plus the veracity of data to process, while providing banking services to clients who demand the swift completion of transactions. The combined output of Hogan and IBM z16 highlights the IBM Z Systems family's proven ability to handle massive data-processing workloads. Even at 100% utilization, IBM z16 delivers non-degrading performance and scaling capabilities, allowing clients to feel confident of maintaining consistent levels of customer service while optimizing their core-banking application.

By holding the highly personal and private financial records of their customers, banks occupy a privileged and trusted position. With the risk of even more sophisticated security threats and cyberattacks, protecting our clients' businesses requires a leading-edge approach. The IBM z16 provides extra protection by encrypting data wherever it resides - at-rest, in-flight and now, in-use with fully homomorphic encryption.

Better business outcomes


Homomorphic encryption is a special mechanism that resolves security and privacy issues. It allows third-party service providers to perform certain types of operations on the user's encrypted data without decrypting the encrypted data. Homomorphic encryption accelerates our clients' innovation and collaboration with third parties without the risk of sensitive information being compromised. In other words, helping them to deliver better outcomes for their customers.

Furthermore, as the global economy digitally transforms, global regulations, policies and laws are in a constant state of flux, which directly impacts the banking industry. Hogan platform compliance is boosted by the IBM Z Security and Compliance Center; now an integrated capability of IBM z16. It enables our clients to be compliance-ready at all times. A bank's compliance situation is viewed in near-real time via dashboards and reporting, which reduces the number of employees focused on audit preparations.

Swifter, slicker, stronger


Banks improve the customer experience by developing faster, frictionless processes, as well as providing innovative products and services that are easy to adopt and personalize. Ever-increasing computing power is needed to make this happen, which is where the z16 comes in.

Luxoft continues to invest in core-banking optimization and modernization that adds value to Hogan and associated applications. This includes our close collaboration with IBM. With optimized and modernized platforms, banks are well-positioned to deliver transformed products faster.

This has been just a handful of examples that illustrate how Luxoft and IBM are aligned, providing practical solutions to enable clients to meet the complex challenges of the modern world.

To learn more about how Luxoft can help you modernize, visit Banking and Capital Markets | Luxoft or contact [email protected].

About HoganProcessing more than $5 trillion in global deposits and millions of cards, Hogan is widely acknowledged as one of the most robust and scalable core-banking solutions in the industry. Reliable and time-tested, its highly secure platforms are functionally rich solutions for deposits (IDS), loans (ILP), cards (CAMS) and customer information (CIS). They are built on a proven, global core-banking foundation used by six of the top ten US banks, three of the top four banks in Australia, and leading card processors in the United States, Europe and South Africa.

Hogan banking applications provide a range of platform choices including z/OS, Linux, Linux for System Z, Windows, or a hybrid of these operating systems. This platform flexibility lets you select the environment that best meets your needs for high availability, scalability, security, and other characteristics.

Luxoft also gives you flexible options for deploying the system - from in-house implementation on mainframe or distributed platform, to Software as-a-Service (SaaS), cloud-based models, and IT and business process services.

Daniel Hawthorne

Global Core Banking Lead, Luxoft Banking
Daniel is an experienced Senior Director with a history of working with banking, specializing in digital innovation and banking transformations. The banking sector is facing unprecedented challenges and undergoing significant transformation driven by technology innovations and regulatory change. As the Core Banking Global Lead at Luxoft, his focus is to help clients make the most of the opportunities that this situation presents, allowing them to deliver better, faster and quicker while driving down operational costs.

Duncan Alexander

Global Product Director, Luxoft Banking
Duncan leads several existing and new core banking products and services within Luxoft's global Banking Division. He has over 3 decades' experience in the application of business technology to achieve strategic goals across multiple industries, including banking, insurance, retail, travel and logistics. Duncan has provided strategic advisory services, delivered mission-critical systems as a strategic partner to clients and held senior positions within several large enterprises. His main area of focus is the delivery of business benefits from digital transformation.